Gates Brown Stats

Gates Brown was born on Tuesday, May 2, 1939, in Crestline, Ohio. Brown was 24 years old when he broke into the big leagues on June 19, 1963, with the Detroit Tigers. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Gates Brown baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I took (in High School) a little English, a little math, some science, a few hubcaps, and some wheel covers." - Brown, Gates. The Gigantic Book of Baseball Quotations. Stewart, Wayne. Author. Skyhorse Publishing. 1 October 2007. Page 563.

Gates Brown

Gates 'The Gator' Brown Autograph on a 1971 Topps Baseball Card (#503 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1971top01' title='1971 Topps Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

Gates 'The Gator' Brown Autograph on a 1971 Topps Baseball Card (#503 | Checklist)

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Birth Name:   William James Brown
Nickname:   Gates or The Gator
Born On:   05-02-1939  (Taurus)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Crestline, Ohio
Year of Death Data Died On:   09-27-2013 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Detroit, Michigan
Cemetery:   Green Lawn Cemetary, Crestline, Ohio
High School:   Crestline High School (Crestline, OH)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Left   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   5-11   Player Weight Chart Weight:   220
First Game:   06-19-1963 (Age 24)
Last Game:   09-26-1975
Draft:   Not Applicable

Gates Brown

Gates Brown Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gates Brown

Gates Brown Hitting Stats

1963 24 Tigers 55 82 16 22 3 1 2 0 14 8 0 13 0 2 1 3 .268 .333 .402
1964 25 Tigers 123 426 65 116 22 6 15 0 54 31 0 53 2 2 4 6 .272 .326 .458
1965 26 Tigers 96 227 33 58 14 2 10 1 43 17 1 33 3 2 0 3 .256 .305 .467
1966 27 Tigers 88 169 27 45 5 1 7 0 27 18 2 19 0 4 2 3 .266 .337 .432
1967 28 Tigers 51 91 17 17 1 1 2 0 9 13 0 15 0 1 0 3 .187 .286 .286
1968 29 Tigers 67 92 15 34 7 2 6 0 15 12 1 4 0 0 0 2 .370 .442 .685
1969 30 Tigers 60 93 13 19 1 2 1 0 6 5 0 17 0 1 1 2 .204 .250 .290
1970 31 Tigers 81 124 18 28 3 0 3 0 24 20 0 14 0 3 1 3 .226 .331 .323
1971 32 Tigers 82 195 37 66 2 3 11 0 29 21 2 17 0 0 2 4 .338 .408 .549
1972 33 Tigers 103 252 33 58 5 0 10 0 31 26 3 28 0 3 2 7 .230 .304 .369
1973 34 Tigers 125 377 48 89 11 1 12 0 50 52 6 41 0 3 1 15 .236 .328 .366
1974 35 Tigers 73 99 7 24 2 0 4 0 17 10 2 15 0 0 0 1 .242 .312 .384
1975 36 Tigers 47 35 1 6 2 0 1 0 3 9 1 6 0 0 1 2 .171 .356 .314
13 Years 1,051 2,262 330 582 78 19 84 1 322 242 18 275 5 21 15 54 .257 .330 .420

Gates Brown

Gates Brown Fielding Stats

1963 Tigers LF 16 12 357 38 2.4 38 35 3 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.87
1964 Tigers LF 106 101 2,714 211 2.0 207 204 3 4 0 n/a n/a n/a .981 2.06
1965 Tigers LF 49 44 1,194 104 2.1 101 100 1 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .971 2.28
1965 Tigers RF 7 7 159 6 0.9 6 6 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.02
1966 Tigers LF 43 34 960 53 1.2 52 48 4 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .981 1.46
1967 Tigers LF 20 17 382 22 1.1 22 21 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.55
1968 Tigers 1B 1 0 6 3 3.0 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 13.50
1968 Tigers LF 17 16 349 19 1.1 19 18 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.47
1969 Tigers LF 14 14 315 32 2.3 29 28 1 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .906 2.49
1970 Tigers LF 26 26 576 38 1.5 36 34 2 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .947 1.69
1971 Tigers LF 56 48 1,116 71 1.3 70 68 2 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .986 1.69
1972 Tigers LF 72 67 1,491 129 1.8 126 121 5 3 1 n/a n/a n/a .977 2.28
1973 Tigers LF 2 1 21 1 0.5 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.29
LF Totals 421 380 9,475 718 1.7 701 678 23 17 3 n/a n/a n/a .976 2.00
RF Totals 7 7 159 6 0.9 6 6 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.02
1B Totals 1 0 6 3 3.0 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 13.50
11 Years 429 387 9,640 727 1.7 710 687 23 17 3 n/a n/a n/a .977 1.99

