Relatives who played for the Browns...

[spring fever]

I have been reading all these threads with folks asking about their grandfathers or others that played somewhere in the St Louis Browns organizations. Often they are informed that there is no record of the relative playing in the minor leagues. That may be accurate, but may also be incorrect. The main site of information about the minor league players is baseballreference.com. While this site is a great resource, it often is missing what are called the "less thans". These are players who played in less than 10 games during the season. Currently the site has no process for updating the records to add these players. For example, the Peekskill Highlanders were a class D Browns affiliate in 1948. For the two prior years, they were an affiliate of the NY Giants. In 1947 an upstate NY player pitched in four games for the team, and he is not listed on the baseballreference (and thus baseball fever) site. I am currently trying to get him listed for his family (he passed in 2008). So, when you are told that your relative did not play with the Browns, if you believe you know the specific team, there are always local newspapers with box scores that you can research.

[spring fever]

Just a followup to my earlier post. The Baseball Hall of Fame maintains a file of Contract Cards for most players signed to contracts for professional baseball. You may write or call the HOF to obtain a copy of your relative's card if it is there. If you are a member of the HOF there is no charge for this service. Non members may have to pay a small charge for the research.

[Brownieand45sfan]

Good to know

Just a followup to my earlier post. The Baseball Hall of Fame maintains a file of Contract Cards for most players signed to contracts for professional baseball. You may write or call the HOF to obtain a copy of your relative's card if it is there. If you are a member of the HOF there is no charge for this service. Non members may have to pay a small charge for the research.