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How I Discovered A Famous Relative
by Cindy Thomson

I've always loved baseball, and so has my mother. For most of my youth, she and I were glued to the television set rooting for our team, win or lose, while my father muttered out loud about us wasting our time.

"Why?" friends would ask. "You're not a boy." Besides the sexual stereotyping that comment reeked of, the question of why I fancied baseball when I never played it was always a puzzle to me. That is, until the day I got a phone call from my cousin.

"We're related to a Hall of Famer!" he exclaimed, telling me of his discovery.

My cousin, Scott Brown, also an unabashed baseball enthusiast, had discovered the relationship while looking through a book he owned. He was researching old baseball uniforms when one pitcher caught his eye. Scott knew his grandfather had never played ball, yet here he seemed to be, staring up at him from the page. When he regained his composure, Scott looked at the caption: "Three Finger Brown." Brown? Was the name just a coincidence? Looking back at the face of the early-20th century player who held such a resemblance to his grandfather, Scott doubted that notion.

With a little research, Scott discovered that Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown, ace pitcher for the Chicago Cubs during their tremendous years of 1906-1910, was indeed our cousin--on my mother's side.

Seems baseball had indeed been in our blood all along.

This article first appeared in Everton's Family History Magazine (Sept/Oct 2003) under the title: Baseball In My Blood.