Gates Brown

Gates Brown Miscellaneous Stats

1963 Tigers 2 1 .667 36 4 n/a 41.0 6.3 5.9 - - -
1964 Tigers 11 4 .733 20 2 n/a 28.4 8.0 7.9 - - -
1965 Tigers 6 0 1.000 38 5 n/a 22.7 6.9 5.3 - - -
1966 Tigers 3 0 1.000 49 3 n/a 24.1 8.9 6.3 - - -
1967 Tigers 0 0 .000 32 1 n/a 45.5 6.1 10.1 - - -
1968 Tigers 0 0 .000 50 0 n/a 15.3 23.0 6.1 - - -
1969 Tigers 0 0 .000 46 0 n/a 93.0 5.5 15.5 - - -
1970 Tigers 0 0 .000 55 0 n/a 41.3 8.9 5.2 - - -
1971 Tigers 4 2 .667 32 0 n/a 17.7 11.5 6.7 - - -
1972 Tigers 3 0 1.000 35 0 n/a 25.2 9.0 8.1 - - -
1973 Tigers 1 1 .500 22 0 119 31.4 9.2 7.5 - - -
1974 Tigers 0 0 .000 60 0 13 24.8 6.6 5.8 - - -
1975 Tigers 0 0 .000 47 0 0 35.0 5.8 11.7 - - -
13 Years 30 8 .789 522 15 132 26.9 8.2 7.0 - - -

Gates Brown

Gates Brown Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1963 Detroit Tigers 26 $7,500.00 - -
1964 Detroit Tigers 26 $8,000.00 - -
1965 Detroit Tigers 26 $15,000.00 - -
1966 Detroit Tigers 26 $15,500.00 - -
1967 Detroit Tigers 26 $16,000.00 - -
1968 Detroit Tigers 26 $18,000.00 - Stats
1969 Detroit Tigers 26 Undetermined - -
1970 Detroit Tigers 26 Undetermined - -
1971 Detroit Tigers 26 Undetermined - -
1972 Detroit Tigers 26 Undetermined - -
1973 Detroit Tigers 26 Undetermined - -
1974 Detroit Tigers 26 Undetermined - -
1975 Detroit Tigers 26 Undetermined - -

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William James Brown was a Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Detroit Tigers (1963-1975). Did you know that Gates, his nickname, holds the following Pinch Hitting Records: Most Pinch Hit At-Bats in a Career (414), Most Pinch Hits in the American League (107), Most Pinch Hit Home Runs in the American League (16)?

Gates Brown Rookie Baseball Card | Baseball Almanac

Gates Brown Rookie Card | 1964 Topps Baseball Card (#471 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Did you know that Gates Brown served time in Ohio's Mansfield State Reformatory (Prison), from 1958 to 1959, before he made it to the majors? [Baseball Players Who Did Time in Prison]

Gates Brown Prison Story | Baseball Almanac

Gates Brown Prison Story | New Castle News | May 27, 1978
Baseball Almanac Research Library

A record setting team of nine: Gates Brown, Bill Freehan, Willie Horton, Mickey Lolich, Al Kaline, Norm Cash, Dick McAuliffe, Jim Northrup and Mickey Stanley - nine teammates who spent ten years together (1964 through 1973), the longest duration in baseball history by a group of nine players on the same team at the same time. Teammate John Hiller (not in that nine because he joined the team in 1965, but was there after that through 1980), said, "We were like family. We barbecued together with our wives and kids. We partied together. When we had problems, we talked to each other. Hell, we even loaned each other money when things got tight - although we'd run the other way when (Denny) McLain came along."

