The Pecan Park Eagle visiting with the now late Marty Marion at the afternoon reception in St. Louis for the Browns in 2003.
The start of the 2014 baseball season represents the 60th anniversary of the Baltimore Orioles returning to the major leagues as the reincarnation of the transplanted St. Louis Browns from their 52-year home in the Mound City. Some of the 23 surviving 23 members of the old Browns (1902-53) also made the shift of franchises as original 1954 Orioles. From our list of 23 current Browns survivors, three players also survive as members of the original 1954 Baltimore Orioles club. These include pitcher Don Larsen, shortstop Billy Hunter, and outfielder Don Lenhardt.
Sadly for me, I haven’t seen any of the former Browns I know, and that includes both Larsen and Lenhardt, plus Ned Garver, Ed Mickelson, Roy Sievers, Bud Thomas, and J.W. Porter in seven years, but I still maintain my membership in the St. Louis Browns Historical Society and Fan Club, even if I’m not traveling as much now as I once did. The old Browns are the salt of the earth good people who may have extended their lifetimes by not getting swallowed up by the stress of winning during their playing days.
Here’s the list of the former Browns survivors:
| OLDEST TO YOUNGEST | SURVIVING BROWNS | BIRTHDATE | AGE IN 2014 ON BURTHDAY |
| 1 | CHUCK STEVENS | 07-10-18 | 96 |
| 2 | TOM JORDAN | 09-05-19 | 95 |
| 3 | DICK STARR | 03-02-21 | 93 |
| 4 | GEORGE ELDER | 03-10-21 | 93 |
| 5 | NEIL BERRY | 01/11/22 | 92 |
| 6 | JOHNNY HETKI | 05/12/22 | 92 |
| 7 | JIM RIVERA | 07/22/22 | 92 |
| 8 | DON LENHARDT | 10/04/22 | 92 |
| 9 | TOM WRIGHT | 09/22/23 | 91 |
| 10 | BILLY DeMARS | 08/26/25 | 89 |
| 11 | NED GARVER | 12/25/25 | 89 |
| 12 | FRANK SAUCIER | 05/28/26 | 88 |
| 13 | JOHNNY GROTH | 07/23/26 | 88 |
| 14 | AL NAPLES | 08/29/26 | 88 |
| 15 | ED MICKELSON | 09/09/26 | 88 |
| 16 | DON JOHNSON | 11/12/26 | 88 |
| 17 | ROY SIEVERS | 11/18/26 | 88 |
| 18 | HAL HUDSON | 05/04/27 | 87 |
| 19 | BILLY HUNTER | 06/04/28 | 86 |
| 20 | JOE DeMAESTRI | 12/09/28 | 86 |
| 21 | BUD THOMAS | 03/10/29 | 85 |
| 22 | DON LARSEN | 08/07/29 | 85 |
| 23 | J.W. PORTER | 01/17/33 | 81 |
The St. Louis Browns won their only American League pennant in 1944 with veteran military service ineligible players while most of the traditional winners had all their major stars off serving the war effort, even if it was for most of the really big names just a chance to play baseball for various service groups. Stars like Ted Williams and Bob Feller, however, they wee manning combat duty, guns and flight for Williams and guns sea duty for Feller.
1944 Final American League Standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Browns | 89 | 65 | .578 | — |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 66 | .571 | 1 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 71 | .539 | 6 |
| Boston Red Sox | 77 | 77 | .500 | 12 |
| Cleveland Indians | 72 | 82 | .468 | 17 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 72 | 82 | .468 | 17 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 83 | .461 | 18 |
| Washington Senators | 64 | 90 | .416 | 25 |
The Browns lost their Streetcar Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in six games.
For further information about the St. Louis Browns Historical Society, check out the website:
And have a great second full week of the still bright and shiny new year!
The Pecan Park Eagle 
January 13, 2014 at 6:09 pm |
Bill, you might be interested to know that a new Ned Garver book is out about his 1951 (20 win) season. It’s called _Catch 20…too!_ & is produced by Joyner & Bozman. I’m about 1/3 of the way through the index.
January 13, 2014 at 7:14 pm |
Bill: I wondered why I had not seen you at the luncheons. Sorry to hear you are not traveling. The Brownies that show up for the luncheons are great guys but we are all showing our years. One of my favorites is Bud Thomas, a lifetime .351 major league hitter who only got a cup of coffee in 1951, but who turned out to be a great educator in the State of Missouri. I am also a member of the KC Baseball Historical Society. The Society just announced that Ned Garver has published a new book about the 1951 season when he won 20 games although the Browns lost more than 100. The book can be obtained for $25.00 plus shipping through the KCBHS. Browns Forever.
January 13, 2014 at 7:45 pm |
Bill, thanks again for an excellent column about the Browns. Perhaps I’d mentioned my playing Teen-Age ball for Matt Batts before, but he and his buddy, Virgil Trucks, both passed away during
2013. They’d not been on the Browns at the same time, but they were teammates on the Tigers in the early 50’s. Batts and Trucks
continued to play golf for years. Wish I could have heard a few of
those stories! Wayne put it right…”Browns Forever!”