Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tom Browning died on Monday, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky. He was 62.
Boone County Sheriff’s Office @BooneSheriffKY
We regret the error regarding the incorrect day. It has been corrected. pic.twitter.com/fUkNRV9AjQ
The Reds released the following statement:
Cincinnati Reds @Reds
His former teammate, Barry Larkin, was among those who paid their respects to Browning after learning of his death:
Bob Rotruck @BobRotruck
One of my favorite players of all-time. RIP Tom Browning.
July 7, 1993 – Browning epically sneaked out of Wrigley Field when he wasn’t playing…and joined fans on the rooftop across the street while in full uniform. Manager Davey Johnson fined him $500. pic.twitter.com/outaZugZz1
Baseball Quotes @BaseballQuotes1
RIP Tom Browning 💔pic.twitter.com/Fr9WweNeFG
Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 @JimBowdenGM
RIP Tom Browning.He had the best 84-86 mph high spin rate 4-seam fastball at the top of zone of any LH pitcher of his era.He threw a perfect game,won a World Championship,sat in the Wrigley Field stands during a #Reds game & took part himself during his own contract negotiations.
Brown spent 12 seasons in Major League Baseball between the Reds (1984-94) and Kansas City Royals (1995), finishing his career 123-90 with a 3.94 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 1,000 strikeouts.
He was an All-Star in the 1991 season and won a title with the Reds in the 1990 campaign. He also finished as the runner-up for the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1985 and was sixth in the Cy Young voting that year after going 20-9.
His career highlight came in 1988 when he threw a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 12th perfect game in MLB history. He struck out seven in the game, beating the team that would go on to win the World Series that year. It remains the only perfect game in Reds’ history, and one of 23 in MLB history.
He was dubbed Mr. Perfect after that performance, a nickname he found somewhat amusing.
“I was only perfect for an hour and 52 minutes,” he wrote in the book Tom Browning’s Tales From the Reds Dugout (h/t Joe Cox of SABR.org). “Most of the other time, I was imperfect—and stubborn, immature, and even a bit of a wiseass.”
But forever a part of Cincinnati history.