Gates Brown: The Hot Dog Incident (Baseball Hall of Shame 3, Bruce Nash, Pocket Books Publishing, 12/01/1988, Page 16)

"Gates Brown gave the most disgraceful exhibition of hot-dogging on the base paths that the game has ever seen.

Before a home game against the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers manager Mayo Smith decided that rather than start Brown, he would use him as a pinch hitter if the situation warranted it.

In the sixth inning, with Cleveland leading 2-1, Gates, a 220-pound player whose love for baseball was exceeded only by his love for food, sneaked out of the dugout and into the clubhouse for a snack. Brown grabbed two hot dogs, slapped some mustard and ketchup on them, and hustled back to the dugout.

Sitting the the far corner, he planned on eating the hot dogs on the sly. He also figured he had plenty of time to munch on them because Smith almost never called on Gate to pinch-hit until late in the game. Brown had just taken a bite out of his first dog when, from the other end of the dugout, he heard Smith say, 'Gates, get your bat and hit.'

Brown was not prepared to play. His belt was unbuckled, his shoes were untied, and he was holding a hot dog in each hand. By turning his back to Smith, Gates was able to hide his dilemma from the manager. But since Smith was staring at him, Brown couldn't dump the hot dogs without getting into trouble. So Gates stuffed the doggies in his jersey, tied his shoes, fastened his belt, grabbed a bat, and headed for the batter's box.

'I always wanted to get a hit every time I went up to the plate,' recalled Brown. 'But this was one time I didn't want to get a hit. I'll be damned if I didn't smack one in the gap and I had to slide into second - headfirst, no less. I was safe with a double. But when I stood up, I had mustard and ketchup and smashed hot dogs and buns all over me.'

'The fielders took one look at me, turned their backs, and damned near busted a gut laughing at me. My teammates in the dugout went crazy. That had to be my most embarrassing moment in baseball.'

Brown's hit helped win the game, but, he confessed, 'I was still pissed off because I had messed up my hot dogs and I couldn't eat them.'

Although his uniform was stained with mustard and ketchup, Gates had plenty of Mayo with his hot dogs. The manager fined him $100. 'When I returned to the dugout,' Brown recalled, 'Smith said, What the hell were you doing on the bench in the first place? I decided to tell him the truth. I said, I was was hungry. Besides, where else can you eat a hot dog and have the best seat in the house?.'"

Gates Brown: The Hot Dog Incident - Part 2, A teammate's point of view with a slight variance on how those hotdogs got to Gates, (The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, Jim Hawkins, Sports Publishing, 04/01/2003, Page 97)

"It soon became obvious that they were a special group of guys.

'I keep looking back at all the jerks we had on that team,' said Hiller. 'I don't mean that meanly - I mean it affectionally. I just can't imagine another mix of personalities like we had. We hade more characters on that team than has ever been assembled on any one team anywhere. You forget about the games. You forget about the bobbles and the good plays and the good hits. What you remember are the pranks and good times.'

Like the time Gates Brown suddenly heard his sizable stomach growling in the middle of a game. No problem said Northrup, ever the instigator. 'I leaned out of the dugout and asked a fan to go buy us a hot dog,' Northrup recalled. 'I traded him a bseball for it. We did that all the time. Mayo [Smith] never did figure it out.'

However, before Brown could take his first bit of his hot dog, the Tiger manager hollered for him to pinch hit.

'I offered to hold the hot dog for him', said Northrup, 'but you know Gates. Once he's got his hands on something to eat, he's not going to let it go.'

Instead, Brown tucked his hot dog, mustard and all, inside his shirt, and headed for home plate. Of course, he got a hit. He was, after all, the Tigers' top pinch hitter. But Gates was forced to do a head-first slide into second base, hot dog and all.

'When Gates stood up,' Northrup recalled, 'he had a big splotch of mustard, about six inches across, on the front of the uniform. Mayo went ballistic.'

On June 19, 1963, during the fifth inning, Gates Brown hit a home run in his first Major League at-bat - the thirteenth American League player in history to join the "club"; however, Gates entered the game as a pinch hitter which was only the third instance in the hisotry of the junior circuit (Ace Parker on April 30, 1937 / John Kennedy on September 5, 1962).