Jeremy Brown, made famous by Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball, has decided to retire. He ended up playing a total of five major league games, hitting .300/.364/.500 in eleven plate appearances. We should all be so fortunate. In the minors, he hit .269/.370/.439 in 539 games. Catfish Stew has a slideshow of his first major league game.
To replace Brown in the spring training role as the catcher-we’d-rather-see-bat-than-catch, the Oakland Athletics announced they have signed Matt LeCroy.
Of the seven first- and supplemental-round picks that the A’s had in the 2002 Moneyball draft, only Joe Blanton now remains in the organization. And who knows how long that will last?
Update: It seems Brown had some family issues that led to his decision to retire.
1. The thing I will remember most about Jeremy Brown is the fact he came out to booty shaking hip hop music. That always made me laugh.
2. I spoke briefly with Brown a couple of times last summer while staying in a hotel room across the hall from him. (I was taking an elderly family member, who is a Rivercat season ticket holder, on a trip to see the team on the road.) Brown was pleasant, polite, and self-deprecating. A member of the Rivercat front office staff said that he was good at keeping the clubhouse loose and easy, often by telling stories on himself. I wish he had gotten a bit more Major League time.
3. I've been alive a long time, so don't tell me all of a sudden I have to "meet the guy" before I can state that he did things the wrong way, and got what he deserved.
4. 3 What the heck prompted that outburst?
5. I think 3 must not like how Brown looks in jeans.
6. it was a tongue-in-cheek jab at Joe Morgan :)