Gates Brown

William James "Gates" Brown (May 2, 1939 – September 27, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Detroit Tigers (1963–1975). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Early life

Born in Crestline, Ohio, he served time at the Ohio State Reformatory for burglary from 1958 to 1959. He was encouraged by a prison guard who also coached the reformatory's baseball team to join the squad as a catcher. The coach contacted several major-league teams after being impressed by Brown's batting ability. Tigers scouts Frank Skaff and Pat Mullin convinced their ballclub to help Brown get paroled a year early and sign him for US $7,000. He chose to join the Tigers despite interest from other teams such as the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians. He explained, "The primary reasons I signed with Detroit is because they didn't have any black players and eventually I figured they would, plus, I had been told about the short right porch at Tiger Stadium."