William James BrownDetroit TigersOutfield
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 220
Born: May 2, 1939, Crestline, OH
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1963-75
World Series Appearances: Detroit Tigers 1968
Died: September 13, 2013, Detroit, MI (age 74)
Gates Brown spent his entire big league career with the Tigers, serving as a clutch left-handed bat off the bench for 13 seasons. Brown won two World Series rings with the Tigers - his first as a player in 1968 and his second as the team's hitting coach in 1984. Of his 1,051 career games, only 430 appearances saw Brown on the field playing defense. He was used as a pinch-hitter 522 times and he still holds the American League records for most pinch-hit at-bats (414), pinch-hits (107) and pinch-hit home runs (16). His clutch hitting in 1968 is credited with helping the Tigers reach the World Series. Brown was a career .257 hitter with 84 home runs and 322 RBIs. He served as the Tigers' first base or hitting coach for seven seasons between 1978 and 1984.
I don't like to copy and paste passages verbatim, but I couldn't resist with this excerpt from Brown's Wikipedia biography: "On August 7, 1968, Brown wasn't in the starting lineup, and decided to grab two hot dogs from the clubhouse. He was ordered by manager Mayo Smith (#40) to pinch hit. He notoriously stuffed the hot dogs in his jersey to hide them from his manager. 'I always wanted to get a hit every time I went to the plate. 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 - head first, 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.' After fining Brown $100, Smith said, 'What the hell were you doing eating on the bench in the first place?' Brown replied, 'I decided to tell him the truth. I said, 'I was hungry. Besides, where else can you eat a hot dog and have the best seat in the house.'"
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #553December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Vintage Cardboard Collectibles)On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report
over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
Having spent the first half hour or so pulling 98 commons and semi-stars from the neon green binder of Uncle Dick's Cards, and adding the big purchase of the day, the Rollie Fingers (#597) rookie card, and after adding a few more star cards, the remaining cash I had was starting to burn a hole in my wallet. I had noticed the common/semi-star boxes at the tables of Vintage Cardboard Collectibles, and I found 14 more cards for our 1969 Topps set and six cards for our not-yet-officially collecting 1959 Topps set. This is the eighth of those 14 cards. After the obligatory dealer discount, I handed over the last of my cash, and we exited the show for the drive home.
Brown wore #26 during most of his career with the Tigers, and his uniform number is poking through here on the back of his jersey. I'm guessing this photo and the photo used for his 1968 Topps card were taken at the same session. On the back, Brown's first home run in his major league debut is highlighted. On June 19, 1963, and with the Tigers trailing the Red Sox, 4-1 in the top of the 5th inning, Brown pinch-hit for Tigers pitcher Don Mossi and hit a home run off Red Sox pitcher Bob Heffner. The Tigers would go on to lose the game, 9-2.
Brown appeared on 12 flagship Topps cards throughout his career, and there's little to no variety to the dozen cards. With the exception of only his first and last cards, he's shown holding a bat and either getting ready to swing or already in his follow-through.
Accuracy Index: Brown's card scores a +5.
1969 Season
Brown appeared in 60 games for the Tigers, batting .204 with a home run and six RBIs. He made 14 starts in left field and his other 44 appearances were as a pinch-hitter. Brown was 8 for 39 as a pinch-hitter for the season, batting .205 in that role.
 | | 1964 Topps #471 |
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 | | 1968 Topps #583 |
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 | | 1970 Topps #98 |
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 | | 1972 Topps #187 |
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 | | 1975 Topps #371 |
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Other Notable Baseball CardsFirst Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #471
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1964-75
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1990 Pacific Senior League #199
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 57 in the Beckett online database as of 8/17/25.
Sources: Baseball Reference /
SABR /
Wikipedia
