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PART QF THE CROWD OF CHATTOOGA COUNTIANS THAT TRAVELED TO ATLANTA SATURDAY TO SEE BROWN HONORED
Mr. And Mrs. Ralph “Country” Brown (C) Surrounded By Well-Wishers From Summerville Area
‘Country’ Brown Honored
from front page
He expressed appreciation
to Wayne Minshew and Steve
Smithson for nominating him
to the Hall of Fame, and
members of the committees
who voted to induct him. He
thanked Jesse Outlar, former
aorts editor of The Atlanta
nstitution; Guy Sharpe, who
gave the invoation; and the
editor of The Summerville
News.
“This is an honor I have
often dreamed about, as I'm
sure many athletes do, but I
never dreamed it would actual
ly happen to me,” Brown told
the crowd.
Later in his talk, Brown
added:
ATLANTA FANS
“] want to thank all the
many, many baseball fans in
Atlanta, in the State of
Georgia, and the surrounding
area who helped make i% possi
ble for a countg boy, like
myself, from rural Northwest
Georgia, to be here tonight.
Regardless of any other opi
nion, I know first-hand that
Atlanta area baseball fans are
the greatest group of fans in
the world, angrl know without
them I wouldn’t be standing
here tonight.”
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BASEBALL CAKE HONORS “COUNTRY” BROWN IN SUMMERVILLE
Jim’s Family Restaurant Sponsors Fish Fry For Hero
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JEANNIE MITCHELL GIVES SPECIAL CAKE TO “COUNTRY” BROWN, WIFE
Dozens Gather On Feb. 9 To Honor Former Atlanta Cracker
. “I also want to thank my
family and friends who sup
gorted me for the many years
‘during my baseball career and
continue to support me today,”
Brown told the SIOO per plate
crowd. ‘‘My family and many
of my friends, some from my
hometown of Summerville, and
the surrounding area, are pre
sent here toni%ht, and that
makes this night even more
sKecial to me, and I want to
thank each and every one of
them for being here.’
Before closing, Brown said,
“Finally, I want to thank one
veri special lady who is with
me here tonight. My wife, Cur
tis, has been b{ my side and
supported me for the last 51
years. She was alwags there for
me during my baseball career,
as she is now, and I want to
especially thank her for her
love and support during these
last 51 years.”
TRIBUTE
Minshew wrote a special
tribute to Brown that was
published in the official ;}ro
gram of the hall of fame. The
article follows in full:
He sits behind a desk now,
his lithe frame %erhafis slight
ly bent by age. But then, even
in his heyday. he ran slightly
bent, the best anyone could
tell, because he seemed only a
blur within his home whites,
Crackers scripted across the
front, e;;;eciallge going from
home to first to beat out a drag
bunt.
They called him “Country,”
and the nickname fit even in
days when ballplayers found
their way to the professionals
from farms and cotton mills
and other places of toil and
sweat. His real name was
Ralph, and maybe only his
mom called him that, and if
you mentioned Ralph Brown in
downtown Atlanta during the
late forties and early fifties, few
knew to whom you referred.
But, ‘“Country.” Everybody
knew “Country’’ Brown.
Ralfiyh “Country’’ Brown is
back home in Summerville,
Georgia, and has been since
retiring from baseball, serving
his county as a magistrate
judge. His thoughts, however,
rarely stray from the halcyon
days of the Southern Associa
tion, double-A by Organization
Baseball designation, but
much more than that to “Coun
try”’ Brown and those who
f;fiowed the Atlanta Crackers.
“To me,” he says today,
“Atlanta and the Southern
Association was the major
leagues.”
He grew up a legend in
Summerville, a alFmiuCt of
milltown baseball, although
there was the day he ran a 9.9
hundred-yard dash to set the
entire state abuzz.
Brown qlayed football in
high school, and, while his
speed caused great fear among
ogposing teams, baseball was
the ?ame he craved and the one
he played best. Realizing a life- «
long dream, he signed a yrofes
sional contract out of high
school and began a rigorous
trek of tank towns and villa.dges
hoping, ultimately, to land in
the major leagues.
Brown got all of baseball’s
attention while playing at
Tampa in 1946, collecting an
amazing 13 straight hits. The
major league record is 12.
“I was hot,” he recalls in an
understatement. ‘“‘Everything
I hit found a hole.”
But, it was in Atlanta, with
the Crackers, where “Country” |
Brown found a home. He lov
ed the city, and the city return
ed that affection two-{old. His |
natural flair e?ecially in clutch .
situations, an, extplosive sgeed
made him a fan favorite from
the time he arrived in 1948 un
til he was traded in a controver
sial 1952 deal. Such was the
resulting commotion that
owner, Earl Mann got him
back and all was well again.
Brown roamed center field
like no other in fabled old
Ponce de Leon Park, making
Flays around and under the
amous magnolia tree, stealing
bases, lining the ball all over
and bunting like no Atlanta
player before or since, in
cluding the current Braves.
His specialty was the drtzg
bunt. A lefty batter, he pivo
on his right foot as the pitch
was delivered while
simultaneously bringing his
bat, body and left lgfi toward
the pitcher. He was already on
his way, it seemed, when con
tact was made as he adroitly
placed the ball past the pitcher
and charging first baseman.
