Dee Brown knows he should probably be at Double A someplace, making that final push toward a spot on a Major League roster.
After all, when he comes to the plate these days, there isn’t a more fearsome bat in the Northern League.
As he headed out on a four-game road trip to Kansas City this week, Brown was hitting .361 with 44 hits in 122 at-bats. He had nine doubles, five homers, 17 runs scored and 23 driven in and was not only the team’s batting average leader, his slugging percentage was a monstrous .557.
He was on a 15-game hitting streak and had gone 25-for-54 during the streak. That’s a .463 stretch.
If fans were just seeing him for the first time during the streak, many would wonder he isn’t in a big league organization. You would think somebody could use that bat, including the last-place Washington Nationals, whose system he spent four seasons in before landing in Winnipeg.
“The reason I asked for my release from the Nationals was because I was 26 and I was still stuck in A ball,” Brown said. “I don’t think I had a bad reputation or anything like that. I’ve always done what the organization wanted and what my managers wanted me to do. I just couldn’t understand why I was still in A ball.
“That’s why I asked for my release. I wanted that release because I wanted to come here and play and hopefully be seen by another organization and maybe get a new opportunity. Because it was obvious I wasn’t going to get that opportunity with the Nationals.”
After hitting .296 at Potomac in the Carolina (A+) League last year, it seemed rather senseless for Brown to continue a career that was like running in a hamster’s wheel. He’d never had a bad season at Class A and had hit .256 in just 175 at-bats during 58 games at Double A. Still, he was going to start this season at age 26 and was still playing at a level with 20-year-olds.
It’s a mystery. Here’s a guy who plays his position well, can run the bases with the best of them, is 6-foot, 230-pounds of power and is currently among the finest hitters in independent baseball and yet he’s not getting much respect from the big leagues.
Still, he’s not bitter. As the son of former NFL All-Pro defensive tackle Jerome Brown, there is no quit in him and there are no regrets.
“I stopped thinking about what might have gone wrong with my career, why I was stuck in A ball, a long time ago,” Brown said. “I’m still young and I still have a chance to do a lot of things. I decided to come here to have another opportunity, but if it doesn’t work out, then it just wasn’t meant to be.”
That’s why Brown has remained in school and in August will graduate with a criminal justice degree from Rollins College, located close to his off-season home in Winter Park, Florida. It’s the oldest recognized university in the state.
“When this season ends and I have my (criminal justice) degree, then I’ll have something else to think about,” said Brown, who knows that criminal justice in the state of Florida is a growth industry.
“The important thing is, I’ll have a degree. That just gives me other options.”
Right now, however, Dee Brown still believes his best option could be the result of his next hit.
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