| Chautauqua County, New York |
| Chautauqua County, New York |
Bob Brown
Bob Brown's name has been popping up in area sports for nearly 50 years. It all started at South Dayton High School as an athlete and ended there, now known as Pine Valley Central School, as a long-time coach and athletic director.
Brown played basketball and baseball for four years at South Dayton and was a starting guard on the 1941-42 sectional championship team that had an undefeated record. After a three-year stint in the Army, Brown attended Cortland State where he played baseball and soccer for three years and was the right halfback on the 1948 All-America Soccer Team. During that time, Brown also played baseball with the Steel Partition Bombers who won the New York State Championship and went on to compete in the national toumament at Wichita, Kansas.
In 1949, he signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers and played second base with their farm team in Nashua, New Hampshire. The manager was former Jamestown Falcons manager Greg Mulleavy and some of the Brown's teammates were Billy Hunter, Billy Loes and Gino Cimoli. In one game Brown set a record for handling 17 chances, nine putouts and eight assists, without making an error.
His teaching career began in 1950 at Whitesville Central School and he also coached basketball and baseball. While teaching in 1951, Brown also played second base for the Wellsville Rockets of the PONY League and batted .233 with four home runs and 37 RBI's.
After three years at Whitesville, Brown became a physical education teacher at Pine Valley in 1953 and remained at the school located in Chautauqua County until his retirement in 1984. In addition to holding the post of athletic director, Brown coached football, basketball, baseball, wrestling volleyball and track; and he also was a principal.
Bob Brown, back row, second from right, with the Steel Partition Bombers
Brown's football coaching career involved both six-man and 11-man and he finished with over 90 wins. His 1966 team was undefeated and was one of his two championship squads. One of his former players was Bill Bergey. Brown's baseball teams won numerous league and sectional championships. Brown was a representative to the Chautauqua County Athletic Association Executive Council and the Section 6 Athletic Council.
Bob Brown was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.
Links
Brown To Miss Coaching Pine Valley