Once he got it by the pitcher,
there was no chance he would
be put out.
I practiced the drag bunt
for a full year before I thought
I had it perfected,” he says. A
home-to-first speed once timed
at an eyepopping 3.3 seconds
hel%ed immeasurably.
ans loved it. And they
remembered. When players,
most of them former major
leaguers, were introduced at
the Braves’ first Old-Timers
Game in 1969, the loudest ova
tion was reserved for ‘“‘Coun
try”’ Brown. He batted .338
here in 1948, .313 in 1949. His
lifetime average in 1,069
Southern Association games
was .297.
The legacy he leaves goes
beyond statistics, however. He
had that flair, that color, that
something which can’t be
coached, can’t be learned. Now,
the Georgia Sports Hall of
-Fame.
“The best thing, I think,
-that has ever happened to me,”
he says.
1993 MEMBERS
The 1993 gathering of
Georgia State Sl]:orts Hall of
Fame members had included:
Tommy Nobis, Pete Brown,
Tommy Mixon, Pete Cox, Joe
Geri, Charley Trippi, Steve
Schmidt, Jackie Roberts,
Vassa Cate, Joe Gerson, Lamar
Davis, Ellis Clary, Leon
' Hardeman, Charles Grisham,
Zippy Morroco, Drane Watson,
Tommy Hart, Virlyn Moore,
Tommy Barnes, Arnold Blum,
: Bobby Walden, Johnny Moon,
. Phil Niekro, Tommy Paris, Jim
Hearn, Graham Nixon, Willard
“Nixon, Roger Kaiser, Perrin
“Walker, H(fi Miller, Ray Beck,
Doc Ayers, Jim Gabrielsen,
Harley Bowers, Charles Har
rison, George Morris, Jimmy
Hi%htower, Bill Stanfill and
Robert Davis.
INDUCTEES
Besides ‘““Country’’ Brown,
others inducted into the Hall of
Fame Saturda’]yilevenin were:
Lucinda Williams Agams, a
Savannah native who won a
gold medal in the 1960 Olym
pics as a member of the U. S.
400-meter relay team; Van An
drew Davis Jr., who died on Ju
ly 11, 1987, and who had
%layed with the University of
eorgia football team; John
Bond, another UGA football
team member; Elmer Riddle,
who died in 1984, and who
played for Cincinnati and Pitt
sburg in the National Lgeefue;
Pat Stephens, who died in
1981, and Ipla ed basketball for
Georgia ecK; Cleve Wester,
who played footbball for
Auburn; George Hamilton
Brodnax 111, who played foot
ball for Georgia Tech; and
Larry Nelson, who was born in
Fort Payne, Ala., but is shown
as a Marietta resident and
world-class golfer.
Prior to the induction
ceremonies, a number of high
school, college, and profes
sional athletes and managers
or coaches was honored by the
Hall of Fame.
Brown was also honored by
local friends at Jim’'s Family
Restaurant on Wednesdafi
night, Feb. 9. It featured a sis
fry and a special cake for the
one-time baseball player.
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1. J. ROSENBERG (L), JEFF VAN NOTE (R), INTERVIEW CLARY, BROWN
Ellis Clary, 2nd From Left, Was One Of “Country” Brown’s Teammates
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MARRIOTT BALLROOM FILLED TO CAPACITY BY HALL OF FAME CROWD
About 30 Chattooga Countians Watch “Country’’ Brown Honored
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WSB RADIO INTERVIEWS “COUNTRY” SATURDAY EVENING
Popular Brown Subject Of Numerous Stories, Interviews
27 May Be Named For Brown
Besides his place in the
Georgia S;)orts Hall of Fame,
“Country’”’ Brown may soon
have a piece of Chattooga
County named for him.
Rep. Tim Perry said this
week that he plans to ask the
Georgia legislature to
designate a portion of U.S.
Highway 27 as the Ralph M.
“Country” Brown Highway.
Kenneth Bruce, a Summer
ville attorney, has asked Perry
to sponsor local legislation that
would name the pertion of
U. S. 27 between the city limits
of Trion and Summerville for
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SUMMERVILLE’S OWN “COUNTRY’”’ BROWN HONORED BY HOMETOWN
Surprised By Fish Fry, Brown Hugs Wife, Curtis
The Summerville News, Thursday, February 17, 1994
Brown.
‘“This pr:fivosal ...repre
sents, in a small way, a recogni
tion of ‘Country’ Brown for his
professional career and his con
tributions to our community,”
Bruce said.
Sen. “Sonny”’ Hufifi.ns will
sponsor the local bill in the
Senate, and Perry said he ex
pects the bill to pass as easily
as such legislation usually
does.
& ‘Country’ knows about
this, and it’s something to
honor him,” Perry said. “%-[e’s
a native of Chattooga County
and one of the few people to be
in the Georgia Sports Hall of
Fame.” :
Perry stressed that if the
portion of U.S. 27 is
designated in Brown's honor,
owners of homes and
businesses on the highway will
not have to change the'r
addresses.
“Don’t worry about that,”
.he said. “This is just an
honorary thing, and nobody
has to change their address.
You can if you want to, but it
is not necessary.”
15-A