Baseball/GM for Pittsburgh Pirates
Joe L. Brown, the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager who built two World Series championship teams and five National League division winners in the 1960s and ’70s, died Sunday in Albuquerque. He was 91.
Son of actor Joe E. Brown.
His death was announced by the Pirates.
When Mr. Brown became the Pirates’ general manager after the 1955 season, he succeeded Branch Rickey, who had orchestrated pennant-winners with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers before embarking on a youth movement in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates had finished at or near the bottom of the league for the previous six seasons. But drawing on a core of young players, most notably the future Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente, and engineering shrewd trades, Mr. Brown put together the Pirates’ 1960 World Series champions.
That team, managed by Danny Murtaugh, whom Mr. Brown hired in 1957, gave Pittsburgh its first World Series championship since 1925 and its first pennant since 1927.
“We beat a pretty good Yankee team with Mantle, Maris, Ford, Berra,” Mr. Brown told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this year. “The Pirates had not won in so long that nobody remembered what it was like. Pittsburgh is a football town. But we showed it was also a baseball town.”
Long after he retired, Mr. Brown displayed photos of Bill Mazeroski’s World Series-winning home run in Game 7 at his home.
In building the 1960 champions, Mr. Brown blended Clemente, Mazeroski, Dick Groat and pitchers Bob Friend, Vern Law and Roy Face with players he obtained in trades: center fielder Bill Virdon, third baseman Don Hoak, catchers Smoky Burgess and Hal Smith, and pitchers Harvey Haddix and Vinegar Bend Mizell.
Joe L. Brown in November 1956. Building a strong farm system that produced the slugging Willie Stargell and Latin players discovered by the scout Howie Haak, Mr. Brown set the groundwork for the outstanding Pirates teams of the 1970s.
The 1971 Pirates, a diverse team that fielded the majors' first all-black starting lineup in a Sept. 1 game against the Philadelphia Phillies, won the World Series, defeating the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates were National League East division champions from 1970 to 1972 and in 1974 and 1975. Mr. Brown retired after the 1976 season, but returned as general manager on an interim basis to finish out the 1985 season.
Joe L. Brown was born on Sept. 1, 1918, in New York, a son of the comedian and actor Joe E. Brown, who briefly played minor league baseball and drew on that in a comic show-business routine simulating a harried pitcher.
Mr. Brown was reared in Southern California and played football at U.C.L.A. After serving in the Army Air Forces in World War II, he worked his way up as an executive in the Pirates’ minor league organization.
Mr. Brown lived in Newport Beach, Calif., but recently entered an assisted living facility in Albuquerque to be near his daughter, Cynthia. He is also survived by his son, Don.
In June, Mr. Brown was honored at the Pirates’ PNC Park along with players from the 1960 team on the 50th anniversary of its World Series championship. By then, the Pirates had endured 17 straight losing seasons.
Mr. Brown pointed to the team’s young players and held out hope while acknowledging unrest among Pirates fans.
Joe Jr's ashes are scattered in the ossuary and his name was never placed on a plaque.
Joe L. Brown, the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager who built two World Series championship teams and five National League division winners in the 1960s and ’70s, died Sunday in Albuquerque. He was 91.
Son of actor Joe E. Brown.
His death was announced by the Pirates.
When Mr. Brown became the Pirates’ general manager after the 1955 season, he succeeded Branch Rickey, who had orchestrated pennant-winners with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers before embarking on a youth movement in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates had finished at or near the bottom of the league for the previous six seasons. But drawing on a core of young players, most notably the future Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente, and engineering shrewd trades, Mr. Brown put together the Pirates’ 1960 World Series champions.
That team, managed by Danny Murtaugh, whom Mr. Brown hired in 1957, gave Pittsburgh its first World Series championship since 1925 and its first pennant since 1927.
“We beat a pretty good Yankee team with Mantle, Maris, Ford, Berra,” Mr. Brown told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this year. “The Pirates had not won in so long that nobody remembered what it was like. Pittsburgh is a football town. But we showed it was also a baseball town.”
