Dick Sovde

Richard Dean Sovde
Born Richard Dean Browning

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 8", Weight 200 lb.
• School Occidental College, Harvard University

• Born March 9, 1935 in Burbank, CA USA
• Died October 1, 2019 in Lacey, WA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Standing 6' 8", pitcher Dick Sovde was one of the tallest baseball players of his era. He played in the minor leagues from 1956 to 1965, first in the New York/San Francisco Giants organization, and later with those of the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles/California Angels. He played in AAA in 1962 and 1963 but never reached the majors in spite of some good numbers, including four seasons during which he won in double figures and a career ERA of 3.09. He also topped 100 strikeouts on four occasions, so he had some zip on his pitches too.

His birth name was Richard Browning, as indicated in the 1957 Sporting News Baseball Guide, but his father died when he was an infant. His mother remarried and he took on the name of his adoptive father. To no one's surprise, he was also a basketball player in college. He was named to the Occidental College Hall of Fame as both a baseball and basketball player.

He worked part-time as a school teacher and administrator, then decided to join the Peace Corps in 1966, getting an assignment to train volunteers in Liberia and meeting his first wife in the process. After returning to the U.S. in 1968, he earned a PhD in education from Harvard University and worked in the field for four decades, in California and the Pacific Northwest.

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