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Sports Heroes Who Served: Baseball Star Also a Combat Veteran

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Sports Heroes Who Served is a series that highlights the accomplishments of athletes who served in the U.S. military.

Bobby Brown was a polymath — a person with broad-ranging abilities. He was a cardiologist, a World War II and Korean War veteran, and a four-time World Series champion.

A baseball player poses for a photo.
Bobby Brown
Bobby Brown in an undated photo.
Photo By: Courtesy of the New York Yankees
VIRIN: 510602-O-D0439-001

Fame came early for Brown, who was born Oct. 25, 1924, in Seattle, Washington. In 1942, while a student at Stanford University, he and a fellow student rescued a Coast Guardsman from a plane crash. For his effort, he was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal by the Coast Guard.

The following year, he was drafted into the military and was assigned to the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California.

Following World War II, he entered medical school at Tulane University in New Orleans, using his G.I. Bill. He received his medical degree in 1950.

People pose for a photo in front of a helicopter.
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
The 8225th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, Korea in 1951. Dr. Bobby Brown served in that hospital during the Korean War in 1952 and 1953.
Photo By: National Archives
VIRIN: 510902-O-D0439-001

In 1946, he was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees, balancing baseball with his medical studies. The third baseman played with the Yankees from 1946 to 1952 and 1954 and was part of the team's World Series championship four times: 1947 and 1949-1951.

His lifetime batting average was .279 and he scored 22 home runs and 237 runs batted in. Incidentally, Brown batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

A baseball player poses for a photo.
Bobby Brown Baseball Card
Bobby Brown is pictured on a 1949 baseball card photo.
Photo By: Courtesy of the New York Yankees
VIRIN: 490602-O-D0439-003

Brown didn't play in 1953 and part of 1952, because he was called up by the Army to serve in Korea for 19 months in the Medical Corps.

He ran the battalion aid station for the 160th Field Artillery Battalion of the 45th Infantry Division and also provided medical support for the 5th Regimental Combat Team. Later, he was transferred to the 8225th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

An illustration of a baseball player on a baseball card.
Bobby Brown Baseball Card
Bobby Brown in a 1951 baseball card photo.
Photo By: Courtesy of the New York Yankees
VIRIN: 510602-O-D0439-002

In 1954, Brown accepted a medical internship in cardiology. He opened a medical practice in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1958 and worked there until May 1974, when he took a leave of absence to serve as interim president of the Texas Rangers baseball team. He returned to his medical practice the following year.

In 1984, he became baseball's American League president, serving for 10 years.

Brown died on March 25 at his home in Fort Worth. He was 96.

More Sports Heroes Who Served
sports graphic
Sports Heroes Graphic
Sports Heroes Who Served graphic - with title
Photo By: DOD
VIRIN: 200706-D-ZZ999-903

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