Scott Brown

If it weren’t for two relatively rare events, Cincinnati Reds reliever Scott Brown might not have been a “One-Win Wonder.” One of those events delayed his major-league debut by four months, costing him multiple opportunities to earn more than one win. The other enabled the Reds’ big right-hander from backwoods Louisiana to receive credit for that one win, even though he had not yet thrown his first big-league pitch when the game’s winning run was scored.

Scott Edward Brown was born on August 30, 1956, the third child of Harvey Edward and Betty Lou (Allen) Brown, both lifelong residents of DeQuincy, Louisiana. They were married 59 years and had five children – four sons and a daughter: Danny, Ricky, Scott, Becky, and Tracey. DeQuincy, population 3,235, is a lumber and railroad town on the western edge of Cajun country, about 230 miles west of New Orleans and 130 miles east of Houston. Harvey was a railroad man who worked 42 years for the Missouri Pacific. Betty Lou taught English and home economics for 40 years at DeQuincy High School, where Scott did not excel in baseball, because the school didn’t have a baseball team.1

Scott grew up playing Little League, Dixie Youth, and Sheriff’s League baseball. He was big (6-feet-2 and 220 pounds) and could throw hard, but professional baseball was not on his mind. “I wanted to try out for LSU (Louisiana State University), but they weren’t interested, because I hadn’t played high school ball,” he said, frustration still evident in his voice. “But after I made it to the big leagues, guess who was the first ones to call. I told ’em how to ‘eat the cabbage.’”2

Brown may not have had his eyes on the pros, but the pros had their eyes on him. He was selected by Cincinnati in the fourth round of the June 1975 amateur draft, the 94th overall pick and the first athlete from DeQuincy ever drafted by any major-league team. He found out from his mother that he’d been drafted. The Reds called the high school and talked to her. Scott was momentarily baffled. “I said, ‘Drafted? What does that mean?’ I’d never heard of that.” A whole new world was about to open up for the strapping 18-year-old from Louisiana’s Gulf Coast lowlands.

Cincinnati sent Brown to its rookie-level Pioneer League affiliate in Billings, Montana. “What a trip that was!” he exclaimed. “I’d never been on an airplane. I’d never left my mom and dad. You know, I’d gone camping or things like that, but … I went over to Lake Charles, and that little airplane come in for me to get on, and I literally had to get on my hands and knees to get in. It held about six people. I was thinking, ‘Oh, what the hell have I gotten into?’ But  it wasn’t too bad. I mean, I made it all the way to Billings before I puked.”

There, he joined future major leaguers Frank Pastore, Paul Moskau, and Larry Rothschild on the Mustangs’ pitching staff. “I didn’t know nothing about baseball, but I had fun,” said Brown. “It was awesome! We were up in the mountains. I’d never seen any mountains. All I knew was Louisiana. Once we all got to know each other, we had a blast.” When not exploring his new world, Brown appeared in 10 games, amassed a 6.50 ERA and walked 21 while striking out 13 in 18 total innings. “When I went to Billings, I didn’t even know what a balk was,” he admitted. “I’d never heard of it. I was in a game and, all of a sudden, the baserunner was going to second. I said, ‘What the hell’s going on?’ [Manager Joe Hoff] said, “You balked.’ I said, ‘What the hell does that mean?’ He told me, and I said, ‘OK.’” Until then he had pitched only in local sandlot leagues in rural Louisiana, where the umpires were generally selected on the basis of “whoever wanted to do it” and they pretty much stuck to balls, strikes, and outs.

In 1976 Brown moved up a notch, to the Eugene (Oregon) Emeralds of the low Class-A Northwest League. He completed seven of 12 starts and had two shutouts. His ERA was an impressive 2.56, his strikeout-to-walks ratio an improved 1.35, and his walks-and-hits-to-innings-pitched ratio (WHIP) 1.363. He was growing more sophisticated as a ballplayer, but the small-town guy was still a bit naïve, and it was in Eugene that the legend of his quest for a curveball was spawned.

The legend was that Brown had never heard of a curveball until he got to the pros, and that his teammates had convinced him he should go to a local sporting-goods store to buy one.3 As with most legends, there was some truth to the story. In DeQuincy, people didn’t call them curveballs. They called them “drop balls” and “round-houses,” which sort of made sense in a railroad town. However, Brown said, he did not go to a store to buy a curveball. “They made that crap up,” he maintained, but also confessed, “They did get me to go into the clubhouse to look for the ‘keys to the batter’s box.’ I went in there, and when I opened my mouth, the trainer looked at me funny, and then I knew what they’d done. When I come back out, I was going to kill every damn one of ’em, but I couldn’t catch ’em.”

