Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Ollie Lee (Downtown) Brown

Ollie Brown is the first Padre, he was drafted with the first pick of the 1968 expansion draft. He comes from an athletic family, his brother Oscar played five seasons with the Braves between 1969-1973, his older brother Willie played running back at USC (University of Spoiled Children) and then played for the Rams and Eagles. Ollie pitched and played outfield in the minor leagues, he actually pitched a no-hitter on August 23, 1963 for Decatur of the Midwest League.

Ollie was signed by the Giants as an amateur free agent in 1962, he made his major league debut September 10, 1965. Then he was chosen by the Padres in the expansion draft. He played three and a half seasons with the Padres and hit 52 Home Runs, 43 of them were hit in the first two seasons. In May of 1972 he was traded to the A's for Curt Blefary, Mike Kilkenny, & Greg Schubert. In June of '72 he was plucked off the waiver wire by the Brewers, in October of 1973 the Brew Crew traded Ollie along with Joe Lahoud, Skip Lockwood, Ellie Rodriguez, Gary Ryerson for Clyde Wright, Steve Barber, Ken Berry, Art Kushyner and cash to the Angels. The Houston Astros purchased him from the Angels. In June of 1974 he was chosen off the waiver wire by the Phillies, three years later he played his final game on September 27, 1977. I got this great 1969 Topps card from ebay.

No comments: