Pete Browning
Encyclopedia
Louis Rogers "Pete" Browning (June 17, 1861 – September 10, 1905) was an American
center
and left fielder
in Major League Baseball
from 1882 to 1894 who played primarily for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels
, becoming one of the sport's most accomplished batters
of the 1880s. A three-time batting champion
, he finished among the top three hitters in the league in each of his first seven years; only twice in his eleven full seasons did he finish lower than sixth. During the era before 1893, when the pitching distance was lengthened from 50 feet to 60 feet 6 inches, Browning ranked third among all major league players in career batting average, and fifth in slugging average. His .341 lifetime batting average remains one of the highest in major league history, and among the top five by a right-handed batter; his .345 average over eight American Association
seasons was the highest mark by any player during that league's 10-year existence. Nicknamed the "Louisville Slugger," he was enormously attentive to the bats
he used, and was the first player to have them custom-made, establishing a practice among hitters which continues to the present.
Playing in spite of serious medical afflictions which rendered him virtually deaf and subjected him to massive headaches, he resorted to alcohol to subdue the pain, but continued to hit well even as his drinking increased. He was also known as "The Gladiator", though sources differ as to whether the nickname applied to his struggles with ownership, the press, his drinking problem, or particularly elusive fly balls. He was the uncle of noted film director Tod Browning
(a protege of another native Kentuckian, the legendary D.W. Griffith, Tod Browning was best known for "Dracula" and "Freaks").
, Browning was the youngest of eight children. His father, a grocer, was killed by a cyclone
when Browning was thirteen years old. Young Pete remained with his mother, ultimately living in the house where he had grown up until the day he died.
He displayed considerable athletic prowess from an early age, and in 1877
began playing for a local semipro team, the Louisville Eclipse, and pitched
an exhibition win against a National League
team. He continued with the Eclipse into 1882
, when the franchise became a member of the newly formed American Association, the first major league to rival the NL.
s, runs
, hits
and total bases
. He was consistently among the league's top batters through 1888, winning a second batting crown in 1885
and hitting .402 in 1887
.
In 1884
, he acquired his first custom-made bat from the Hillerich & Bradsby
company, collecting three hits in his first game using it and beginning a baseball tradition. Or so legend has it. The true story of the Louisville Slugger bat is dealt with extensively in his biography, AMERICAN GLADIATOR (Philip Von Borries, 2007, Booklocker.com).
Twice in the decade, he hit for the cycle
: on August 8, 1886, and again on June 7, 1889. He also led the league in hits, total bases and on base percentage
in 1885. After suffering from mastoiditis
from a young age, which caused him to lose his hearing and embarrassed him into avoiding school, resulting in essential illiteracy, he underwent the first of several surgeries to alleviate the condition in 1884, though the problem would afflict him throughout his career.
Other aspects of Browning's game were less polished; he has usually been regarded as one of the worst fielders in major league history, although some recent assessments have begun to question that view. (Notably AMERICAN GLADIATOR, his first biography, which recounted numerous "web gems" by Browning from the beginning of his career to the very end. The revised assessment is that when Browning was sober and/or not suffering from the effects of the mastoiditis, he was a superb outfielder.)
After being used primarily as an infielder
in his first three seasons, playing every position except catcher
over that span, he was shifted to the outfield on a permanent basis in 1885. While the inferior equipment of the time is somewhat of a mitigating factor, Browning's playing record presented various evidence against any hidden defensive prowess. So did his unusual habit of playing the infield while standing on one leg, which he claimed to have adopted in order to avoid collisions with other players; however, some sources have noted that his probable rationale was to gain an advantage against baserunners he could not hear by aiming one leg toward them, and that he continued to do so in the outfield because he couldn't hear his teammates on either side. An oft-reported story, possibly apocryphal, features one of Browning's managers claiming that the team would be better off with a wooden statue of an Indian in the outfield, since there was at least a slim chance that a batted ball might strike the statue and rebound back in the direction of the field. Indeed, he led league outfielders in errors
in both 1886 and 1887. Browning's baserunning was also considered sub-par, exacerbated by his refusal to slide.
