TOM BROWNELL, Amsterdam, NY

Inducted 2007

Player: Tom Brownell was born April 22, 1923, in New York state. He began pitching horseshoes at age 13 and won his first New York State title in 1941. He went on to win a total of seven New York Championships (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1956. He became one of the top pitchers in the nation and qualified for the Men’s Championship Class in 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1955 and 1957. His best finish was in 1955 after the round robin finished in a four-player playoff. Ted Allen, Fernando Isais, Don Titcomb and Brownell were the top four pitchers. Tom had placed 4^th, pitching 77.6% but end up 3^rd, going 1-2 in the playoff, while pitching 82.7%. One of his playoffs losses was to Ted Allen and the game went 158 shoes with 50 four-deads. Allen average 91.1% while Brownell averaged 87.3%. Brownell won 129 games in his six appearances. Due to his work, Tom moved to California in 1956. In 1975, Brownell was one of four players selected to put on a pitching demonstration in South Africa. He passed away in 1976.