Brown was a corner outfielder who attended Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, Calif., which also produced beloved Phillie Chase Utley and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Brown's brother, Oscar, played with the Atlanta Braves from 1969 to 1973, and his brother Willie played in the NFL for the Rams and Eagles in the 1960s, where he returned kickoffs and punts.
Ollie Brown pitched and played the outfield in the minors. He threw a no-hitter in 1963 for Decatur and got his nickname in 1964 when he hit 40 home runs with Class A Fresno. He was named California League MVP that year.
"I hit a lot of balls to center field," he told MLB.com in 2012. "And the way the ballpark was situated, when you did hit it over the fence, the ball was going the direction of downtown."
Brown was just 21 when he came up with the San Francisco Giants in 1965 and played with Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and a couple of the Alou brothers In 1968, the San Diego Padres made him their first pick in the expansion draft, and he played with San Diego from 1969 until 1972. He moved around a lot in 1972. In May, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics. About 6 weeks later, he was picked up on waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers.
After the 1973 season, he was traded to the Angels, but never played for them because he was purchased by the Astros late in spring training in 1974. The Astros waived him in June, when he was picked up by the Phillies. Brown stayed with the Phillies through the rest of 1974 and until the end of the 1977 season.
Brown was a reserve outfielder with the Phils, filling in for Greg Luzinski in LF and sharing RF with Jay Johnstone. Brown played 262 games in Philadelphia, hitting .264 with 16 HR with 82 RBI. He had 4 at-bats in the playoffs for the Phillies in 1976 and 1977, and reached base just once with a walk. His best year in Philadelphia was in 1975, where he slashed .303/.369/.510 in 84 games. His most memorable game as a Phillie was probably on May 15, 1975, when he hit a 2-out, 3-run walk-off HR in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Reds.
He retired after the 1977 season and returned to California where he worked with his wife who ran a promotional products company. Downtown Ollie Brown passed away in April 2015 at the age of 71.
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