Tom Browning's perfect game ball lost in history

 

Want to see the ball that recorded the final out for Tom Browning's perfect game? Go search in the woods behind his old house in Edgewood.

 

"I used to keep it unmarked on my mantel and then one day I noticed it was gone," said the former Cincinnati Reds pitcher, the only player in team history to pitch a perfect game. "So I asked my kids and they used it one day to play ball and lost it in the woods."

 

Yup, a scene right out of the movie "The Sandlot" when one of the neighborhood kids unknowingly loses his dad's ball, the one that had been signed by Babe Ruth. But unlike in that movie, Browning's keepsake has never been recovered.

 

Yet like everything else in his life, Browning shrugs it off and laughs about it.

 

"I've got other stuff from the game somewhere in boxes and my dad has a ball from the game," Browning said.

 

Browning was known as one of the more likable and funny guys in the majors – one time appearing on the top of the rooftops outside Chicago's Wrigley Field during a game.

 

But he was also a fierce competitor, always wanting to be among the league leaders in innings pitched and games started. Over a 12-year career, Browning finished with 31 complete games to go with his 123-90 record and 3.94 career earned run average.

 

"I just wanted the ball ... I wanted to be out there," he said. "I figured if I am in the game and pitch enough innings, the wins will come."

 

His first-ever start showed what was to come. After being called up as part of the September roster expansion in 1984, Browning was greeted by then-player manager Pete Rose as he walked into the clubhouse for the first time.

 

"I thought I would be lucky to get into a game here or there, but Pete told me I was starting that Sunday because Mario (Soto)'s wife was going into labor," Browning said. He would end up pitching a shutout into the ninth inning, despite giving up 11 hits, and notched his first career win.

 

Browning earned only one All-Star appearance – in 1991 – when he was designated the "extra-inning guy" for the National League. As he had pitched the previous Sunday, Browning spent the game in Toronto in the bullpen chatting with then-Cardinals closer Lee Smith. He never made it into the game, but had a blast, he said.

 

"It was great just rubbing elbows with those guys," Browning said. "To me, it finally meant that I belonged."

 

One of the main reasons for Browning's selection to the 1991 squad was his performance the previous year. He led the Reds in wins with a 15-9 record in 1990, and had two sterling starts in the postseason to help clinch the World Series for the Reds.

 

That title came a year after Rose had been banned from baseball, and after a lockout-shortened spring training. Browning recalls that new manager Lou Piniella brought the team together before the season started.

 

"He told us we had too much talent not to win, that this was our year, and that he was there to win, too, and that he didn't care if we didn't like him," Browning said. "Then we reeled off the first nine wins and went wire-to-wire."

 

Browning retired shortly after blowing out his arm in a grotesque injury that occurred while throwing a pitch in San Diego in 1994. He was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2006 and is 12th all time on the Reds' pitching wins list. He also finished his career with an even 1,000 strikeouts.

 

Browning, 55, now lives in Union but he's also the pitching coach for the Reds' Low-A franchise, the Dayton Dragons. When he spoke to The Enquirer, he had just finished a week-long road trip to Iowa, which he said was fun because he got to bond with his son and play some golf.

 

"I grew up idolizing the Cincinnati Reds, and then I got to live out my dream and play most of my career for them," Browning said. "I know how lucky I was and continue to be."

Mom met him once and said he was a great guy.

 

Glad the article referenced the Sandlot, that's the first thing I thought of.

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LOVE that movie. Hell, growing up I WAS that movie! When I watch it, it always brings back great memories I wish I could live again.

Played basketball against his son quite a bit while in grade school.

 

Remember he would always be in the stands, just like any other parent.

I can always remember my wedding day (Sept. 17, 1988) because I remember the date of the perfect game (Sept. 16, 1988)! After our rehearsal dinner (at the old El Grecos - for any people from NKY), I brought my bride to be to her parents house and we listened to the last inning together. Due to a long rain delay that evening, the game did not end until close to 1am if I recall correctly. I can still remember Marty's call of the strikeout to end the game...great memories!

He signed a freebie autograph for my son while he was one both away from George Foster at a reds game who was charging 10 bucks. Total respect for him for doing that. But as a role model for youngsters, I'm not so sure.

Did he ever get the tile in his foyer fixed??