By: Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
“Pride of Crestline” William James “Gates” Brown passed away Friday in Detroit at the age of 74 due to complications from diabetes.
Brown was a three sport athlete while attending high school at Crestline playing baseball, basketball, and football before going on to play baseball for thirteen seasons with the Detroit Tigers.
Fellow Crawford County Sports Hall of Fame alumnus Rocky Alt made the announcement on air during the Friday Night Phone Board. Alt who was a Quarterback at Crestline in 1966 said, “All of Crestline I know all of Crawford County is saddened by the news. Gates was the pride of Crestline.”
Brown played major league baseball for the Detroit Tigers from 1963-1975 becoming one of the most prolific pinch-hitters of all time holding records for pinch hits (107) pinch hit home runs (16.) Brown had a .257 career batting average and an on base percentage of .330.
Brown’s American League leading pinch hits in 1968 helped the Tigers win the World Series. During that season Brown hit a pinch hitting batting average of .450 which ranks eighth all time in the pinch hit category.
After retiring from the majors in 1975 Gates returned to the Tigers organization in 1978 as the team’s batting coach until the end of the 1984 season which saw the Tigers returning to World Series glory.
Arrested in 1958 for burglary, Brown served time at the Ohio State Reformatory from 1958-1959. According to Dave Gagnon’s book Sock It To ‘Em Tigers: The Incredible Story of the 1968 Detroit Tigers, it was while serving at the OSR that a prison guard asked Brown to join the prison’s baseball squad as a catcher. Impressed by Brown’s batting ability the coach contacted several teams in major league baseball, which drew interest from the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers.
Crestline will be holding Gates Brown Appreciation Weekend October 3-6. All proceeds from fundraising events held that weekend will go towards Brown’s medical bills.