St. Louis Browns INF John "Brode" Shovlin was born on January 14, 1891 in Drifton, Pennsylvania. During this time, he would serve as a backup to established veterans 2B Joe Gideon and SS Wally Berger. He would make the most of his time, recording a 1.000 Fielding Percentage in 1920 (.945 in his two years in St. Louis).
Shovlin was origina
St. Louis Browns INF John "Brode" Shovlin was born on January 14, 1891 in Drifton, Pennsylvania. During this time, he would serve as a backup to established veterans 2B Joe Gideon and SS Wally Berger. He would make the most of his time, recording a 1.000 Fielding Percentage in 1920 (.945 in his two years in St. Louis).
Shovlin was originally signed as a 19-year old prospect by the Erie Sailors of the Ohio-Pennsylvania League in 1910. After spending time with the Sailors and the Waterbury Champs in 1911, he would get a quick look by the Pittsburgh Pirates. After just two games, the Pirates sent him back to the minor leagues where he would spend the next nine seasons. In that time he played for five different teams, including the Newark Skeeters (1912), Chillichothe Babe (1913-14), and the Columbus Senators (1914-15, 17-19). Shovlin would spend just two games with Pittsburgh in 1911. In that time he would only get one plate appearance where he recorded a strikeout.
Without any transaction records, Shovlin joined the Browns in August of 1919 from Columbus. He would play in nine of the final ten games, recording a .200 Batting Average. His 1920 season with the Browns would last only seven games. On May 12, in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics, he would enter the game in the 8th inning and score the winning run in the 10th inning. Shortly after this game he would be allowed to move to the Steelton of the Bethlehem Steel League (PA).
Shovlin bounced around the Steel League for seven years, before attempting to make a comeback with the Browns. After missing seven years of competitive baseball, St. Louis assigned him to the Binghampton Triplets where he played for the next four seasons (1928-31).
John Shovlin returned to Drifton after retiring from baseball after the 1931 season. He would spend the rest of his years working for the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company. He would later be honored as an honorary member of the Freeland Sons of Erin, an Irish American organization, as well as a member of the Greater Hazelton Hall of Fame.
Today's Browns Quote
“It stays fresh on my mind. I can remember it just like it happened yesterday .... I didn’t know whether to throw the ball underhanded or overhanded to Gaedel. I just wanted to be careful not to hit him. Dizzy Trout told me later that if he’d been the pitcher, he’d have thrown the ball right between his eyes.”
~ Bob "
Today's Browns Quote
“It stays fresh on my mind. I can remember it just like it happened yesterday .... I didn’t know whether to throw the ball underhanded or overhanded to Gaedel. I just wanted to be careful not to hit him. Dizzy Trout told me later that if he’d been the pitcher, he’d have thrown the ball right between his eyes.”
~ Bob "Sugar" Cain, Browns' pitcher, and former Tigers' pitcher, who pitched the famous four pitches to Eddie Gaedel
TRANSACTIONS
1952 - Browns traded C Matt Batts, 1B Ben Taylor, OF Cliff Mapes and LHP Dick Littlefield to the Detroit Tigers for LHP Bob Cain, 1B Dick Kryhoski and LHP Gene Bearden. The Browns acquired two players that would remain with the team for their duration in St. Louis, while sending four platoon players to Detroit. The Browns received LHP Bob Cain, who would remain a key member of the pitching staff for the next two seasons. Over 1952-53, he would start 40 games, recording a 16-20 record with a 4.91 ERA (great trivia questions below). First Baseman Dick Kryhoski would be the starting 1B for St. Louis for the final two seasons. He would play in 260 games, connecting for 177 hits, including two home runs while driving in 92 runs. LHP Gene Beardon would only be with the Browns for the 1952 season. He would start 16 games, with a 7-8 record and a 4.30 ERA. He would lead the American League in 1952 with 10 wild pitches. The Tigers received Matt Batts, who appeared in 79 games for the Browns in 1951 hitting 5 home runs, 31 RBIs, with a .302 average. Ben Taylor, a backup first baseman who had 24 hits in 33 games and a .258 average, Outfielder Cliff Mapes who played in 56 games, recording an OPS+ of 111, with 7 HRs and 30 RBIs. LHP Dick Littlefield was traded to the Browns during the 1951-52 offseason, and was a strong prospect who played the first half of the '52 season with Detroit. He would be traded back to St. Louis on August 14, 1952 in an eight player deal.
GREAT TRIVIA FACT - While playing for Detroit, Bob Cain would be the pitcher who would throw four consecutive balls to pinch hitter Eddie Gaedel on August 19, 1951.
The 1936 St. Louis Browns franchise was a team in transition, both on an off the field. The 1930s was a period where the Browns were struggling to stay alive as an organization. The country was in the middle of the "Great Depression", and the fans were not coming out to the ballpark to watch the Browns. The baseball fans of St. Louis were
The 1936 St. Louis Browns franchise was a team in transition, both on an off the field. The 1930s was a period where the Browns were struggling to stay alive as an organization. The country was in the middle of the "Great Depression", and the fans were not coming out to the ballpark to watch the Browns. The baseball fans of St. Louis were spending their money at Sportsman's Park to watch the National League Cardinals. This was the era of the famous Gashouse Gang, and the Cardinals were the hottest teams in all of baseball.
Following the 1935 season, Browns owner Phil Ball was looking to sell the struggling franchise. He reached out to Cardinals official Branch Rickey to assist in finding a new owner. It turned out that one of Rickey's asistants, Bill DeWitt, has heard that St. Louis businessman, Donald Barnes, was interested in buying the Browns. After negotiations between the two sides, Barnes would purchase the Browns for a bargain price of $325,000 and the Ball estate would continue to own Sportsman's Park.
Donald Barnes had built up the St. Louis based, American Investment Company, to be valued around $250 million enterprise. Barnes was not a baseball genius, so he brought in baseball minded businessmen to help run the team. Bill Dewitt remained on as an executive within the Browns organization.
The 1936 Browns roster was not depleted of talent. Up and down the lineup were talented players that had not come together as a team. Jim Bottomley, Lyn Lary, Harlond Clift, Moose Solters, Beau Bell, and Sam West were all excellent ball players by themselves. The weakness of the team was the pitching staff, where "good" pitchers governed the mound. Manger Rogers Hornsby was entering his fourth season leading the Browns, but the team had still not had a winning record under his leadership. The 1936 Browns team would end with a 57-95 record and finished 7th in the American League. There are 8 players from this team that are ranked in the Top 100 Browns list foun on this site. Talented individual players on a team that had yet to find its place in MLB.