Baseball in Wartime - Murrill Brown

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Those Who Died That Others Might Be Free

Murrill Brown

Date and Place of Birth: February 26, 1923 Huntington Beach, California
Date and Place of Death: September 1944 Jacksonville, Florida
Baseball Experience: Minor League
Position: Pitcher/Outfielder
Rank: Ensign
Military Unit: US Navy
Area Served: United States

Murrill J. Brown grew up in Huntington Beach, California, and starred as a pitcher and outfielder at Wilson High School in Long Beach, and with the Samuel Thomas Post 326 American Legion junior team in North Long Beach. He was signed by the Sacramento Solons of the Class AA Pacific Coast League in 1942, and joined the Pocatello Cardinals of the Class C Pioneer League, where he pitched and played the outfield. On May 28, he threw a 6–0 three-hitter against Boise, and was batting .333 by July. However, his bat cooled off as the season progressed and he finished with a .222 average having played 35 games in the outfield. On the mound he made 21 appearances for a 5–9 record and 4.54 ERA. The Cardinals finished the year with a 72–46 record for first place and clinched the Pioneer League title in the best-of-seven series against Boise, with Brown scoring the deciding run in a 3–2 triumph in the seventh game.

Brown was called into military service at the end of the season and joined the Navy. He earned trained as a pilot at NAAS Waldron in Texas, where he also played baseball, and earned his wings at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Texas. He was assigned to active duty as a Navy flyer at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida. In September 1944, Ensign Brown was killed when his plane crashed on an operational flight out of Jacksonville.

Batting

Year

Team

League

Class

RBI

AVG

1942

Pocatello

Pioneer

185

.222

Pitching

Year	Team	League	Class	G	IP	ER	BB	SO	W	L	ERA
1942	Pocatello	Pioneer	C	21	127	64	95	78	5	9	4.54

Thanks to Davis O Barker for help with this biography.

Added September 18, 2006. Updated February 22, 2011.

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