It has been 128 years since Pete Browning last played in Major League Baseball. That does not mean that he has been forgotten by MLB fans.
This is particularly the case in Delaware. According to the Baseball Reference Twitter account, Browning was the most viewed player page in the state for 2022.
19th century MLB star Pete Browning getting love from Delaware
Browning’s love from Delaware is a bit perplexing. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, spent most of his major league career in the city, and passed away there as well. His other stops, whether in the majors of minors, included Cleveland, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Brooklyn, Allenstown, and Columbus.
He was one of the true greats of the 19th century and one of the biggest snubs when it comes to Hall of Famers from that era. The original Louisville Slugger, Browning was considered one of the best hitters of his time, a feared slugger whose skill with the bat led to plenty of acclaim. He produced a career .341/.403/.467 batting line in his 13 years in the majors, a three time batting champion and one of the great run producers of his time.
Browing also began a practice that carries on to this day. He was the first player to order custom made bats – his bats were 37″ long and weighed 48 ounces, a massive club even in those days. He was also very superstitious about his bats, giving them names, talking to them, and would retire them after a period of time as he believed each bat had a certain number of hits left built in before it would be useless.
Despite his success on the diamond, Browning had a rough life. He became deaf due to mastoiditis, a condition that also left him with horrendous headaches and caused him to drink heavily to avoid the pain. By the time he passed at 44 years old, he not only continued to suffer from mastoiditis, but also had cirrosis of the liver, cancer, brain damage, and possibly paresis.
Pete Browing was one of the biggest stars in major league baseball in the 19th century. His MLB exploits are remembered to this day, especially in Delaware.