St. Louis Browns utility player, Hamilton Patterson, was born on October 13, 1877 in Belleville, Illinois. Known throughout his career as "Ham" Patterson, he would build a 16-season career where he played for 14 teams, and served as a player-manager for ten seasons. He would only play 17 games with the Browns, but show his versatility pla
St. Louis Browns utility player, Hamilton Patterson, was born on October 13, 1877 in Belleville, Illinois. Known throughout his career as "Ham" Patterson, he would build a 16-season career where he played for 14 teams, and served as a player-manager for ten seasons. He would only play 17 games with the Browns, but show his versatility playing seven games at first base, six games in left field, and five games as a pinch hitter.
There are no records of "Ham" playing any high school, college, or semipro baseball before turnign pro at 23 years old. His first season was with the Denver Grizzlies in 1903, before playing for the Crookston Crooks (1904), Oskaloosa Quakers (04-07), Shreveport Pirates (1907) and Pueblo Indians (1908). He also managed at Oskaloosa (1906-07) and Pueblo (1908).
There is no transaction history between Patterson and the Browns, but he made the roster out of spring training in 1909. He would make his MLB debut on May 10, 1909, as a pinch hitter for Rube Waddell. His first plate appearance came in the ninth inninng of the Browns 5-1 loss to the Athletics. A few weeks later (June 14), he would have his best game against the same Philadelphia Athletics team. Starting at first base, "Ham" would go 2-for-5 with his only MLB double and driving in two of his five career runs. Six of his ten total hits came in just three games. Patterson's .204 batting average and dwindling playing time may have led to the Browns sending his contract to the Chicago White Sox. There are no transaction records for this move, excepts that his last game for the Browns came on July 15, 1909, and his first (an only) game with the ChiSox was on August 30.
Patterson would go on to play for nine team over the next twelve years in the minor leagues. Not only did he play for the Chattanooga Lookouts (1910), Nashville Volunteers (1910), Venice Tigers (1913), and St. Joseph Drummers (1914-15), he served as the player-manager for the Vernon Tigers (1911-12, 16)and Wichita Witches (1915). His final five seasons came as the manager with the same Dallas minor league club, although they were called the Giants (1917-18), Marines (1919), and Submarines (1920-21).
There is very little written on the life of "Ham" Patterson after he retired from baseball. He was able to see his younger brother, Pat Patterson, enjoy his own six seasons of baseball. He would settle down in Swansea, Illinois, and tell stories of playing and managing baseball across his career.
TOP 100 Browns Countdown
This website has the only Top 100 list of famous St Louis Browns players. Please feel free to free to visit the tab about for the complete list. Here is a brief portion of the list that recognizes some of the best players in the history of the St. Louis Browns.
Players #81-85
81) Branch Rickey, OF, 1905-06,
TOP 100 Browns Countdown
This website has the only Top 100 list of famous St Louis Browns players. Please feel free to free to visit the tab about for the complete list. Here is a brief portion of the list that recognizes some of the best players in the history of the St. Louis Browns.
Players #81-85
81) Branch Rickey, OF, 1905-06, 1914 - "Mahatma", The primary impact Branch Rickey had was with the management and leadership of the Browns
82) Gene Robertson, 3B, 1919, 1922-26 - Only 5'7", Known as the the most prominent MLB player to come out of St. Louis University, In 1925, he lead the A.L. in Double Plays turn by 3B (41) and Putouts by 3B (201). had 14 HRs in 1925
83) Dave Danforth, P, 1922-25 - "Dauntless Dave", Known as the "Father of the Shine Ball", Also accused of throwing the "Emery ball", "Sailor Ball", and "Wrinkle ball", Browns traded 13 players for Danforth in 1921, "get the batter nervous and you have him down"
84) Albert Leifield, P, 1918-20 - "Lefty", Grew up in the Fairgrounds section of St Louis. Sporting News described him as "One of those 'aint-got-a-thing' pitchers who never threw the ball where the batter wanted it."
85) Jim Park, P, 1915-17 - Jim Park would spend his entire career with the Browns. His first career win was against Cleveland with an 11-inning complete game while giving up 2 hits.
There were no transactions that took place on this date
BROWNS BIRTHDAYS ON THIS DAY
1913 - 3B Mark Christman (1939, 43-46)
The 1909 St. Louis Browns would finish the campaign with a disappointing 61-89 record. This however was better than their National League cousins, the St Louis Cardinals who only won 54 games in 1909.The Browns would win 40 games at home, while the Cardinals could only manage 26 wins in their home town. The offenses of both teams were fai
The 1909 St. Louis Browns would finish the campaign with a disappointing 61-89 record. This however was better than their National League cousins, the St Louis Cardinals who only won 54 games in 1909.The Browns would win 40 games at home, while the Cardinals could only manage 26 wins in their home town. The offenses of both teams were fairly similar. The two teams had batting averages that were would rank them below the MLB average (.244), Cardinals with .243 and the Browns at .232. Cardinals had a slim margin over the Browns in hits and runs, but they also had almost 50 more combined strikeouts and 125 runners left on base. This just shows that even though the Browns were not enjoying their best season, they were better than the Redbirds.
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