Browning lost his appetite for playing in Louisville during a hellish 1889 season. That year, the luckless franchise (by now known as the Colonels) finished last in the league with 27 wins and 111 losses, 66.5 games behind the top club. The season included not only a major league record 26-game losing streak, but also a narrow escape from the Johnstown Flood
and the sport's first-ever strike
. In the dispute, Browning was one of six players who refused to take the field as a protest against a series of heavy fines assessed by team owner Mordecai Davidson
. The game took place as scheduled with the assistance of three local amateurs, and the striking players returned to work before the next contest. Browning finished the season with a .256 average, the first time he was not among the league's top three hitters. He left the American Association after eight seasons with a .345 career average, which would stand as the best mark by any player with more than one season in the league; Tip O'Neill
ranks second at .343.
As a result of these events, as well as other labor disputes throughout the sport, Browning – along with nearly all the game's stars – chose to jump to the Players League
for the 1890
season, and played for the Cleveland Infants
. The American Association had long been considered inferior to the NL, but in that season Browning proved that he was indeed among the game's top hitters by winning his third batting title with a .373 mark. The league dissolved after its sole season, and Browning spent the remaining four years of his career bouncing around between franchises in the NL. He spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates
(1891) and Cincinnati Reds
(1891–92), then was back with the Colonels, who had joined the NL in a league merger (1892–93), before ending his major-league career in 1894 with a handful of appearances for the St. Louis Browns and Brooklyn Bridegrooms in the National League. (He began the 1894 season playing minor-league ball for "Kelly's Killers" of Allentown, Pa. in the Pennsylvania State League. The team was managed by future Hall-of-Famer Mike "King" Kelly.)
His last professional season was in 1896 with the Columbus Buckeyes in the Western League.
In the years before 1893, among players with at least 2500 career at bats, his batting average of .341 ranked behind only Dan Brouthers
(.343) and Dave Orr
(.342), with his slugging mark of .467 trailing only those of Brouthers (.520), Orr (.502), Roger Connor
(.488) and Sam Thompson
(.468). His recognized career hit total through 1893 ranked 10th in major league history to that point. Brouthers, a five-time champion, was the only other major league player to win more than two batting titles in the 19th century.
, a serious infection of the inner ear usually contracted during childhood, which can result in deafness
, vertigo
, facial palsy
, and brain damage. As a result, he lost his hearing at a young age, and was faced with frequent bouts of crippling head pain. The deafness had led Browning to drop out of school at an early age, so that he went through life as a virtual illiterate
, and in order to deaden the physical pain resulting from his condition, he began drinking heavily in his youth. The drinking quickly spiraled out of control; he often appeared on the field while drunk, and was suspended for the final two months of the 1889 season for drunkenness, along with other shorter suspensions at different times. He was unable to stop, however, frequently stating, "I can't hit the ball until I hit the bottle."
Browning was a man of eccentric personal habits, particularly in relation to his bats. He spoke to them, and gave each one a name, often that of a Biblical
figure. In the belief that any individual bat contained only a certain number of hits, he would periodically "retire" bats, keeping vast numbers of the retired ones in the home he shared with his mother. These bats were 37 inches long and 48 ounces in weight, enormous even by the standards of the time. He also habitually stared at the sun, thinking that by doing so, he would strengthen his eyes. He also "cleansed" his eyes when travelling by train by sticking his head out the window in an effort to catch cinders in them. Browning also computed his average on his cuffs on a regular basis, and was not above announcing to all when his train arrived at a depot that he was the champion batter of the American Association.
He remained a lifelong bachelor, though his affection for prostitutes was a matter of much discussion in the newspapers.
After his retirement as a player, Browning worked as a cigar salesman and owned a bar, which ultimately failed; but his physical condition continued to deteriorate due to the mastoiditis and resulting complications. He remained a popular Louisville figure until June 7, 1905, when he was declared insane and committed to a local asylum (Lakeland). A sister released him two weeks later, but a month after that, he was in the hospital, suffering from a general physical collapse. He died in Louisville on September 10 of that year at age 44. The specific cause of death was listed as asthenia (a weakening of the body), a cover-all medical term used by doctors of that time. However, he no doubt suffered from a wide variety of serious physical complaints. In addition to the mastoiditis, he was afflicted with cancer
, advanced cirrhosis
of the liver, alcohol-related brain damage, and according to some sources, paresis
. He is buried in historic Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.
(Some sources report that he died in an insane asylum. This is incorrect, though he was in Lakeland Asylum a short time before he died.)
