Murrill Brown

Murrill J. Brown grew up in Huntington Beach, California, and starred as a pitcher and outfielder at Wilson High School in Long Beach, and with the Samuel Thomas Post 326 American Legion junior team in North Long Beach. He was signed by the Sacramento Solons of the Class AA Pacific Coast League in 1942, and joined the Pocatello Cardinals of the Class C Pioneer League, where he pitched and played the outfield. On May 28, he threw a 6–0 three-hitter against Boise, and was batting .333 by July. However, his bat cooled off as the season progressed and he finished with a .222 average having played 35 games in the outfield. On the mound he made 21 appearances for a 5–9 record and 4.54 ERA. The Cardinals finished the year with a 72–46 record for first place and clinched the Pioneer League title in the best-of-seven series against Boise, with Brown scoring the deciding run in a 3–2 triumph in the seventh game.

Brown was called into military service at the end of the season and joined the Navy. He earned trained as a pilot at NAAS Waldron in Texas, where he also played baseball, and earned his wings at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, Texas. He was assigned to active duty as a Navy flyer at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida. In September 1944, Ensign Brown was killed when his plane crashed on an operational flight out of Jacksonville.

[I'd be very pleased to hear from you if you can supply information and an exact date relating to Murrill's plane crash info@baseballinwartime.com]