During the 2013 baseball season I have listened to and watched the Great Lakes Loons nearly as much as I have watched the Dodgers who play so many games on the west coast four time zones away from me.

The Loons have had an unusual season with a disastrous first half and then gaining a wildcard berth in the second half. Although the Loons are well down the list with offensive statistics, they managed to earn a Wild Card playoff berth in the final days of the season. How is that possible? We have all heard the battle cry, “Good pitching beats good hitting.”

The Great Lakes team have a pitching staff that could be described as a stable of young stallions. Most Dodger fans have heard of Chris Anderson (21) and Tom Windle (21) – the Dodgers first and second round draft picks in 2013. By now the name Julio Urias is a recognized name as the youngest player in the Midwest League. The just turned seventeen year old has had an exceptional season. Others may have heard of Zachary Bird who is one of those sleeper picks made by the Dodgers. Still nineteen he is coming into his own. Another nineteen year old – Jonathan Martinez- has also made significant strides during the present campaign while twenty-two year old Brandon Martinez has saved his best pitching for the stretch run. Nineteen year old Miguel Sulbaran, perhaps the Loons best pitcher in 2013, was recently traded to the Twins for catcher for Drew Butera.

Throughout the season there has been one pitcher that I am sure most Dodger fans have not heard of unless they are minor league fanatics . How many have heard of twenty-four year old Geoff Brown who is in his first full season in the Dodger farm system. The undrafted Brown has been, in my opinion, the most valuable pitcher on the Loons talented staff – perhaps the most valuable player on the team. He is a relief pitcher from the Clem Labine mold. That is, one who pitches multiple innings.

At 24 years of age Geoff Brown is a bit old to still be in Low-A ball, but with the success he had with the Loons in 2013, he could very well start the 2014 season at Double-A Chattanooga. (Photo credit – Sammy Jo Hester)

Brown, as mentioned, has gone undrafted. He was selected by Kansas City in 2007 in the twenty-third round. However he chose to attend the University of Washington where he set a school record by appearing in 94 games resulting in a seven mph drop in his fastball. Most scouts are looking for fire ball pitchers so it appeared Brown had forfeited his chance at playing professional baseball. He doesn’t regret his decision to play Division 1 ball but still wanted to play at some higher level. With the assistance of his pitching coach he made his way to Australia to play with the Perth Heat in the Australian League. In 2011 he helped lead Perth to the Australian Baseball League championship, posting a 5-0 record with a 1.88 earned run average.

Although he thoroughly enjoyed living and playing in Australia, he returned to the United States in time for the 2012 season posting a 3.67 ERA in 44 games with the Joliet Slammers in the Frontier League. On August 27 his contract was sold to the Dodgers. The move was a surprise for Geoff Brown who knew that going from an independent league to a major league affiliation is not common. His manager Bart Zeller with the Slammers was not surprised. “Geoff deserves the opportunity because he accepted any role we gave him and he succeeded in them all. He definitely could get a K when we needed it and worked very hard for this chance. We wish him well in affiliated baseball.” His 2012 season with the Loons ended with a 1-1 record and and a 5.14 ERA.

During the 2013 season with the Loons Brown has pitched 77 innings. The 5’11” left handed has a 12-1 W-L record with a 2.10 ERA along with 56 strikeouts. The interesting aspect of his season is that Geoff Brown has worked in 27 games as a reliever – starter. He has actually started only one game but has been a secondary starter in many games. That is, with the low pitch counts for many of the young Loons, someone had to follow them and pitch multiple innings. His many wins indicates he was successful in piggy backing with the starters who pitched too few innings to get credited with a win. In July and August Brown followed Julio Urias in ten of his starts. He pitched forty innings and the team won seven of those ten games.

Today it was announced that Geoff Brown has been selected as an all-star in the Midwest League. He leads the league in wins and is tied for the second-highest single-season wins total in Loons franchise history, with those twelve victories. He is old for the league but not in terms of experience. Because he can pitch to contact and is a left hander, his future may be as a situational lefty. I would guess that he will be assigned to the Chattanooga Lookouts in 2014 where he can pitch in a more age appropriate league.