Birthplace of Mordecai Brown
[ Front ]
Birthplace of Mordecai Brown
Born in this Mining Community of Nyesville, Indiana.
The first Indiana player inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame
His 14 year Major League career Boast the following Records:
Total Games —————– 481
Games Started —————332
Games Completed ———–271
Games Won —————– 239
Games Lost ——————131
Percentage —————— .653
Innings Pitched ————3,172
Base On Balls —————–673
Strike Outs ————— 1,382
Shut-Outs ——————— 58
Earned Run Avg. ———– 2.03
A farm accident mangling his right hand at age 7 was the
cause for his Major League Nickname:
“Three Finger Brown”
Mordecai’s 1911 contract with the Chicago Cubs was
$ 7,000.00
Major League Baseball Career 1903 ——— 1916
Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
Cooperstown, New York –– 1949
“Three Finger”
Mordecai P. Brown
Oct. 19, 1876 —— Feb. 4, 1948
St. Louis Cardinals 1903 — 1904
Chicago Cubs 1905 — 1916
[ Obverse Side ]
“Three Finger”
Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown
1876 — 1948
First Indiana baseball player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Born to Peter and Lula Day Brown, immigrants of English and Welsh descent, in the coal mining community of Nyesville, Indiana. Mort, as his family and friends called him, was a victim of an accident at age 7. He caught his right hand in a corn grinder on his uncle’s farm losing his forefinger, part of his little finger and mangling his middle finger. This accident was the cause of his Major League Nickname.
Mordecai played third base and other positions in nearby communities known as “Minor Brown”. Earning his way to the Big Leagues at age 19 Mordecai first played with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1903. The condition of his twisted and mangled hand enabled him to throw a spin curve with a nasty break. From this Mordecai was known as “Three Finger Brown.”
Mordecai was traded after his Rookie Year to the Chicago Cubs. The next 9 years he was one of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball during the “Tinker to Evers to Chance” era. He was the first to pitch 4 straight shut-outs in 1908. Ty Cobb called Brown’s curve “the most devastating pitch I ever faced.”
Mordecai’s baseball career embraced such records as:
— Averaged 20 or more wins per season
— Six times posted ERA’s under 2.00 including a 1.04 second best of All Time in 1906
— Today still holds the Chicago Cub ERA record of 1.80
— Cubs won 4 Pennants in 5 seasons with Brown pitching
— Won 5 World Series Games
— Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949
The legendary Mordecai Brown and his wife Sarah are buried in Roselawn Cemetery, Terre Haute, Indiana.
This memorial dedicated and erected to the memory of
“Three Finger Brown”
July 9, 1994
through generosity of friends and neighbors with guidance and inspiration of his Great Nephew
Fred Massey.
Marker is on Nyesville Road north of County Route 182, on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
