Alton Brown

Alton Leo "Deacon" Brown (April 16, 1925 – January 10, 2016) was an American right-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the Washington Senators in 1951.

Biography Brown was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. Growing up, he worked the scoreboard for baseball games at Norfolk's Bain Field, but he never played baseball until he served in the army during World War II.

His service in the army started in January 1944 and finished in 1946. He made his professional debut in 1948, with the Roanoke Rapids Jays, and he spent his first three seasons with the team. He earned an 8–12 win–loss record with a 4.21 earned run average (ERA) in 36 games in the 1948 season. In 1949, he had a 16–12 record with a 3.97 ERA in 38 games. Brown had arguably the best year of his professional career in 1950, as he went 28–11 with a 2.38 ERA in 45 games, allowing 269 hits in 317 innings of work.

He began the 1951 season with the Senators, making his major league debut on April 21. Brown had a 9.26 earned run average in seven big league appearances, with no decisions. He appeared in his final big league game on May 27, and was sent to the minors, where he went 5–8 with a 6.29 ERA in 22 games (16 starts) for the Chattanooga Lookouts. Brown split 1952 between the Lookouts and Richmond Colts, going 12–10. In 1953 he went 11–8 with a 2.24 ERA in 42 games (13 starts) for the Norfolk Tars. After leaving baseball, Brown was a longshoreman on the Norfolk docks. After 20 years as a longshoreman, he suffered disabling injuries in a fall onto a barge. He died at the age of 90 in 2016.