May 7, 2009

Three-Finger Brown

All of the props for this post go to Tim Marchman. Go to his site if you find this kind of thing interesting. - Earl

One of my favorite all-time baseball names is Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown.  Being named Mordecai is fucking bad-ass, right?  And his father named him Centennial because he was born in 1876.  But wait, he also went by the names Miner Brown and Three-Finger Brown.  Miner, because well...he was a coal miner.  And Three-Finger because he injured a couple of fingers on his pitching hand when he was younger including losing most of his index finger. His unique grip on the ball created a unique spin when he threw a curve.  He won 239 games in his Hall of Fame career, mostly for the Cubs.  In fact, he was a member of the last Cubs team to win a World Series back in 1908.

Whenever I read a story about Brown, I smile.  Maybe it is the nicknames, maybe it is because he was a part of those legendary Cubs teams from a century ago.  He has just always been one of my favorite old-time players.  Nah...it's those bad-ass names.  Mordecai, Centennial, Miner, Three-Finger.  You just don't hear great baseball names like that anymore. 

So I thought it was really cool that Tim Marchman found this photo from the Library of Congress.


You can click it to make it bigger, but it shows the pitching motion of Brown using stop motion photography.  Kinda cool, but someone figured out a way to make it better by splicing them together and making a video of it all.

Very. Fucking. Cool.  Now I can see what it looked like a century ago when one of my favorite players took the mound.  Look how he whipped his arm around his backside so that he was basically showing it to the hitter.  Amazing!

OK...go back to your non-baseball loving lives.

___________________________________________________

Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. Mordecai would want you to  do it.

24 comments:

~E said...

Wow! the way he threw, you'd think the ball would be going all sorts of everywhere but apparently he knew what he was doing.

DANG!

Mrs. Hall said...

Hey, do you think you could post a vid of a current baseball pitcher?

i mean, the pitch, it doesn't seem possible.

huh

well

ok then

Mrs. Hall said...

and yes, badass mofo names there!


BADASS!!

Barlinnie said...

I'll take as much info on baseball as you can pitch at us. Without wishing to offend anyone your side, US fitba leaves most people cold over here.
Way too many shoulder pads and protective gear to be fun, especially when you put it next to the fantastically violent sport of rugby.

Baseball on the other hand.. pure class. I'm hooked on my first ever US sport. We are already looking at visiting stateside next year, just to take in a few games.

RW said...

The Highlanders weren't much in those days and the Cubs were always at the top of the race. Then it changed forever!

I'm a deadball fanatic. Just fyi.

Avitable said...

Even as a non-baseball fan, I think that's pretty cool.

Water Logged Canine said...

Wassup Earl?

I like to pretend that he is a baboon. It looks like he is reaching around to grab his dung, or as it is known clinically "monkey-poo," to throw at the lesser primates. Flinging feces is fun, but have you ever lobbed a loaf with three fingers? AMAZING!

Paticus said...

Very cool. My favorite baseball name ever(for no reason I have ever understood)? Cecilio Guante.

Michelle said...

Very fucking cool green man!!!

I can't stop watching this video nor can I understand what he is even doing!!!

Awesome!

2abes said...

guy had some nicknames! You have any nicknames?

Jimmy Bastard - Lacrosse first American Sport! Baseball - maybe second???

Verdant Earl said...

~E - He was gooood.

Holly - I'll see what I can dig up. MLB protects their property like a junkyard dog.

Jimmy - I do love American football, but I also love the game that inspired it, rugby. A friend of mine from Wales introduced me to rugby a bunch of years ago and I became hooked. Absolutely love it. Glad to see a baseball convert in the making.

RW - somehow that doesn't surprise me about you. I'm a huge fan of the era as well. Love me some small ball. Hit it where they ain't.

WLC - He does look like he is throwing his poo. But that doesn't mean you should try it at home. The wifey might get upset.

Paticus - I dig that name too, for no real reason.

Michelle - he is throwing a baseball, silly. ;)

2abes - I was born with a last name that precludes any need for a nickname. It's a nickname unto itself. And the Native Americans (especially in Latin America) played a game that is similar to basketball, but probably a lot more violent. So maybe baseball is the third "American" sport.

Verdant Earl said...

Avitable - oops, missed you there. Yeah, stepping back into time like that is cool no matter what the subject.

Slyde said...

where should i go if i DONT find this kind of thing interesting...

Heff said...

I think he was probably called "Three-Finger Brown" for other reasons.

Jennifer and Sandi said...

Going to a Twins game tomorrow night as a matter of fact!!!

I'll have a $7 beer for ya!

Happy Friday Eve!

- Jennifer

Verdant Earl said...

Slyde - You can go to any American Idol recap website, but you probably have those bookmarked already.

Heff - the ladies love him. ;)

Jenn - HAve a great time! That's awesome. New stadium next year. Woot!

Ookami Snow said...

The Royals they haven't lost the season yet.

Candy's daily Dandy said...

Kinda makes me wax all sentimental about REAL baseball...

AND BTW-Gammons is on ESPN, at this moment, saying Manny's 50 game suspention is the result of a doctor prescribed medication and not a steroid, BUT on the strict list of banned meds by MLB. He also said that the Bo Sox have commented to say,"We don't believe it."

Any comments?

Verdant Earl said...

Ookami - I love the Royals this year. Especially Grenke, obviously. And they will get better when Gordon comes off the DL.

Candy - Any comments? Sure.

BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!

Kevin McKeever said...

Cool find. But I'm partial to Russell Jay "Rusty" Kuntz.

Candy's daily Dandy said...

Dude, I smell a Manny/steriods/baseball debate post at my place tomorrow.
YOU know how I love me some Manny-bashing.

Dr Zibbs said...

That is way cool.

And your old time baseball name should be Stinky the Stool Earl.

No reason - I just made it up.

Please send $5 to my paypal account. Or kindly don't use it.

Seals said...

That would make a cool animated gif too. I have one like of the Patterson Bigfoot footage. :)

Verdant Earl said...

Uncool - that IS a classic name.

Candy - he wasn't taking steroids. He was taking a fertility hormone normally given to women. Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

Zibbs - yeah, I think I'm gonna pass on that one.

Seals - I love that Bigfoot film!