St. Louis Browns RHP Cliff Fannin was born on May 13, 1924, in Louisa, Kentucky. He is the second player to make the Major Leagues from Louisa, with the first being Fred Frank who played 17 games in 1898 for the Cleveland Spiders. Fannin would spend 11 of his 14 professional baseball career in the Browns organization.
Cliff Fannin would
St. Louis Browns RHP Cliff Fannin was born on May 13, 1924, in Louisa, Kentucky. He is the second player to make the Major Leagues from Louisa, with the first being Fred Frank who played 17 games in 1898 for the Cleveland Spiders. Fannin would spend 11 of his 14 professional baseball career in the Browns organization.
Cliff Fannin would sign his first professional contract with the Browns as an 18-year old, amateur free agent in 1942. The Browns would assign him to the Huntington Jewels (1942), Elmira Pioneers (1943), and Toledo Mud Hens (1943-45) before bringing him up for a late season debut in 1945. Fannin would appear in relief for Al Hollingsworth allowing one hit, one run, one walk, and one strikeout against the Chicago White Sox on September 2, 1945.
Fannin would become a staple on the Browns pitching staff over the next eight seasons. He would record five seasons of 25 or more starts. His finest season would come in the 1948. He would have career highs in games pitched (34), games starts (29), complete games (10), innings pitched (213), wins (10), shutouts (3), strikeouts (102), and WAR (3.9). For his efforts, he would receive MVP votes but finish 32nd in the voting.
He would experience issues with his control that earned him partial season trips to minor leagues with the Toronto Maple Leafs (1951) and San Antonio Missions (1952). The Browns would send his contract to the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, where he would spend the next three seasons (1953-55).
Cliff Fannin would retire from baseball at the age of 31 in 1955. There is little documented of his life after baseball, until his passing at the age of 42 of coronary occlusion. Cliff Fannin had one of the longest careers as a member of the Browns pitching staff. His career marks with the Browns included 733 innings pitched over 164 games, including 34 wins, 352 strikeouts, and an ERA of 4.85.
HEADLINE
"BROWNS AND TIGERS WORKOUT A TEN PLAYER, BLOCKBUSTER DEAL"
FEATURED GAMES
1923 - The Browns' Urban Shocker and Red Sox Bill Piercy would both pitch complete games in a Browns 3-0 victory. LF Ken Williams would drive in the only earned run against with a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th inning. Hank Severeid and Ken Williams wo
HEADLINE
"BROWNS AND TIGERS WORKOUT A TEN PLAYER, BLOCKBUSTER DEAL"
FEATURED GAMES
1923 - The Browns' Urban Shocker and Red Sox Bill Piercy would both pitch complete games in a Browns 3-0 victory. LF Ken Williams would drive in the only earned run against with a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th inning. Hank Severeid and Ken Williams would also score on unearned runs due to errors by the Red Sox.
BROWNS' ALL-TIME RECORD ON THIS DAY
13 WINS, 31 LOSSES
WINS BY DECADE
1902-09: 2-3
1910-19: 4-5
1920-29: 3-4
1930-39: 1-8
1940-49: 2-8
1950-53: 1-3
DOUBLE-HEADERS:
Split series in 1945 (PHA), 1946 (CLE), 1951 (DET)
TRANSACTIONS
1939 - Browns trade RF Beau Bell, SS Red Kress, RHP Bobo Newsom, and RHP Jim Walkup to Detroit for 3B/SS Mark Christman, RHP George Gill, RHP Bob Harris, RHP Vern Kennedy, RF Chet Laabs, and RHP Roxie Lawson. Rarely do you see a 10 player trade within the first month of the season. The value of this trade for the Browns came with additions of Chet Laabs and Mark Christman. They were key members of the 1944 American League championship team. Christman would hit .271 with 148 hits including 83 RBIs. Laabs would hit the most important home runs in Browns history on the last day of the 1944 season.
DEBUTS
1911 - 2B Ed Hallinan would start his first MLB game, going 0-for-2 with two walks, in the Browns 7-0 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics.
1915 - RHP Scott Perry would start against the Philadelphia Athletics, but only last two innings giving up three runs on five hits and a walk, as the Browns come back to win, 6-5.
1944 - LHP Sam Zoldak would enter the game in the 5th inning in relief of Sig Jakucki, and give up a run on three hits, in the Browns 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics
BROWNS' BIRTHDAYS ON THIS DAY
1924 - RHP Cliff Fannin (1945-52)
1901 - 3B Pat Burke (1924)
The offensive statistics of the 1924 St. Louis Browns was just about as good as any team the Brown had ever put on the field. Led by the 1922 American League Most Valuable Player, George Sisler, the Browns had seven of their eight starting position players batting over .299. They had the best outfield in the history of the game, plus ever
The offensive statistics of the 1924 St. Louis Browns was just about as good as any team the Brown had ever put on the field. Led by the 1922 American League Most Valuable Player, George Sisler, the Browns had seven of their eight starting position players batting over .299. They had the best outfield in the history of the game, plus every one could run and steal bases. Baby Doll Jacobson, Jack Tobin, and Ken Williams were as good a combination as any team. Hank Severeid was one of the best hitting catchers of the era. This Browns team had a team batting average of .295 which included the entire pitching staff.
Batting Leaders
with A.L. rankings in (#)
Team Statistics:
Player Statistics