Mandy Brooks

Jonathan Joseph Brozek (August 18, 1897 – December 6, 1976), known as Mandy Brooks or John Brooks, was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs.

His major-league debut came at the relatively advanced age of 27 on May 30, 1925. In his first 25 major league games he posted a .398 batting average along with 32 runs batted in and a 1.246 on-base plus slugging percentage.

Brooks went on to be a regular for the Cubs that season, playing the second-most games of any outfielder. Every one of his defensive appearances came in center field. It was a rather successful rookie campaign; Brooks trailed only future Hall of Fame member Gabby Hartnett for the club's lead in home runs with 14, good enough to finish tenth in the entire National League in that category. Brooks was also second on the Cubs in runs batted in (72) and slugging percentage (.513). He finished his first season with a respectable .281 batting average.

Brooks, however, fell victim to the Cubs' acquisition of star outfielder Hack Wilson and found himself all but useless in the 1926 season. He played his final game for the Cubs on June 22 of that year, finishing his final big-league campaign with modest marks of 1 home run, a .188 batting average, and 6 RBI. Brooks returned to the minor leagues where he played for a number of teams before retiring in 1931 at the age of 33.

Career statistics In a two-year major league career, Brooks played in 116 games, accumulating 107 hits in 397 at bats for a .270 career batting average along with 15 home runs, 78 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .316. His career fielding percentage of .979 was higher than the league average of .967. In eight minor league seasons, Brooks had a .300 career batting average.

Death Brooks died on December 6, 1976, in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.