Hector Harold Brown (December 11, 1924 â December 17, 2015) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from through for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Houston Colt .45s. Brown was a knuckleballer with outstanding control who worked as both a starting pitcher and as a relief pitcher. He played for all or portions of eight seasons (1955âÂÂ1962) with the Orioles, posting a 62âÂÂ48 wonâÂÂlost record, and was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1991. He was a veteran of the United States Army Air Forces who served in the European theatre of World War II.
Brown was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and was nicknamed "Skinny" by his parents because he was a chubby child. He attended Greensboro High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He weighed and stood tall during his active career. Brown was 26 years old when the White Sox purchased his contract from the Triple-A Seattle Rainiers and he made his major league debut with the team on April 19, 1951. He spent two years with the White Sox before moving to the Red Sox, the team that had originally signed him to a pro contract in 1946. In , Brown went 11âÂÂ6 in 25 starts. He joined the Orioles in July 1955, winning 34 games for them from 1956 to 1959. In , he compiled a 12âÂÂ5 mark with a career-low 3.06 ERA for a contending Baltimore team that finished second in the American League. The next year, he went 10âÂÂ6 with a 3.19 ERA. He was sold to the pennant-bound Yankees in September 1962.
Brown worked in two late-season games for the Yankees, but was ineligible for the Bombers' 1962 World Series roster because he was sold to them after September 1. He was purchased by the Colt .45s at the outset of the season. It was the third time that Houston general manager Paul Richards, who managed Brown in Seattle in 1950, had acquired the right-handed pitcher â he had done so in 1951 when Richards managed the White Sox and in 1955 when he was both general manager and field manager with the Orioles.
With Houston in 1963, Brown was a victim of poor run support, as he walked just eight batters in 141 innings and posted a 3.31 ERA, but tallied a 5âÂÂ11 record. In , his last major league season, he finished 3âÂÂ15 with a 3.95 ERA.
In a 14-season major league career, Brown posted an 85âÂÂ92 record with a 3.81 ERA in 358 appearances, including 211 starts, 47 complete games, 13 shutouts, 11 saves, 1,680 innings pitched, and a 1.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio (710-to-389). He allowed 1,677 hits, but only 389 bases on balls, 14 hit by pitches and 37 wild pitches as a major leaguer.