Brown Passes Away

Cleveland, OH - Sad news last Friday as former Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown died at the age of 70. Brown, who managed the Triple-A Toledo Mudhens from 1958-1988, guided the Tribe to the AL East title in his first year as manager in 1989.

"He was a player's manager, but he also was tough if he felt you needed it," said former Cleveland third baseman Roger Dorn. "I remember when he urinated on my contract. We had a good laugh about it, until I went to get my pay check and they told me the urine voided the contract and I would not be paid. They called it the Urine Clause, but in the clubhouse we started calling it the Lourine Clause, in honor of our skipper."

"Lou didn't go by the book," said former center fielder Will Hayes, who went by "Willie Mays Hayes" throughout an 11-year career. "I was doing push ups if I popped up, other guys are doing sit ups if they miss a ground ball. And one game, he had Eddie (Harris) throw 193 pitches in a July game against Texas, in 110 degree heat. Eddie was older than Lou at the time. But we all loved (Brown)."

Brown managed the team through the first part of the 1990 season before an in-clubhouse heart attack forced his retirement. In his short stint as Cleveland's manager, Brown went 117-107.

Brown's funeral will be held in the parking lot of the Toledo Tire World, "where he would've wanted it," said former third base coach Duke Temple. Dozens of former players and friends are expected to attend the Wednesday funeral, including former Cleveland broadcaster Harry Doyle, catcher Jake Taylor, pitching coach Pepper Leach and Hall of Fame groundskeepers Kurt and Keith Uchima.