Long after he retired, Mr. Brown displayed photos of Bill Mazeroski’s World Series-winning home run in Game 7 at his home.
In building the 1960 champions, Mr. Brown blended Clemente, Mazeroski, Dick Groat and pitchers Bob Friend, Vern Law and Roy Face with players he obtained in trades: center fielder Bill Virdon, third baseman Don Hoak, catchers Smoky Burgess and Hal Smith, and pitchers Harvey Haddix and Vinegar Bend Mizell.
Joe L. Brown in November 1956. Building a strong farm system that produced the slugging Willie Stargell and Latin players discovered by the scout Howie Haak, Mr. Brown set the groundwork for the outstanding Pirates teams of the 1970s.
The 1971 Pirates, a diverse team that fielded the majors' first all-black starting lineup in a Sept. 1 game against the Philadelphia Phillies, won the World Series, defeating the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates were National League East division champions from 1970 to 1972 and in 1974 and 1975. Mr. Brown retired after the 1976 season, but returned as general manager on an interim basis to finish out the 1985 season.
Joe L. Brown was born on Sept. 1, 1918, in New York, a son of the comedian and actor Joe E. Brown, who briefly played minor league baseball and drew on that in a comic show-business routine simulating a harried pitcher.
Mr. Brown was reared in Southern California and played football at U.C.L.A. After serving in the Army Air Forces in World War II, he worked his way up as an executive in the Pirates’ minor league organization.
Mr. Brown lived in Newport Beach, Calif., but recently entered an assisted living facility in Albuquerque to be near his daughter, Cynthia. He is also survived by his son, Don.
In June, Mr. Brown was honored at the Pirates’ PNC Park along with players from the 1960 team on the 50th anniversary of its World Series championship. By then, the Pirates had endured 17 straight losing seasons.
Mr. Brown pointed to the team’s young players and held out hope while acknowledging unrest among Pirates fans.
Joe Jr's ashes are scattered in the ossuary and his name was never placed on a plaque.
Baseball/GM for Pittsburgh Pirates
Joe L. Brown, the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager who built two World Series championship teams and five National League division winners in the 1960s and ’70s, died Sunday in Albuquerque. He was 91.
Son of actor Joe E. Brown.
His death was announced by the Pirates.
When Mr. Brown became the Pirates’ general manager after the 1955 season, he succeeded Branch Rickey, who had orchestrated pennant-winners with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers before embarking on a youth movement in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates had finished at or near the bottom of the league for the previous six seasons. But drawing on a core of young players, most notably the future Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente, and engineering shrewd trades, Mr. Brown put together the Pirates’ 1960 World Series champions.
That team, managed by Danny Murtaugh, whom Mr. Brown hired in 1957, gave Pittsburgh its first World Series championship since 1925 and its first pennant since 1927.
“We beat a pretty good Yankee team with Mantle, Maris, Ford, Berra,” Mr. Brown told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this year. “The Pirates had not won in so long that nobody remembered what it was like. Pittsburgh is a football town. But we showed it was also a baseball town.”
Long after he retired, Mr. Brown displayed photos of Bill Mazeroski’s World Series-winning home run in Game 7 at his home.
In building the 1960 champions, Mr. Brown blended Clemente, Mazeroski, Dick Groat and pitchers Bob Friend, Vern Law and Roy Face with players he obtained in trades: center fielder Bill Virdon, third baseman Don Hoak, catchers Smoky Burgess and Hal Smith, and pitchers Harvey Haddix and Vinegar Bend Mizell.
Joe L. Brown in November 1956. Building a strong farm system that produced the slugging Willie Stargell and Latin players discovered by the scout Howie Haak, Mr. Brown set the groundwork for the outstanding Pirates teams of the 1970s.
The 1971 Pirates, a diverse team that fielded the majors' first all-black starting lineup in a Sept. 1 game against the Philadelphia Phillies, won the World Series, defeating the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates were National League East division champions from 1970 to 1972 and in 1974 and 1975. Mr. Brown retired after the 1976 season, but returned as general manager on an interim basis to finish out the 1985 season.
