Mordecai Brown Aka "Three-Fingers" Professional Baseball Career

Mordecai Brown aka "Three Finger" got his nickname from a childhood accident that involved farm machinery. Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown was born on October 19, 1876 in Nyesville, Indiana. Three Fingers had a mean curveball as well as a nasty changeup due to the fact in how he gripped the ball with only three fingers. Mordecai played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1903, Chicago Cubs from 1904-1912 and then again in 1916, Cincinnati Reds in 1913 and was a player/manager for the St. Louis Terriers in 1914. Three Fingers also played for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops in 1914 and the Chicago Whales in 1915 before hanging up the cleats to become a manager. Brown won 20 or more games six years in a row from 1906-1911. He was part of the Chicago Cubs World Series Championship teams in 1907 and 1908. Mordecai became a minor league manager once he retired from the Major Leagues.

Mordecai Brown was not only a dominating pitcher during his time, but a great switch hitting hitter. However, his domination came upon the mound and had a career win/loss record of 239 wins and 130 losses with a career era of only 2.06. Brown's managerial record was a combined 50 wins with 63 losses.

Three Fingers passed away on February 14, 1948 while living in Terre Haute, Indiana and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949. Brown overcame his disability by pitching with three fingers that allowed him to develop some pitches with unusual spins. Brown had 1,375 strikeouts during his career and was a fierce competitor day in and day out.

Mordecai Brown was one of the greatest pitchers of his time and his T206 baseball card is worth thousands and thousands of dollars and finding one in mint condition could push the value up five-fold. If you're lucky to ever find one of his T206 cards it would make a nice investment.

Brown overcame his disability and actually used it to his advantage in striking out his opponents with a sharp curveball along with off-speed pitches that kept hitters guessing. Three Finger Brown had some great matchups against Christy Mathewson during his career as a professional baseball player. The two players left it all on field with dominating performances against each other.

Mordecai thrived during his professional playing career and his connection to the T206 series of baseball cards is one of the most sought after collections in the world based on the low volume and high demand of the cards.

Source:

Zappala, Tom & Ellen "The T206 Collection-The Players and Their Stories", 2010