Bobby Brown, 96, a life of Yankees, military, medicine, dies

NEW YORK (AP) » At the very first Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium, on the final day of the 1947 season, 22-year-old rookie Bobby Brown watched wide-eyed from the dugout.

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were on the field. Joe DiMaggio wasn’t a face on a ballpark monument then — he was a teammate.

All of a sudden, the festivities took a dark turn. Hall of Famer Home Run Baker tried to beat out a bunt and collapsed near first base.

Brown was the only one in the surrounding area with any medical training. Quickly summoned to tend to the 61-year-old Baker, Brown rushed out and dispensed his best advice.

“I told him, ‘Get up, get up!’” Brown recalled a few years ago. “I guess it worked.”

Worked out pretty well, too, for Brown, one of baseball’s most distinguished major leaguers on and off the field.

Five-time champion with the New York Yankees. Highest World Series batting average of anyone with at least 35 plate appearances. Veteran of World War II and the Korean War. Prominent cardiologist. American League president.

Brown died at 96 on Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas, the Yankees said. They said he was last remaining person to play for the team in the 1940s.

“Few people who have worn the pinstripes have lived such an accomplished, fulfilled, and wide-ranging life as Dr. Brown, who was beloved by our organization for his warmth, kindness and character,” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement.

Brown made his big league debut on Sept. 22, 1946, the same day roommate Yogi Berra played his first game.

Often used as a platoon third baseman, Brown was with the Yankees through 1954 and batted .279 with 22 home runs and 237 RBIs. Known as a terrific contact hitter, Brown struck out just 88 times in 1,863 plate appearances. In the World Series, Brown became a Bronx bruiser.

Just two days after that Old-Timers’ Day episode in 1947, Brown made his debut in the Fall Classic as a pinch-hitter, drawing a bases-loaded walk against Brooklyn. Brown went 3 for 3 in that matchup, including a big, pinch-hit RBI double in a Game 7 win.

Brown hit .439 (18 for 41) with five doubles, three triples and nine RBIs in 17 World Series games, with a .500 on-base percentage.

Born on Oct. 25, 1924, in Seattle, Brown went to the same San Francisco high school as DiMaggio. He enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and served stateside, and signed with the Yankees in 1946.