Brown’s performance in Eugene earned him a spot with Tampa of the Class-A Florida State League in 1977. With the Tarpons, he began developing a breaking pitch and things began coming together for him. He had five complete games and two shutouts with a 3.82 ERA in 24 starts. But instead of being promoted, Brown was sent back to Tampa to start the 1978 season. He was not a happy camper.

“I almost quit baseball that year,” Brown said. “I outpitched all of them (in ’77). I told [the Reds], ‘If this is the way y’all do it, hell, I don’t need you. I’ll go back and get me a job on the railroad. I don’t need you people.’ I was packing my stuff when Scotty Breeden (Reds roving pitching coach) come to the hotel and stopped me. We had a talk, but I was pissed. I didn’t care. After all that work, there I was, still in A-ball, and I had a family to feed. I figured, ‘The hell with this. I can go home and make more money working for the railroad.’ I had my bags packed, but Scotty talked me out of it.”

Determined to show the Reds they’d made a mistake, Brown started 16 games for the Tarpons, completed six of them, had two shutouts and posted a gaudy 1.31 ERA, with an even gaudier 0.974 WHIP and gaudier-yet 3.32 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Reds saw the light and, about midseason, promoted Brown to Nashville of the Double-A Southern League. Brown arrived in Music City in time to make 13 starts for the Sounds and post a 4-3 record with a 4.50 ERA, 1.682 WHIP, and 1.62 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The 1979 season was better. Still with Nashville, Brown had a 9-2 record, but more impressively, he dropped his ERA to 2.40 (best in the league) and his WHIP to 1.115. He upped his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 2.53 with three complete games and a shutout in 19 starts. “It’s where I shoulda been in the first place,” said Brown. “I was kicking ass in Nashville. I’d learned how to pitch, and I’d learned how to finesse hitters. But I wasn’t a finesse pitcher. I was a power pitcher. And so George Scherger (Nashville manager) began putting me in the bullpen, which I … I hated him for that! But that’s what got me to the big leagues. Otherwise, I’d have never made it.”

No starter likes getting sent to the bullpen, but in 1980, that helped get Brown elevated to the Indianapolis Indians of the Triple-A American Association. While transitioning from starting to relieving, he put up decent numbers. He had six wins against seven losses, a 3.44 ERA, 1.325 WHIP and a 1.49 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also pitched one complete game and had two saves, but wasn’t called up during the annual September roster expansion.

Brown, now 24 years old, would have made the big-league roster coming out of 1981 spring training, but baseball’s labor unrest reared its ugly head. Manager John McNamara went to Brown and offered a difficult choice. “During spring training, he said, ‘It looks like there’s going to be a strike. There’s nothing we can do about that. What would you rather do? Draw a paycheck or go on strike?’” I said, ‘Well, sir, I need to draw a paycheck. …” So it was back to Indianapolis.

It turned out to be a good decision. The strike started on June 12 and big-league play didn’t resume until August 10. But the minors kept on going and Brown kept on drawing paychecks. He appeared in 51 games for Indianapolis, but started only three before being moved to the bullpen permanently. He finished 35 games and had 13 saves to go with a 6-5 record, a 2.28 ERA, 1.161 WHIP, and 2.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio. And when the strike finally ended, Brown was ordered to report to the Reds in Los Angeles, where they were working out in preparation for their season restart against the Dodgers on August 10. He got there in time to pitch in one of the Reds’ practice games against the Angels.

It was the night of August 11 that Brown, three weeks shy of his 25th birthday, finally got his chance to pitch in a big-league game. There were 45,000-plus spectators at Dodger Stadium, 10,000 more than for the previous game, mostly because of Fernandomania. It was just the second game after the strike ended and regular-season play resumed, and attendance in Los Angeles was down significantly – just like everywhere else – because fans were mad at the owners and players over the strike.4 Regardless, the Dodgers’ rookie pitcher, Fernando Valenzuela, had taken baseball by storm before the strike. When play stopped, he had a 9-4 record with a 2.45 ERA and had pitched eight complete games and five shutouts. But he had also lost four of his last six starts. LA fans turned out despite their ire over the work stoppage, hoping Valenzuela would regain his early-season form. But his struggles continued that chilly August evening in Chavez Ravine.5

Cincinnati scored first. A bases-loaded single by Ray Knight in the top of the first drove in Dave Collins and Ken Griffey. Los Angeles tied it in the bottom half of the frame. Ken Landreaux tripled to right field, then Dusty Baker homered to left. Dave Concepción led off the third with a solo home run for a 3-2 Reds lead, but the Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the fourth on doubles by Pedro Guerrero and Bill Russell. Valenzuela exited in the top of the fifth after giving up one-out walks to Concepcion and George Foster. Terry Forster replaced him and got Dan Driessen to ground into an inning-ending double play.