Joe L. Brown was born on Sept. 1, 1918, in New York, a son of the comedian and actor Joe E. Brown, who briefly played minor league baseball and drew on that in a comic show-business routine simulating a harried pitcher.
Mr. Brown was reared in Southern California and played football at U.C.L.A. After serving in the Army Air Forces in World War II, he worked his way up as an executive in the Pirates’ minor league organization.
Mr. Brown lived in Newport Beach, Calif., but recently entered an assisted living facility in Albuquerque to be near his daughter, Cynthia. He is also survived by his son, Don.
In June, Mr. Brown was honored at the Pirates’ PNC Park along with players from the 1960 team on the 50th anniversary of its World Series championship. By then, the Pirates had endured 17 straight losing seasons.
Mr. Brown pointed to the team’s young players and held out hope while acknowledging unrest among Pirates fans.
Joe Jr's ashes are scattered in the ossuary and his name was never placed on a plaque.
Joe L. Brown, the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager who built two World Series championship teams and five National League division winners in the 1960s and ’70s, died Sunday in Albuquerque. He was 91.
Son of actor Joe E. Brown.
His death was announced by the Pirates.
When Mr. Brown became the Pirates’ general manager after the 1955 season, he succeeded Branch Rickey, who had orchestrated pennant-winners with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers before embarking on a youth movement in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates had finished at or near the bottom of the league for the previous six seasons. But drawing on a core of young players, most notably the future Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente, and engineering shrewd trades, Mr. Brown put together the Pirates’ 1960 World Series champions.
That team, managed by Danny Murtaugh, whom Mr. Brown hired in 1957, gave Pittsburgh its first World Series championship since 1925 and its first pennant since 1927.
“We beat a pretty good Yankee team with Mantle, Maris, Ford, Berra,” Mr. Brown told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this year. “The Pirates had not won in so long that nobody remembered what it was like. Pittsburgh is a football town. But we showed it was also a baseball town.”
Long after he retired, Mr. Brown displayed photos of Bill Mazeroski’s World Series-winning home run in Game 7 at his home.
In building the 1960 champions, Mr. Brown blended Clemente, Mazeroski, Dick Groat and pitchers Bob Friend, Vern Law and Roy Face with players he obtained in trades: center fielder Bill Virdon, third baseman Don Hoak, catchers Smoky Burgess and Hal Smith, and pitchers Harvey Haddix and Vinegar Bend Mizell.
Joe L. Brown in November 1956. Building a strong farm system that produced the slugging Willie Stargell and Latin players discovered by the scout Howie Haak, Mr. Brown set the groundwork for the outstanding Pirates teams of the 1970s.
The 1971 Pirates, a diverse team that fielded the majors' first all-black starting lineup in a Sept. 1 game against the Philadelphia Phillies, won the World Series, defeating the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates were National League East division champions from 1970 to 1972 and in 1974 and 1975. Mr. Brown retired after the 1976 season, but returned as general manager on an interim basis to finish out the 1985 season.
Joe L. Brown was born on Sept. 1, 1918, in New York, a son of the comedian and actor Joe E. Brown, who briefly played minor league baseball and drew on that in a comic show-business routine simulating a harried pitcher.
Mr. Brown was reared in Southern California and played football at U.C.L.A. After serving in the Army Air Forces in World War II, he worked his way up as an executive in the Pirates’ minor league organization.
Mr. Brown lived in Newport Beach, Calif., but recently entered an assisted living facility in Albuquerque to be near his daughter, Cynthia. He is also survived by his son, Don.
In June, Mr. Brown was honored at the Pirates’ PNC Park along with players from the 1960 team on the 50th anniversary of its World Series championship. By then, the Pirates had endured 17 straight losing seasons.
Mr. Brown pointed to the team’s young players and held out hope while acknowledging unrest among Pirates fans.
Joe Jr's ashes are scattered in the ossuary and his name was never placed on a plaque.
