FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – James Allison “Al” Brown, who served the University of Memphis for over 25 years, both as the baseball head coach and M-Club Executive Director, passed away Monday afternoon.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Al Brown was a standout left-handed pitcher at Memphis Central High School, before lettering for then-Memphis State College from 1947-48. After his collegiate career, Brown went on to play professionally in the Chicago White Sox minor league system. After his playing days were over, Brown served as a part-time baseball scout for the White Sox organization until 1978.
He returned to Memphis and took over the baseball program at his alma mater, Central High School. While at Central, Brown led the Warriors to the 1958 Tennessee State Championship before moving across town and serving as Athletic Director and basketball and football coach at Overton High School in Memphis, from 1959-1962.
In 1962, Brown became the Head Baseball Coach and Assistant Basketball Coach at then-Memphis State University. The multi-talented Brown also served as the color commentator for University of Memphis in basketball and football and for the Memphis Chicks Double-A Baseball with WMC-TV, WKNO-TV and radio stations for 33 years (1963-1996). During this time, Brown authored two books, Coaching Isn’t Easy and Basic Thoughts in Coaching Baseball.
From 1963-71, Brown guided the Tigers’ baseball program, racking up a 156-118-4 record. The Tigers posted winning seasons in seven of his nine years as head coach, including winning 21 games in 1964 and 1965–the first 20-win seasons in school history. Brown departed from the U of M as the baseball program’s winningest coach.
Following his coaching career, Brown joined the Memphis Park Commission and later took over as the manager of Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium and the Memphis Fairgrounds. He was a founder and served 14 years with the Mid-South Stadium Managers Association.
He returned to the University of Memphis in 1991 and served as the Executive Director of the University of Memphis M Club for 15 years.
Brown was the recipient of the University of Memphis Athletic Department’s Billy J. Murphy Award in 1984. For his contributions to sport in the City of Memphis, Brown was inducted into the Memphis Amateur Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. A former president and director of the College Athletic Business Managers Association, Brown was awarded the Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 1991.
Brown, age 81, was a board member for the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame for over 25 years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.