In the bottom of the fifth, Cincinnati starter Mario Soto walked Baker with one out. Steve Garvey singled Baker to third and Ron Cey doubled to left, sending Baker home and Garvey to third. That was it for Soto. Doug Bair came in to face Guerrero. His first pitch went wild, enabling Garvey to score and Cey to take third. Guerrero then teed off on Bair for a double to right-center, and when the dust finally settled, Los Angeles was ahead, 6-3. Bair had given up two runs, but they were charged to Soto.

Bair retired the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the sixth, but he was due to be the leadoff hitter for Cincinnati in the seventh. Instead, McNamara had Rafael Landestoy pinch-hit for him. “I saw that they were going to pinch-hit for Bair, and was thinking, ‘Oh (bleep)!’ And sure as (bleep), McNamara called down there and told them to get me ready. I about to (bleep).”

While Brown was warming up, Landestoy grounded out to second and Collins struck out looking. It appeared Brown needed to warm up faster. But then Griffey singled to right and Concepcion pushed him to second with a single to center. Next up was Foster, and he singled to right-center, scoring Griffey and moving Concepcion to third. That set the stage for a three-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole by Driessen that put the Reds ahead, 7-6.

When Brown took the mound, he found himself in front of a crowd 15 times larger than the population of DeQuincy. “You know what?” said Brown, “Remember when they used to have you come in from the bullpen on that little cart? Well, I ran. And when I got to the mound, my knees were like rubber. I was terrified. All I remember is McNamara saying, ‘Just rear back and chunk it.’ That was it. Once I threw the first pitch, [the fans] wasn’t there no more. Once I started throwin’, they were gone. All I saw was my catcher (Joe Nolan).”

Baker, the first batter Brown faced, grounded out to second. Next up was Garvey, and he grounded out to short. Cey poked a single to left, but was left stranded on first base when Brown got Guerrero on a routine fly to right. Bobby Castillo replaced Forster for the Dodgers in the top of the eighth and got Ron Oester and Nolan out on infield grounders. That made it Brown’s turn to bat. McNamara, happy with his performance so far, elected not to replace Brown with a pinch-hitter. “I was sitting there (in the dugout) and I figured I’m out. McNamara looked over at me and said, ‘You going to get on deck or what? So, I went out there and found a bat. I have no idea whose bat it was.” It was Brown’s first (and only) major-league at-bat and alas, there was no fairytale ending to this part of the story. Castillo struck out Brown, who wasn’t exactly known for his hitting prowess. “I never saw the ball,” Brown admitted.

Asked about it later, McNamara told reporters, “He was outstanding. We only wanted one inning out of him, but he was so sharp, we stayed with him. The Dodgers aren’t the easiest lineup to face in your major-league debut.”6

Brown rewarded McNamara’s gamble by setting down the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the eighth. He got Mike Scioscia to ground out to short. Then Russell grounded back to Brown for out number two and pinch-hitting Rick Monday grounded out to Driessen unassisted to end the inning.

Brown again took the mound in the bottom of the ninth, with the Reds still up by one. He got Davey Lopes to fly out to center, but then Landreaux singled to right. With the hot-hitting Baker due up next, McNamara decided not to give the Dodgers hitters another look at Brown, and brought in Tom Hume, the Reds’ closer. Brown’s night was over. Hume got Baker to fly out to center, then struck out Garvey to record his sixth save of the season.

After the game, Brown learned that the scorekeeper had awarded him the win, even though Bair technically had been the pitcher of record when the Reds tallied the winning run in the seventh. Rule 9.17(c) gives the official scorer discretion to award a win to a subsequent relief pitcher if in the view of the scorer that pitcher was more integral to achieving the win.7 Bair had given up two runs on a wild pitch and a double – both runners inherited from Soto – in his inning and two-thirds. Brown held the Dodgers scoreless on two harmless singles in 2⅓ innings. “I had no idea they were going to give me the win,” said Brown. “I think it was my buddy, Dave Collins, who come to me and told me about it in the locker room after the game. Bair wasn’t real happy about that, but hell, I had no clue that could happen.” And that’s how Brown got what turned out to be his only big-league win.