Browning is probably best remembered today as the inspiration behind the Hillerich & Bradsby
company's popular "Louisville Slugger" line of baseball bats. He was the first player to purchase a bat from the company, and they adopted the name a few years later to honor his patronage and capitalize on his fame.
Browning's decision to sign with Pittsburgh in 1891
is noteworthy, as this transaction helped cement the team's new nickname of "Pirates". When the Players League collapsed, its members were supposed to return to their franchises from the prior season. Pittsburgh, though, signed several players who were theoretically under the control of other clubs, starting with second baseman
Lou Bierbauer
. Other franchises decried these acts of "piracy", and the name stuck.
The strike by Browning and his Louisville teammates is also important in that it was the first labor action in what was ultimately a long series of disputes between players and management, prefacing the formation and collapse of the Players League.
In 1984, a new grave marker was dedicated for Pete Browning, one that correctly spelled his name and listed all his major baseball achievements. The new marker was the idea of Philip Von Borries, who wrote the copy for the new marker and who also co-designed the marker. The ceremonies, jointly held by the city of Louisville snd the Hillerich & Bradsby Company, came during the company's centennial celebration of their famed Louisville Slugger bat (of which Browning is the namesake).
There is currently a Browning's Restaurant & Brewery adjacent to Louisville Slugger Field.
The Nineteenth Century Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research named Browning the Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend for 2009 - a 19th century player, manager, executive or other baseball personality not yet inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
center
Center fielder
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball fielding position between left field and right field...
and left fielder
Left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
from 1882 to 1894 who played primarily for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels
Louisville Colonels
The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891, first as the Louisville Eclipse and later as the Louisville Colonels , the latter name derived from the historic Kentucky colonels...
, becoming one of the sport's most accomplished batters
Batting (baseball)
In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher...
of the 1880s. A three-time batting champion
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
, he finished among the top three hitters in the league in each of his first seven years; only twice in his eleven full seasons did he finish lower than sixth. During the era before 1893, when the pitching distance was lengthened from 50 feet to 60 feet 6 inches, Browning ranked third among all major league players in career batting average, and fifth in slugging average. His .341 lifetime batting average remains one of the highest in major league history, and among the top five by a right-handed batter; his .345 average over eight American Association
American Association (19th century)
The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
seasons was the highest mark by any player during that league's 10-year existence. Nicknamed the "Louisville Slugger," he was enormously attentive to the bats
Baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...
he used, and was the first player to have them custom-made, establishing a practice among hitters which continues to the present.
Playing in spite of serious medical afflictions which rendered him virtually deaf and subjected him to massive headaches, he resorted to alcohol to subdue the pain, but continued to hit well even as his drinking increased. He was also known as "The Gladiator", though sources differ as to whether the nickname applied to his struggles with ownership, the press, his drinking problem, or particularly elusive fly balls. He was the uncle of noted film director Tod Browning
Tod Browning
Tod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras...
(a protege of another native Kentuckian, the legendary D.W. Griffith, Tod Browning was best known for "Dracula" and "Freaks").
Early years
Born in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Browning was the youngest of eight children. His father, a grocer, was killed by a cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
when Browning was thirteen years old. Young Pete remained with his mother, ultimately living in the house where he had grown up until the day he died.
He displayed considerable athletic prowess from an early age, and in 1877
1877 in baseball
-Champions:*National League: Boston Red Caps*International Association: London‚ Ontario‚ Canada Tecumsehs*League Alliance: Indianapolis Hoosiers & Lowell Ladies' Men *New England Association: Lowell Ladies' Men...
began playing for a local semipro team, the Louisville Eclipse, and pitched
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
an exhibition win against a National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
team. He continued with the Eclipse into 1882
1882 in baseball
-Champions:*National League: Chicago def. Providence 5 games to 4*American Association: Cincinnati Red Stockings*League Alliance: New York MetropolitansInterleague*Chicago vs. Cincinnati tie 1 game each*Chicago def...
, when the franchise became a member of the newly formed American Association, the first major league to rival the NL.
Professional career
Browning quickly distinguished himself as an exceptional slugger. He led the league in both batting (.378) and slugging (.510) in its first season, also finishing in the top five in home runHome run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s, runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
, hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
and total bases
Total bases
In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....
