St. Louis Browns RHP Horace "Hod" Leverette was born on February 4, 1889 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He would enjoy a durable, eight-season minor league career before joining the Browns in 1920. He would play throughout five levels of the minors with a variety of teams across the USA and Canada.
Leverette began his baseball career at the ag
St. Louis Browns RHP Horace "Hod" Leverette was born on February 4, 1889 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He would enjoy a durable, eight-season minor league career before joining the Browns in 1920. He would play throughout five levels of the minors with a variety of teams across the USA and Canada.
Leverette began his baseball career at the age of 21 with the Hattiesburg Timberjacks of the Cotton States League. He would split the 1911 season between the Minneapolis Millers (six wins in 19 games), and the Greenwood Scouts (seven wins in 30 games). After missing the 1912 season for an unknown reason, Leverette returned and appeared in 235 innings over 31 games for Minneapolis. He would then pitch for the Louisville Colonels (1914), Shreveport Gassers (1915-16), and Fort Worth Panthers (1917). His career minor league stats show that he pitched in 960 innings over 199 games. In that time he recorded a 51-69 record, giving up 877 hits while allowing 337 runs (only 66 of those runs are recorded as earned runs).
Hod Leverette would join the Browns for the 1920 Season, however there is no transaction history between the Browns and Leverette. There is no history of Leverette playing baseball in 1918-19. It is believed he was involved in military service in this time. Leverette made his MLB pitching debut on April 10, 1920 vs the Cleveland Indians. He would pitch the final two innings in relief of Urban Shocker, giving up a hit and a walk without allowing a run to score.
The 31-year old rookie would only appear in just three games in 1920, which would be his only MLB season. His next two appearances would be as a starter vs the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. His start against the Tigers came on May 10, and he would last for 6.1 innings, before giving the ball up to the bullpen with the bases loaded. His total stats within these three games would include 10.1 innings pitched, with 9 hits, 6 runs, 12 walks, and an ERA of 5.23. He was not able to record a strikeout in these games. The Browns released him in May, and there are no records of him playing at any level after the 1920 season.
Horace Leverette entered the public realm with little fanfare. He was an exclusive member of the Masonic Khurem 112 AF and AM, while working at the Caterpillar Tractor Company. He would retire to St. Petersburg, Florida, where he told stories of the minor leagues and his three games with the Browns.
Today's Browns Quote
“Mills, of course, will be signed to a minor league contract, but reports of his ability are so glowing that we expect him to make the grade in the American Association and he looks like such a good prospect that [Browns manager Rogers Hornsby will take him to training camp at West Palm Beach.”
~ Browns scout, L.C. McE
Today's Browns Quote
“Mills, of course, will be signed to a minor league contract, but reports of his ability are so glowing that we expect him to make the grade in the American Association and he looks like such a good prospect that [Browns manager Rogers Hornsby will take him to training camp at West Palm Beach.”
~ Browns scout, L.C. McEvoy told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 28, 1934
BROWNS' BIRTHDAYS ON THIS DAY
1889 - RHP Horace "Hod" Leverette (1920)
TRANSACTIONS
1941 - Brooklyn Dodgers purchased the contract of LHP Howard Mills from the St. Louis Browns. "Lefty" Mills had pitched for the Browns for 4 seasons (1934, 37-40). In that time, "Lefty" recorded a record of 15-30 with a career 6.06 ERA. His best season with the Browns came in 1938 where he had a 10-12 record in 210 innings over 30 games. He would lead the Browns staff in shutouts (3) in 1938, saves (3) and strikeouts (103) in 1939. He would never register and appearance with the Dodgers, for they would return Mills to the Browns on May 15 (10 weeks later). After being returned to the St. Louis, the Browns assigned him to their minor league affiliate in Toledo. Mills would apply for a voluntary retirement instead of pitching in the minors. He would join the US Army and serve during World War II
The 1943 St. Louis Browns offense began to produce the statistics tat would lead them to the American League title in 1944. Nearly every category was led by either SS Vern Stephens, 2B Don Gutteridge, or OF Chet Laabs. Equal production came from both 1B George McQuinn and 3B Harlond Clift, however both missed time due to war production co
The 1943 St. Louis Browns offense began to produce the statistics tat would lead them to the American League title in 1944. Nearly every category was led by either SS Vern Stephens, 2B Don Gutteridge, or OF Chet Laabs. Equal production came from both 1B George McQuinn and 3B Harlond Clift, however both missed time due to war production commitments. The team would finish in the middle of the league standings in almost every category. It is interesting that a team with limited stars would still be able to establish better statistics that the best in 2025.
Batting Leaders from the 1943 season
Team Statistics
Player Statistics