He made nine more appearances in 1981, three against the Expos, two against the Giants and Padres, and one vs. the Phillies and Braves – but all were no-decision outings for him. Including his debut against Los Angeles, Brown pitched a total of 13 innings and gave up four runs, all of them earned. He struck out seven, walked one, and, of the 16 hits he yielded, only one went for extra bases – a double by Padres catcher Terry Kennedy. He had a 2.77 ERA, 1.308 WHIP and 7.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’d finally made it to “The Show,” and was looking forward to going to spring training with the Reds as a roster player in 1982. And then he was traded.

In December of 1981, the Reds swapped Brown for Kansas City right fielder Clint Hurdle. Brown was surprised, and not particularly happy, but had little control over the situation. Appropriately enough, when he reported to the Royals’ spring-training facility the following February, it was in Surprise, Arizona. “I pitched several innings in spring training with KC, and did all right,” said Brown. “Then … I don’t remember who we was playing, the Texas Rangers maybe, but anyway, I went in for just one inning, and God, I wished I hadn’t. When I went to throw a curveball, [his arm] just went. That’s all I can tell you. They come running out there and I tried to throw the ball and I couldn’t even reach the plate. I knew I was in trouble. The medial collateral ligament tore, come to find out. They sent me all over the place to try to get somebody to rehabilitate it, but they couldn’t do it. They finally sent me to (Dr. Frank) Jobe in Inglewood.” Brown had Tommy John surgery, a procedure pioneered by Jobe, and it worked. “I was back! When I went back, I was throwing just as hard. It took me a while, but I was doing good in spring training (in 1983),” Brown recalled. “Then, all of a sudden, the ulnar nerve snapped, and that was it. My hand went halfway numb. I tried to pitch with it, but had no coordination. I went and got it fixed in Houston. The doctor told me he could get my hand back, but that my career was over. And he was right. I got my hand back, but I couldn’t throw the ball 88 miles an hour. I tried and tried, but just couldn’t get 90 mph, and I’d thrown a hell of a lot harder than that.”

Brown briefly tried for a comeback, visiting several training camps in Arizona, but got no offers and so he went home to DeQuincy and became a railroad man like his dad. “First, I was with the bridge gang for six or seven years. That was terrible!” he said. “I had back problems and it was manual labor. Spiking stuff down. I had to get on my hands and knees. Then, I went into transportation and became an engineer. I did that for the last, oh, I don’t know how many years; 20 or so. I went from Houston to New Orleans to Alexandria. That was my territory.”

As of 2022, Brown was retired from the railroad, too. He and his wife of 44 years, Cheryl, still resided in DeQuincy and were active in church and community. Scott was taking it a little easier, having been hospitalized with pneumonia and COVID-19 during the pandemic. Their son, Matthew, also lives in DeQuincy. Their daughter, Alicia Ortagus, is married and lives in San Antonio. She and her husband bring Lucian Scott Ortagus, their son, to visit his grandparents as often as possible.

One thing Scott no longer did much is sing. And there’s a baseball story behind that as well: “We (the Indianapolis Indians) were in Des Moines, Iowa, and it was like 11 degrees and that’s when I got hit in the throat (by a line drive). It crushed my Adam’s apple. Mine’s flat. Most people’s is round. Mine’s kind of oval. I can’t remember who hit the ball. (It was first baseman Chris Nyman,8 who played for the White Sox in 1982 and ’83.) They told me later the bastard was laughing over at first base. I said, ‘OK, I’ll get him.’ It took me about a month. He knew when he walked up to the plate. I hollered at him, ‘You ain’t gonna laugh no more.’ I hit him in the ribs as hard as I could throw and it sounded like when people thump a watermelon to see if it’s ripe. Of course, the dugouts emptied and all that, but I got that sum*****.” Brown could rear back and chunk a baseball.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed BaseballAlmanac.com, Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, and Statscrew.com.

Notes

1 Author interviews with Scott Brown on November 22 and November 29, 2021.

2 Brown interviews. Unless otherwise indicated, all direct quotations attributed to Brown come from these interviews.

3 Hal McCoy, “The Real McCoy-Remembering Scott Brown,” blog post, Dayton Daily News, February 23, 2012.

4 https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1981-misc.shtml

5 “Fernandomania Isn’t Same; Neither Is He as Reds Win,” Los Angeles Times, August 12, 1981: D1.

6 “Reds Rookie Wins Despite ‘Pure Terror,’” Columbus Dispatch, August 12, 1981: D1.

7 Official Baseball Rules, 9.17(c)

8 “Frazier-Led Oaks Topple Indians, 8-4,” Des Moines Register, April 15, 1980: 1S.