Ray Brown, baseball player, Final season: 1945

Ray Brown

⭐ Hall of Fame 2006

Born: 2/23/1908 in McDonald Township, OH, USA

Died: 2/8/1965 in Dayton, OH, USA

Bats: B | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 195 lbs

Full name: Raymond Leslie Brown

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Biography

Ray Brown, born in 1908, was a professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1945 until his final game on September 26 of that year. Although Brown’s time on the field was brief and he did not record any official statistics, he remains a part of baseball history during a transitional period post-World War II. This era saw the re-establishment of the game with returning servicemen and the beginning of the integration movement, which would soon change the landscape of Major League Baseball. As a position player, Brown was part of a generation that was competing for opportunities during a time of significant change in the sport. Despite not registering any hits, home runs, or RBIs in his professional career, his involvement in the game reflects the stories of many players who tried to make their mark in a challenging environment. While statistical accomplishments may define many players, Brown's story serves as a reminder of the countless athletes who contributed to the rich tapestry of baseball history, even if their statistics did not reflect their dedication to the sport.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1100.0 997.0 160.0 305.0 55.0 17.0 31.0 124.0 89.0 25.0 3.0 0.306 0.365 0.488 0.853

Pitching

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
312.0 0 0 177.0 156.0 0 0 0.0 1342.0 707.0 164.0 44.0 0 0 0.92

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1934 3.0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1935 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1936 124.0 115.0 20.0 48.0 4.0 1.0 3.0 11.0 7.0 0 0 0.417 0.455 0.548 1.003
1937 118.0 107.0 25.0 31.0 6.0 2.0 3.0 10.0 11.0 1.0 0 0.290 0.356 0.467 0.823
1938 120.0 111.0 21.0 32.0 9.0 0 8.0 22.0 6.0 1.0 0 0.288 0.325 0.586 0.911
1939 96.0 89.0 16.0 27.0 7.0 0 1.0 3.0 6.0 1.0 1.0 0.303 0.354 0.416 0.770
1940 92.0 81.0 12.0 26.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 6.0 9.0 2.0 0 0.321 0.389 0.481 0.870
1941 84.0 78.0 9.0 19.0 3.0 2.0 4.0 8.0 6.0 5.0 1.0 0.244 0.298 0.487 0.785
1942 138.0 129.0 17.0 35.0 10.0 3.0 3.0 12.0 7.0 4.0 1.0 0.271 0.314 0.465 0.779
1943 127.0 114.0 14.0 34.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 23.0 11.0 5.0 0 0.298 0.365 0.412 0.777
1944 108.0 99.0 14.0 30.0 5.0 3.0 2.0 12.0 8.0 1.0 0 0.303 0.355 0.475 0.830
1945 89.0 70.0 12.0 23.0 5.0 2.0 3.0 17.0 18.0 2.0 0 0.329 0.466 0.586 1.052

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
1935 1.0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 0 0 0 3.00
1936 29.0 0 0 16.0 15.0 0 0 0.0 115.0 70.0 27.0 6.0 0 0 1.66
1937 34.0 0 0 18.0 17.0 0 0 0.0 141.0 79.0 23.0 6.0 0 0 1.21
1938 25.0 0 0 21.0 17.0 0 0 0.0 154.0 85.0 24.0 6.0 0 0 1.08
1939 14.0 0 0 10.0 8.0 0 0 0.0 74.0 48.0 16.0 2.0 0 0 1.83
1940 50.0 0 0 20.0 20.0 0 0 0.0 145.0 55.0 11.0 1.0 0 0 0.53
1941 31.0 0 0 20.0 19.0 0 0 0.0 170.0 77.0 17.0 2.0 0 0 0.85
1942 52.0 0 0 23.0 21.0 0 0 0.0 194.0 93.0 16.0 9.0 0 0 0.68
1943 36.0 0 0 16.0 12.0 0 0 0.0 105.0 70.0 7.0 5.0 0 0 0.43
1944 32.0 0 0 21.0 18.0 0 0 0.0 164.0 80.0 17.0 5.0 0 0 0.84
1945 8.0 0 0 11.0 9.0 0 0 0.0 76.0 48.0 5.0 2.0 0 0 0.50

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
123 47 224 163 142 17 15 1511.7 1437 540 40 430 726 3.21 0

