[Terry D]

Darrell Brown was an outfielder from Oklahoma City. Two clubs drafted him in the first round in '75 but he chose not to sign; he was drafted again in 1976, but still declined. Darrell finally became a pro by signing a Tigers contract in '77. He made the big club for a handful of games in the '81 strike year, but was soon passed on to Oakland. Billy Martin brought him up in September of '82 (his three great outfielders kept getting minor hurts that year) and Darrell actually played well in the games he got to play (.813 OPS). Darrell next went to the Twins, who in their pre-Kirby days were still searching for a center fielder. Darrell played about half time in Minnesota in 1983, posting thoroughly mediocre numbers. He was a little better in '84 (.651 OPS) but that was the year Kirby came up. Darrell had a good glove rep but baseball-reference.com doesn't assess him as outstanding in that department. He wasn't fast, he had little power, he didn't get on base a tremendous amount. I can't find anything remarkable in his minor league record. But you have to give the man credit. Darrell Brown may not have been a great player, but he just loved to play baseball. His last major league ABs came in '84, but he continued after that in the minors, the Mexican league, the Chinese league, and two independent leagues until 1996, a full dozen seasons after he last wore a major league uniform. All together, he put in twenty years as a pro player. My hat is off to him. Here he is in a fine color shot from Ebay seller Autographsink. It's the first and so far only I have ever seen of him with Oakland.