Former Dodger Tommy Brown Passes on at 97

Tommy Brown, who was the youngest non-pitcher to make his Major League Baseball debut at 16 years old as a shortstop for the Dodgers, passed on January 15, 2025 in Altamonte Springs, Florida. He was 97 years old. As the youngest position player, Brown made his debut on August 3, 1944 in a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.

One season later, Brown hit his first home run at the age of 17 years, 8 months and 14 days old on August 20, 1945, a record for the youngest player to homer in the major leagues. He still held that record at the time of his passing. 

Nicknamed “Buckshot” by Dodger Manager Leo Durocher, Brown played for the Dodgers from 1944-45 and 1947-1951. He served in the U.S. Army in 1946. Brown was the last surviving member of the 1947 National League Championship team which featured teammate Jackie Robinson in his initial season. Robinson was the first Black player in the modern major league era. Pitcher Joe Nuxhall of Cincinnati holds the modern day major league record for youngest player at age 15, 10 months when he debuted in 1944.

“When I was 11 visiting Vero Beach attending Spring Training at Dodgertown, I connected with Tommy Brown probably because not only was I young, but he was the youngest player on the team,” said Peter O’Malley, President, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1970-1998. “He was very interested in what I was doing and I took these pictures one in 1949 and one in 1950 and I wrote the captions on the back.” 

In the mid-1950s, playing in the Southern Association for Nashville, Brown set a record for reaching base 20 straight times (10 hits and 10 walks) in four games.

RIP, Tommy Brown.