Career ERA 3.21 vs. league average 4.05 across their career seasons — 20.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1931 AB2 NNL 7 5 15 13 11 1 0 109.7 88 32 32 68 2.63 4.10 (+36%) 2824.8
1931 KCM IND 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4.3 2 0 1 2 0.00 — 0.0
1932 DW EWL 2 3 5 5 4 1 0 42.0 46 17 19 21 3.64 4.13 (+12%) 605.0
1932 HG EWL 5 4 11 7 7 0 1 73.3 73 30 19 30 3.68 4.13 (+11%) 134.7
1933 HG NN2 6 2 10 9 6 0 0 72.7 74 24 18 42 2.97 3.86 (+23%) 1286.6
1934 HG IND 1 2 3 3 2 0 0 21.7 29 15 6 13 6.23 4.29 (-45%) 708.4
1935 HG NN2 8 5 17 12 10 1 1 105.0 99 38 41 48 3.26 4.35 (+25%) 932.4
1936 HG NN2 6 3 13 9 7 0 1 86.7 77 38 26 39 3.95 4.59 (+14%) 1312.2
1937 HG NN2 11 3 21 12 12 0 4 126.0 109 45 37 74 3.21 4.34 (+26%) 2982.2
1938 HG NN2 14 0 20 11 11 4 3 129.0 106 28 26 70 1.95 4.35 (+55%) 4673.2
1939 HG NN2 6 1 7 7 6 0 0 59.3 69 30 16 14 4.55 4.28 (-6%) 990.7
1940 HG NN2 17 2 21 18 18 4 0 165.3 137 38 45 75 2.07 4.21 (+51%) 5231.7
1941 HG NN2 8 6 20 13 13 0 3 129.3 137 49 38 70 3.41 3.94 (+13%) 3606.6
1942 HG NN2 13 6 20 16 13 0 0 141.7 141 55 49 60 3.49 3.57 (+2%) 1094.1
1943 HG NN2 6 1 15 9 6 2 1 77.0 78 35 26 30 4.09 3.50 (-17%) 726.0
1944 HG NN2 10 1 17 14 12 3 1 127.3 130 46 23 50 3.25 3.57 (+9%) 2315.7
1945 HG NN2 3 3 6 5 4 1 0 41.3 42 20 8 20 4.35 3.67 (-19%) 1065.8

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
465 1360 212 366 79 24 33 224 10 132 20 0.269 0.335 0.435 0.770 1385.3

Career AVG .269 vs. league average .270 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .335 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .435 vs. league average .380 across their career seasons — +14.4% above league average.

Career OPS 0.770 vs. league average 0.716 across their career seasons — +7.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1931 AB2 NNL 25 59 5 13 3 1 0 3 0 3 2 0.220 .276 (-20%) .338 (-24%) .388 (-21%) .726 (-22%) -237.2
1931 KCM IND 6 12 1 4 1 0 1 5 0 2 3 0.333 — — — — -237.2
1932 DW EWL 20 73 8 18 4 0 0 8 0 3 0 0.247 .275 (-10%) .335 (-18%) .391 (-23%) .726 (-21%) -253.8
1932 HG EWL 24 77 13 18 6 3 0 8 1 4 0 0.234 .275 (-15%) .335 (-19%) .391 (avg) .726 (-9%) -253.8
1933 HG NN2 20 81 11 22 7 3 2 15 1 2 0 0.272 .270 (+1%) .329 (-12%) .377 (+34%) .707 (+12%) 97.1
1934 HG IND 20 71 13 21 5 2 5 17 0 5 1 0.296 .278 (+6%) .340 (+1%) .392 (+61%) .733 (+33%) 342.8
1935 HG NN2 36 118 28 33 12 3 5 29 4 18 1 0.280 .279 (avg) .342 (+9%) .399 (+40%) .742 (+26%) 509.4
1936 HG NN2 27 80 8 23 1 1 1 10 1 9 0 0.287 .283 (+1%) .349 (+3%) .404 (-10%) .753 (-4%) -40.5
1937 HG NN2 35 87 25 28 5 1 3 19 0 11 0 0.322 .276 (+16%) .342 (+16%) .398 (+27%) .740 (+22%) 343.6
1938 HG NN2 33 93 21 27 9 0 6 22 0 10 1 0.290 .272 (+6%) .341 (+5%) .392 (+48%) .734 (+28%) 415.3
1939 HG NN2 19 71 14 18 3 0 1 8 1 4 1 0.254 .274 (-8%) .342 (-14%) .393 (-14%) .735 (-14%) -175.5
1940 HG NN2 32 80 12 26 3 2 2 10 0 10 1 0.325 .267 (+22%) .335 (+19%) .387 (+26%) .722 (+23%) 317.1
1941 HG NN2 33 78 9 16 3 1 3 8 2 6 4 0.205 .262 (-22%) .332 (-21%) .373 (+3%) .705 (-8%) -139.8
1942 HG NN2 36 112 13 25 6 1 1 9 0 7 3 0.223 .253 (-12%) .323 (-15%) .349 (-8%) .672 (-11%) -230.8
1943 HG NN2 41 111 13 32 3 2 1 23 0 12 1 0.288 .255 (+13%) .324 (+12%) .346 (+9%) .671 (+10%) 203.1
1944 HG NN2 31 81 13 26 3 2 2 17 0 10 1 0.321 .261 (+23%) .325 (+21%) .357 (+35%) .683 (+28%) 374.7
1945 HG NN2 27 76 5 16 5 2 0 13 0 16 1 0.211 .260 (-19%) .328 (+6%) .354 (-7%) .683 (-1%) 18.5

