Randy Brown (minors02)

Randy James Brown

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 160 lb.
• School San Jacinto College
• High School Alief Elsik High School

• Born May 1, 1970 in Dallas, TX USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Randy Brown was an infielder in the minor leagues from 1990 to 2000. He was first drafted coming out of high school in the 44th round of the 1988 amateur draft by the Oakland Athletics, but went on to attend junior college. One year later, in the 1989 amateur draft, he was drafted in the 28th round by the Boston Red Sox as a draft-and-follow. He signed with them a year later, after being named MVP of the 1990 NJCAA Baseball World Series.

He began his pro career in 1990 with the Elmira Pioneers of the New York-Penn League, hitting .236 in 74 games as the team's regular shortstop. In 1991, he appeared with the GCL Red Sox and Winter Haven Red Sox of the Florida State League, but hit just .173 in 107 games. In 1992, he spent a full season with Winter Haven, and improved to .235/.289/.300 in 121 games. It's fair to say that at that point, it was his good defensive work at shortstop that kept him employed.

In 1993, he was with the Lynchburg Red Sox of the Carolina League, still at High-A and had a very similar season, hitting .236 in 128 games. But he moved up to AA in 1994 with the New Britain Red Sox of the Eastern League, where he hit .224 in 114 games; still, the 8 homers he hit that year were more than he had hit in his first four seasons combined. In 1995, he spent a full season at AAA with the Pawtucket Red Sox, hitting .250 with 2 homers and 12 RBIs in 74 games. By this point, the Red Sox had decided that he would not be a major league regular, but kept him around as his defensive prowess in the middle infield (he had begun to make appearances at second base) was valuable. So in 1996, he played in both AA and AAA as a back-up, with 72 games in the Eastern League with the Trenton Thunder and three more with Pawtucket. He hit better than he ever had before, putting up a .295 average with 11 homers and 39 RBIs. In 1997, he was back with Trenton, hitting .256 in 97 games. On August 13th, he was included in a rare trade between the Red Sox and their arch-enemies the New York Yankees, joining C-OF Mike Stanley in going to New York in return for young P Tony Armas and a player to be named later who turned out to be P Jim Mecir. He finished the season still in the EL, with the Norwich Navigators, hitting .217 in 19 games.

In 1998, he was in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, splitting time between the AA Carolina Mudcats and AAA Nashville Sounds, batting .275 in 94 games. In 1999, he moved to yet another organization, that of the Seattle Mariners and again saw time in both AA and AAA, with the New Haven Ravens and Tacoma Rainiers, respectively. He hit .257 with a personal-best 12 homers and 49 RBIs in 90 games. His final pro season, in 2000, was spent in the independent leagues, with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League, where he hit .264 with 9 homers and 58 RBIs in 123 games. After having been a virtual "automatic out" in his first few seasons, he had actually become a decent hitter, and combined with his defensive skills, that made him a useful player, but having turned 30, he retired after that season.

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