. He was consistently among the league's top batters through 1888, winning a second batting crown in 1885
1885 in baseball
-Champions:*Post-season playoff: Chicago White Stockings played St. Louis Browns. Series ended with both teams going 3-3-1 in a best-of-7 series. Game 1 ended in a tie called after 8 inning due to darkness; Game 2 was awarded to Chicago by forfeit after 6 innings because St. Louis refused to...
and hitting .402 in 1887
1887 in baseball
-National League final standings:-American Association final standings:-National League statistical leaders:-American Association statistical leaders:-January–March:...
.
In 1884
1884 in baseball
-Champions:*First World's Championship Series: Providence Grays over New York Metropolitans *National League: Providence Grays*American Association: New York Metropolitans*Union Association: St...
, he acquired his first custom-made bat from the Hillerich & Bradsby
Hillerich & Bradsby
Hillerich & Bradsby Company is a company located in Louisville, Kentucky that produces the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat. The Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in downtown Louisville features a retrospective of the product and its use throughout baseball history...
company, collecting three hits in his first game using it and beginning a baseball tradition. Or so legend has it. The true story of the Louisville Slugger bat is dealt with extensively in his biography, AMERICAN GLADIATOR (Philip Von Borries, 2007, Booklocker.com).
Twice in the decade, he hit for the cycle
Hitting for the cycle
In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are uncommon in Major League Baseball , occurring 293 times since the first by Curry...
: on August 8, 1886, and again on June 7, 1889. He also led the league in hits, total bases and on base percentage
On base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) (sometimes...
in 1885. After suffering from mastoiditis
Mastoiditis
Mastoiditis is an infection of mastoid process, the portion of the temporal bone of the skull that is behind the ear which contains open, air-containing spaces. It is usually caused by untreated acute otitis media and used to be a leading cause of child mortality. With the development of...
from a young age, which caused him to lose his hearing and embarrassed him into avoiding school, resulting in essential illiteracy, he underwent the first of several surgeries to alleviate the condition in 1884, though the problem would afflict him throughout his career.
Other aspects of Browning's game were less polished; he has usually been regarded as one of the worst fielders in major league history, although some recent assessments have begun to question that view. (Notably AMERICAN GLADIATOR, his first biography, which recounted numerous "web gems" by Browning from the beginning of his career to the very end. The revised assessment is that when Browning was sober and/or not suffering from the effects of the mastoiditis, he was a superb outfielder.)
After being used primarily as an infielder
Infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...
in his first three seasons, playing every position except catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
over that span, he was shifted to the outfield on a permanent basis in 1885. While the inferior equipment of the time is somewhat of a mitigating factor, Browning's playing record presented various evidence against any hidden defensive prowess. So did his unusual habit of playing the infield while standing on one leg, which he claimed to have adopted in order to avoid collisions with other players; however, some sources have noted that his probable rationale was to gain an advantage against baserunners he could not hear by aiming one leg toward them, and that he continued to do so in the outfield because he couldn't hear his teammates on either side. An oft-reported story, possibly apocryphal, features one of Browning's managers claiming that the team would be better off with a wooden statue of an Indian in the outfield, since there was at least a slim chance that a batted ball might strike the statue and rebound back in the direction of the field. Indeed, he led league outfielders in errors
Error (baseball)
In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ...
in both 1886 and 1887. Browning's baserunning was also considered sub-par, exacerbated by his refusal to slide.
Browning lost his appetite for playing in Louisville during a hellish 1889 season. That year, the luckless franchise (by now known as the Colonels) finished last in the league with 27 wins and 111 losses, 66.5 games behind the top club. The season included not only a major league record 26-game losing streak, but also a narrow escape from the Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889. It was the result of the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam situated upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, made worse by several days of extremely heavy rainfall...
and the sport's first-ever strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. In the dispute, Browning was one of six players who refused to take the field as a protest against a series of heavy fines assessed by team owner Mordecai Davidson
Mordecai Davidson
Mordecai Hamilton Davidson was a Major League Baseball owner and manager. He is best known as the primary owner of the Major League Baseball Louisville Colonels during the worst period of the team's history...
. The game took place as scheduled with the assistance of three local amateurs, and the striking players returned to work before the next contest. Browning finished the season with a .256 average, the first time he was not among the league's top three hitters. He left the American Association after eight seasons with a .345 career average, which would stand as the best mark by any player with more than one season in the league; Tip O'Neill
Tip O'Neill (baseball player)
James Edward "Tip" O'Neill was a Canadian left fielder in Major League Baseball in the late 19th century....
ranks second at .343.
