Brown played for
Hueytown High School in
Hueytown, Alabama, and went on to the
University of Alabama, where he played for the
Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team. At Alabama, he won the
Johnny Bench Award for the nation's top collegiate catcher. Brown was selected in the
2002 Major League Baseball draft in the first round (35th selection overall) by the Athletics, at the behest of
Billy Beane and
Paul DePodesta, over the strong objections of the scouting department. He is most remembered for a minor-league game in 2002 where he, planning for a double, slipped and fell while rounding first base. While scrambling to get back to base, he was notified that he had in fact hit a home run. The play was re-enacted in the 2011 film
Moneyball. and subsequently outrighted to the minors. On February 15, 2008, Brown announced his retirement. Brown was the team's third-ranked catcher behind
Kurt Suzuki and
Rob Bowen and was unlikely to make the major league roster. After a brief time working in coal mines, Brown returned to college and obtained his masters in education at the
University of West Alabama. He previously coached at
Bessemer Academy where he led his team to the finals of the state playoffs in 2021. Brown later became the head baseball coach at
Grissom High School in
Huntsville, Alabama. == References ==