Brant Brown was selected by the Cubs in the third round of the 1992 MLB draft. After tearing it up for a couple years, Brown was the Cubs second best prospect in 1994, just behind Brooks Kieschnick. He followed it up with two disappointing years before crushing it in Iowa and making his major league debut in June of 1996. He was great in limited time in 1996 but still spent the majority of 1997 in Iowa while not making much of an impact when he was in the big leagues. If he could spend the majority of year in the major leagues in 1998, it would be a huge victory for Brown.
He did MUCH more than that.
At the beginning of the year, it looked as though he would just spend time as a fourth or fifth outfielder, getting the occasional start when guys needed a rest. But one man's misfortune was Brown's lucky day as Lance Johnson suffered an injury early on that would cost him nearly half the season, and Brown was there to fill in as the starting center fielder.
And he filled his role well. He hit incredibly well. At the end of April, he was hitting .357/.419/.607. Although he didn't quite keep up that pace, he was still hitting incredibly well. On June 12, he hit three home runs against the Philadelphia Phillies with Mark Portugal getting abused for two of those home runs. Even an injury that cost him most of July didn't stop him as he came back and continued to hit well.
In August Lance Johnson retook his job as the starting center fielder and Glenallen Hill had joined the team and hurting baseballs like no other so Brown found it more difficult to find consistent starts, even going a ten day stretch in August between starts. But even playing sparingly down the stretch, he still ended the year with a .291/.348/.501 line in 124 games that season.
Now it was a little odd that Brown would be able to spend the majority of his time in center field since most of his time in the minor leagues was at first base. The Cubs had Mark Grace at first, so they turned Brown into an outfielder, even using him as a defensive replacement in left when he wasn't patrolling center field. They did this despite him not actually being a good fielder in the outfield.
Now, even I can admit that Glenallen Hill and Henry Rodriguez are not your ideal defensive players, but Brant Brown committed seven errors which is an incredibly high number for an outfielder, especially since he wasn't even a full-time starter. Oh well, it's not like any of those errors will be costly.
And that brings us to September 23rd. Both the Cubs and Mets were tied at 88-70 for the wildcard spot, while the Giants were in third at 85-72. Although the Giants would win that day, the Mets lost to the Astros, and the Cubs had a chance to take a lead over the Mets and effectively bury the Giants by winning. Everything started out great as the Cubs used a bunch of walks and a balk to put up two runs in the second, added another in the third, and the Cubs used Sammy Sosa's 65th and 66th home runs in the fifth and sixth inning to take a 7-0 lead. Today was a good day to be a Cubs fan.
But then the Brewers mounted their comeback. It started when the Brewers got hit after hit to put up four runs before the Cubs took out Steve Trachsel and put in Matt Karchner to end the rally. In the eighth, the Brewers finally got to Karchner with a walk, hit-by-pitch, and single which cut the lead to 7-5 going into the ninth. No big deal, the Cubs had Rod Beck to come in and close this game down for the team.
Now Rod Beck was a heart attack for Cubs fans throughout the entire season. He made every game exciting, and this one was no different. Although he got the first out, he then gave up a single and a double before walking Jeromy Burnitz to load the bases. But in classic Rod Beck form, he got Marquis Grissom to pop out to third for the second out. All that was left was Geoff Jenkins. Luckily, Beck induced a fly ball to left field to end the...
Aw, fudge.
I talked earlier about how Orlando Merced's game-winning home run was my favorite game of the season. Well, the Brant Brown game may have been my least favorite game of the season. I remember watching the end of it in my kitchen and just being dumbstruck at what happened. The Cubs did find a way to bounce back and ended up making the playoffs, but they lost all faith in Brant Brown who saw his reduced role turn into a nearly nonexistent one as he had just a single pinch hit at bat in the playoffs.
And even though that is by far my most vivid memory of Brown, I still remember him fondly. He came out of nowhere and hit the ball really well. And let's face it, no child gives a shit about defensive performance; it's all about the hitting, baby. Brant Brown did that part really well in 1998, and he even provided value to the Cubs for future seasons.
After the 1998 season concluded, the Cubs flipped Brown to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jon Lieber who would provide four very good years of pitching, including a fourth place finish for the Cy Young Award in 2001. Meanwhile, Brown would spend one year with the Pirates before being traded to the Marlins who traded him halfway through the season back to the Cubs, but 2000 would be his last season in the major leagues. He is still in baseball today as he went on to coach in the minor leagues and is currently on the Los Angeles Dodgers staff.
In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske
#20 - Amaury Telemaco
#19 - Tyler Houston
#18 - Geremi Gonzalez
#17 - Orlando Merced
#16 - Scott Servais
#15 - Mark Clark
#14 - Lance Johnson
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