As a result of these events, as well as other labor disputes throughout the sport, Browning – along with nearly all the game's stars – chose to jump to the Players League
Players League
The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League , was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century...
for the 1890
1890 in baseball
-Champions:*World Series: Brooklyn Bridegrooms 3, Louisville Colonels 3, 1 tie*National League: Brooklyn Bridegrooms*American Association: Louisville Colonels*Players' League: Boston RedsInter-league playoff: Brooklyn declined challenge by Boston...
season, and played for the Cleveland Infants
Cleveland Infants
The Cleveland Infants were a one-year baseball team in the Players' League. Owned by Al Johnson, the Infants finished , their lone season, with 55 wins and 75 losses...
. The American Association had long been considered inferior to the NL, but in that season Browning proved that he was indeed among the game's top hitters by winning his third batting title with a .373 mark. The league dissolved after its sole season, and Browning spent the remaining four years of his career bouncing around between franchises in the NL. He spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
(1891) and Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
(1891–92), then was back with the Colonels, who had joined the NL in a league merger (1892–93), before ending his major-league career in 1894 with a handful of appearances for the St. Louis Browns and Brooklyn Bridegrooms in the National League. (He began the 1894 season playing minor-league ball for "Kelly's Killers" of Allentown, Pa. in the Pennsylvania State League. The team was managed by future Hall-of-Famer Mike "King" Kelly.)
His last professional season was in 1896 with the Columbus Buckeyes in the Western League.
In the years before 1893, among players with at least 2500 career at bats, his batting average of .341 ranked behind only Dan Brouthers
Dan Brouthers
Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in...
(.343) and Dave Orr
Dave Orr
David L. Orr was a first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1883 through 1890.-Baseball career:Orr played most of his career in the American Association for the New York Metropolitans , Brooklyn Bridegrooms and Columbus Solons...
(.342), with his slugging mark of .467 trailing only those of Brouthers (.520), Orr (.502), Roger Connor
Roger Connor
Roger Connor was a 19th century Major League Baseball player, born in Waterbury, Connecticut. Known for being the player whom Babe Ruth succeeded as the all-time home run champion, Connor hit 138 home runs during his 18-year career, and his career home run record stood for 23 years after his...
(.488) and Sam Thompson
Sam Thompson
Samuel Luther Thompson was a 19th century Major League Baseball player. "Big Sam" was known for his offensive production and was second on the career home runs list at the time of his retirement...
(.468). His recognized career hit total through 1893 ranked 10th in major league history to that point. Brouthers, a five-time champion, was the only other major league player to win more than two batting titles in the 19th century.
Personal life
Browning was tormented for his entire life by mastoiditisMastoiditis
Mastoiditis is an infection of mastoid process, the portion of the temporal bone of the skull that is behind the ear which contains open, air-containing spaces. It is usually caused by untreated acute otitis media and used to be a leading cause of child mortality. With the development of...
, a serious infection of the inner ear usually contracted during childhood, which can result in deafness
Hearing impairment
-Definition:Deafness is the inability for the ear to interpret certain or all frequencies of sound.-Environmental Situations:Deafness can be caused by environmental situations such as noise, trauma, or other ear defections...
, vertigo
Vertigo (medical)
Vertigo is a type of dizziness, where there is a feeling of motion when one is stationary. The symptoms are due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear...
, facial palsy
Palsy
In medicine, palsy is the paralysis of a body part, often accompanied by loss of sensation and by uncontrolled body movements, such as shaking. Medical conditions involving palsy include cerebral palsy , brachial palsy , and Bell's palsy ....
, and brain damage. As a result, he lost his hearing at a young age, and was faced with frequent bouts of crippling head pain. The deafness had led Browning to drop out of school at an early age, so that he went through life as a virtual illiterate
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
, and in order to deaden the physical pain resulting from his condition, he began drinking heavily in his youth. The drinking quickly spiraled out of control; he often appeared on the field while drunk, and was suspended for the final two months of the 1889 season for drunkenness, along with other shorter suspensions at different times. He was unable to stop, however, frequently stating, "I can't hit the ball until I hit the bottle."
