Best all time general managers in history: No. 19, Joe L. Brown
The architect of the Pittsburgh Pirates run in the 1960s and 1970s, Joe L. Brown ranks as the 19th best general manager in baseball history.
(Pittsburgh Pirates, 1957-76)
Of all the key figures in the Pittsburgh Pirates glory years of the 1960s and 70s – Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Dick Groat – easily the most overlooked is the one who brought them together.
Even when his club was operating at its peak, it could be hard to take Joe L. Brown seriously. That was in part because of his calm, unglamorous demeanor, and in part because that demeanor contrasted so starkly with his famed comedian father, Joe E. Brown. Less well known was the elder Brown’s passion for baseball; that character trait rubbed off on his son.
Brown jumped right into baseball as an executive with the Class D Lubbock, Tex. team in 1939 following his graduation from UCLA. World War II found him in the Army Air Force, after which he went to work for the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League.
Brown was named business manager of Pittsburgh’s Class B Waco team in 1950, was promoted to New Orleans and then named Branch Rickey’s top aide in 1955. He took over when Rickey retired following the 1956 season.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Brown proved a shrewd judge of talent. Under Rickey the Pirates had been a consistent losing proposition. But the core was there, and Brown was smart enough to recognize it. Nine players on the roster he inherited – among them Elroy Face, Bob Friend, Dick Groat, Clemente, and Bill Mazeroski – were key contributors to the 1960 World Series champions. Brown also proved a competent if not spectacular trader, obtaining such useful parts as Harvey Haddix, Vinegar Bend Mizell, Don Hoak and Smoky Burgess. In 1958, the Pirates hit the first division for the first time in a decade, an accomplishment for which Brown was named Sporting News Executive Of The Year.
That award stretched the boundaries of logic a bit; several GMs, notably Cincinnati’s Gabe Paul, had statistically better seasons. Still the accomplishment was significant because under Brown, the Pirates remained contenders for most of the next 15 seasons.
In fact, Brown should have won Exec of the Year in 1969, his 9.1 short-term improvement of the Pirates exceeding the best of his fellow GMs by three and one-half games. Voters instead swooned for Johnny Murphy, GM of the Mets, because the Mets won the World Series, an accomplishment bearing little relationship to anything Murphy did.
Part of the reason for Pittsburgh’s ongoing success under Brown was the scouting trail blazed into Latin America under Rickey that he followed and expanded upon. A concurrent element was the productivity of the system in general.
You could build a decent all-star team out of players Brown’s farm system developed. It would include Donn Clendenon, Dave Cash, Bob Robertson, Al McBean, Bob Bailey, Stargell, Gene Alley, Steve Blass, Matty Alou, Dock Ellis, Richie Hebner, Rennie Stennett, Richie Zisk, Dave Parker, Willie Randolph, Richie Zisk, John Candelaria and Kent Tekulve. With the exceptions of Zisk and Randolph, all became stars in a Pirate uniform.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Joe L. Brown did not trade talent willingly. This is reflected in Brown’s rank within the top 10 percent of GMs all time in areas having to do with departing talent. He stands 15th in least total long term talent lost via free agency, 15th in least total long term talent lost via trades, and 17th in least total short-term talent lost via free agency.
The cumulative result is of an under-appreciated GM. Brown ranks among the top 20 all-time for both total short-term and long-term impact. The only other GMs who can make that comprehensive claim are John Schuerholz and Brian Cashman.
Following his 1976 retirement as general manager, Brown served as a scout for the Pirates, and briefly in 1985 as acting general manager. He died in 2010.
Joe L. Brown
In the first six categories, values reflect the standard deviation of the GM’s performance above or below the historical mean for that category. Category 7 awards or deducts points for seasons in which the GM’s short-term impact exceeded the margin by which his team either reached post-season or failed to do so. Category 8 represents post-season appearances; in categories 7 and 8 indicated points are based on numbers of teams and post-season berths.
1 Short-term average: +0.87
2 Short-term total: +0.96
3 Long-term average: +0.61
4 Long-term total: +1.08
5 Residual average: -0.14
6 Residual total: -0.32
7 GM’s post-season shares:
- 1960: Brown improved the Pirates by +7.7 games; they qualified for post-season by 7 games. Key moves: Acquired Hal Smith, +1.1; acquired Wilmer Mizell, +1.0; promoted Fred Green, +1.1; traded Ron Kline, -2.4.
Category 7 total: +1.00
8 Credit for post-season appearances: (1960, +1.00; 1970, +0.70; 1971, +0.70; 1972, +0.70; 1974, +0.70; 1975, +0.70) +4.50.
Grand total: +8.56
Next. Loaiza pleading guilty to drug charges. dark
Next: No. 18, William Hulbert