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
15 36 4 12 3 0 1 9 6 0 0.333

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1945 NWS HG 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
1944 NWS HG 1 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.400
1943 NWS HG 4 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.250
1942 NWS HG 3 9 1 4 2 0 0 4 3 0 0.444
1941 NLC HG 1 5 1 3 1 0 1 5 1 0 0.600
1939 NLC HG 3 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.250
1939 NLP2 HG 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
5 2 8 5 0 56.7 44 7 13 28 1.11

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1945 NWS HG 0 1 1 1 0 9.0 9 1 2 1 1.00
1944 NWS HG 1 0 1 1 0 9.0 1 0 3 5 0.00
1943 NWS HG 2 0 3 0 0 11.7 5 0 5 6 0.00
1942 NWS HG 0 1 1 1 0 9.0 16 6 2 7 6.00
1941 NLC HG 1 0 1 1 0 9.0 6 0 0 2 0.00
1939 NLP2 HG 1 0 1 1 0 9.0 7 0 1 7 0.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 8 8 87 5 0 6
2B 1 1 2 3 1 0
3B 7 6 4 7 2 0
OF 213 163 300 16 14 2
P 224 163 58 484 23 20
SS 1 1 0 0 1 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1931 AB2 OF 7 2 4 2 0 1
1931 AB2 P 15 13 2 28 5 1
1931 AB2 SS 1 1 0 0 1 0
1931 KCM OF 3 2 0 0 1 0
1931 KCM P 3 0 0 3 0 0
1932 DW OF 15 14 22 0 2 0
1932 DW P 5 5 1 16 0 0
1932 HG OF 13 13 21 2 0 0
1932 HG P 11 7 3 31 1 1
1933 HG OF 14 11 44 0 1 0
1933 HG P 10 9 10 28 3 3
1934 HG OF 18 17 40 1 1 0
1934 HG P 3 3 2 9 0 0
1935 HG OF 20 20 33 2 1 0
1935 HG P 17 12 4 35 2 0
1936 HG OF 14 10 20 2 0 0
1936 HG P 13 9 6 34 0 3
1937 HG 3B 1 1 0 1 1 0
1937 HG OF 12 7 14 0 0 0
1937 HG P 21 12 4 41 1 2
1938 HG 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1938 HG OF 13 10 14 1 1 0
1938 HG P 20 11 5 41 3 3
1939 HG 1B 1 1 12 0 0 0
1939 HG OF 11 11 23 2 2 1
1939 HG P 7 7 2 16 2 0
1940 HG OF 5 4 7 0 0 0
1940 HG P 21 18 4 63 2 3
1941 HG 1B 1 1 16 0 0 3
1941 HG OF 5 3 3 0 0 0
1941 HG P 20 13 6 37 1 0
1942 HG 1B 1 1 14 0 0 1
1942 HG OF 16 9 16 0 2 0
1942 HG P 20 16 6 32 2 2
1943 HG OF 25 19 19 3 3 0
1943 HG P 15 9 2 23 0 0
1944 HG 1B 2 2 22 3 0 1
1944 HG OF 8 4 7 0 0 0
1944 HG P 17 14 1 35 0 1
1945 HG 1B 3 3 23 2 0 1
1945 HG 2B 1 1 2 3 1 0
1945 HG 3B 5 5 4 6 1 0
1945 HG OF 14 7 13 1 0 0
1945 HG P 6 5 0 12 1 1

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 224
First Base 8
Second Base 1
Third Base 7
Shortstop 1
Left Field 50
Center Field 78
Right Field 85