Browning was a man of eccentric personal habits, particularly in relation to his bats. He spoke to them, and gave each one a name, often that of a Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
figure. In the belief that any individual bat contained only a certain number of hits, he would periodically "retire" bats, keeping vast numbers of the retired ones in the home he shared with his mother. These bats were 37 inches long and 48 ounces in weight, enormous even by the standards of the time. He also habitually stared at the sun, thinking that by doing so, he would strengthen his eyes. He also "cleansed" his eyes when travelling by train by sticking his head out the window in an effort to catch cinders in them. Browning also computed his average on his cuffs on a regular basis, and was not above announcing to all when his train arrived at a depot that he was the champion batter of the American Association.
He remained a lifelong bachelor, though his affection for prostitutes was a matter of much discussion in the newspapers.
After his retirement as a player, Browning worked as a cigar salesman and owned a bar, which ultimately failed; but his physical condition continued to deteriorate due to the mastoiditis and resulting complications. He remained a popular Louisville figure until June 7, 1905, when he was declared insane and committed to a local asylum (Lakeland). A sister released him two weeks later, but a month after that, he was in the hospital, suffering from a general physical collapse. He died in Louisville on September 10 of that year at age 44. The specific cause of death was listed as asthenia (a weakening of the body), a cover-all medical term used by doctors of that time. However, he no doubt suffered from a wide variety of serious physical complaints. In addition to the mastoiditis, he was afflicted with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, advanced cirrhosis
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
of the liver, alcohol-related brain damage, and according to some sources, paresis
General paresis of the insane
General paresis, also known as general paralysis of the insane or paralytic dementia, is a neuropsychiatric disorder affecting the brain and central nervous system, caused by syphilis infection...
. He is buried in historic Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.
(Some sources report that he died in an insane asylum. This is incorrect, though he was in Lakeland Asylum a short time before he died.)
Historical impact
Browning was an important figure in baseball's history. In addition to his accomplishments as a player, which have made him a popular candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame, his legacy is expressed in the game in other ways as well.Browning is probably best remembered today as the inspiration behind the Hillerich & Bradsby
Hillerich & Bradsby
Hillerich & Bradsby Company is a company located in Louisville, Kentucky that produces the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat. The Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in downtown Louisville features a retrospective of the product and its use throughout baseball history...
company's popular "Louisville Slugger" line of baseball bats. He was the first player to purchase a bat from the company, and they adopted the name a few years later to honor his patronage and capitalize on his fame.
Browning's decision to sign with Pittsburgh in 1891
1891 in baseball
-Champions:*National League: Boston Beaneaters*American Association: Boston RedsWorld Series: Boston declined to meet Boston -National League final standings:-American Association final standings:-National League statistical leaders:...
is noteworthy, as this transaction helped cement the team's new nickname of "Pirates". When the Players League collapsed, its members were supposed to return to their franchises from the prior season. Pittsburgh, though, signed several players who were theoretically under the control of other clubs, starting with second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
Lou Bierbauer
Lou Bierbauer
Louis W. Bierbauer was a German-American professional baseball player who was a second baseman in Major League Baseball during the late 1880s and 1890s...
. Other franchises decried these acts of "piracy", and the name stuck.
The strike by Browning and his Louisville teammates is also important in that it was the first labor action in what was ultimately a long series of disputes between players and management, prefacing the formation and collapse of the Players League.
In 1984, a new grave marker was dedicated for Pete Browning, one that correctly spelled his name and listed all his major baseball achievements. The new marker was the idea of Philip Von Borries, who wrote the copy for the new marker and who also co-designed the marker. The ceremonies, jointly held by the city of Louisville snd the Hillerich & Bradsby Company, came during the company's centennial celebration of their famed Louisville Slugger bat (of which Browning is the namesake).
There is currently a Browning's Restaurant & Brewery adjacent to Louisville Slugger Field.
The Nineteenth Century Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research named Browning the Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend for 2009 - a 19th century player, manager, executive or other baseball personality not yet inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
- Hitting for the cycleHitting for the cycleIn baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are uncommon in Major League Baseball , occurring 293 times since the first by Curry...
External links
- Browning's entry in the Society for American Baseball ResearchSociety for American Baseball ResearchThe Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York, in August 1971 by Bob Davids of Washington, D.C. The Society's mission is to foster the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, while generating interest in the game...
's baseball biography project - Grave of Pete Browning, with GPS coordinates Cave Hill Cemetery