Learning About Kevin Brown

When the Dodgers came to Detroit this year, I went to Comerica Park to talk to Jim Colborn, the Dodgers pitching coach, about the great year his staff was having. Our conversation came around to Kevin Brown, and after he saw that I was intent on knowing more about Kevin, he asked me if I would like to talk to him. He prefaced his question by saying that it would be a good day to talk to Kevin since he won 3-1 the night before, although he was still very upset he gave up a run.
 
I hesitated to say yes because of presuppositions I had about Kevin Brown based on two previous experiences. The first was in January 1999, when Kevin was at the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention. The message I remembered from hearing him was that he did things his way when he wanted to and how he wanted to.
 
The second time I learned a little about Kevin Brown was when I visited the Dodgers at Wrigley Field to find out about the SportsRAC, a new shoulder rehab and fine motor control training device the Dodgers pitchers were using. I asked therapist Pat Screener how many of the Dodgers staff were using the SportsRAC. He replied that just about all the pitchers were using it except Kevin Brown.
 
I had this impression of Kevin that he was selfishly going to do his own thing no matter what, or that he would always find a different way to do things. I believed he was the kind of guy that, if he looked up directions, and it said to take a left at a particular intersection but Kevin thought he should take a right turn, even though he had never been that way before, he would take a right, and no one could convince him differently.
 
My curiosity and desire to know what made Kevin Brown tick got the best of me, and I asked Jim to help me get a few minutes with Kevin. I’m sure glad I did.
 
Right away I knew I wasn’t talking with some stubborn egotistical guy who wasn’t receptive to anyone’s opinion. After all, you don’t get into chemical engineering school at Georgia Tech University with a 750 on your SAT without being smart enough to heed sound advice. This is a man who has a natural ability to delve deeply into issues or problems, to analyze things, and to come up with solutions. A personality profile would show him to be extremely proactive and analytical. This is a guy who takes matters into his own hands. Ben Platt of MLB.com, who has helped Kevin learn about computers, told about how Kevin had disassembled his laptop because it wasn’t working right, thinking that he could figure out for himself what was wrong with it and how to fix it.
 
He has used those analytical and proactive traits, along with a great work ethic, to develop his own regimen that has given him years of success with what many have described as unhittable stuff. He throws such a heavy ball that his catchers have trouble catching it, and they know it’s coming. Kevin has never taken the game for granted. He has always pushed himself to be better.
 
Then, after thirteen straight years of success, pitching relatively injury-free, he got hit with an arm and a back injury in successive years. The back injury was debilitating. It got so bad he had trouble just moving around, let alone trying to pitch competitively. He had always handled adversity by himself, and now, for the first time, he needed help.
 
“I didn’t handle it very well,” he admitted. “It was new territory for me. It was killing me to have to sit and watch and not be able to contribute.”
 
His own anxiety gave him a feeling of not being part of the team and it frustrated him. He tried to handle his situation by isolating himself. He kept everyone at arms length because he believed he was disappointing them by not being able to be there for them. He said, “I didn’t want to be a burden on the rest of the guys. I felt the problems I was going through would just bring them down.”
 
This didn’t sound like a selfish, hard-to-get-to-know guy. It sounded like a very dedicated man who has always taken great pride in being ready and able to give everything he has for the team to win. Sure, he likes to figure things out for himself, and he may appear to be aloof in a conversation or a coaching situation. That’s because he is already processing that information to analyze its value. He is a deep thinker who cares for and lives to contribute to the team.
 
Kevin philosophically states, “When you go through adversity you have to learn something from it. You have a chance to make yourself better than what you were before you went through it.”
 
I asked him what he has learned from this adversity. He replied, “I realize now that these guys wanted to be here for me and help me go through a tough time. Now if somebody is going through a tough time, I want to help them, and I realize other people want to do that for me, too.
 
“The good Lord decided it was time for me to go through some trials and tribulations. I hope I passed those trials, and I hope I can finish off my career without any more significant problems like that.”
 
Kevin Brown has given well over a million dollars to help several causes such as the Reviving Baseball in the Innercities program (R.B.I.), as well as many other charities. Now, not only is he giving money, he is ready to give more of himself and his experiences to help others to be better. I think that has made him better than what he was before he went through this experience. On the pitching side, he is currently 10-4 with a league-leading 2.30 ERA. He has just been selected to the All-Star team for the sixth time.
 
I think Kevin Brown passed those trials. He gets my early vote for Comeback Player of the Year and the Cy Young Award. He is an All-Star on and off the field.
 
Note: After trying to pitch for the Yankees with a bad back Kevin finally retired.
 
July 2003
By Geoff Zahn Former Head Baseball Coach University of Michigan and 12 Year Major League Veteran Pitcher