Dustin William "Dusty" Brown (born June 19, 1982) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

Brown was drafted by the

in 35th round (1052nd overall) in the

Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...

. He was drafted right out of

Bradshaw Mountain High School Bradshaw Mountain High School is a grade 9–12 school located in Prescott Valley, Arizona operated by the Humboldt Unified School District. Humboldt USD includes most of Prescott Valley, all of Dewey Humboldt, and small portions of Chino Vall ...

. Brown however did not sign with the Red Sox until May 2001, attending

Yavapai Community College Yavapai College is a Public college, public community college in Yavapai County, Arizona. The main campus is in Prescott, Arizona, Prescott, with locations in Clarkdale, Arizona, Clarkdale, Prescott Valley, Arizona, Prescott Valley, Chino Valle ...

in the interim. On November 29, 2007, Brown's contract was purchased by the

. Had the Red Sox not placed him on the 40-man roster, he would've became a minor league free agent. But he was placed on the 40-man roster anyway. In the minor leagues, Brown has mainly played catcher but has also played a fair amount in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

and also played two games at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in at the rookie level. In 2008, he was invited to

Spring Training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

and accompanied the team on the trip to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to open the season. On March 24, 2008 Brown was optioned Triple-A Pawtucket but remained with the team in Japan to be available for recall if either catcher

Jason Varitek Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed "Tek", is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded as a min ...

Kevin Cash Kevin Forrest Cash (born December 6, 1977) is an American professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former player who is the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, Cash played catcher in MLB for th ...

suffered an injury and could not play. On June 21, 2009, Brown was called up to the Red Sox after starting pitcher

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, Sports journalism, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed i ...

was placed on the disabled list. Brown made his major league debut at catcher on June 23, against the Washington Nationals, but did not get an at-bat. He was later sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket two days later when

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time Ma ...

was activated off the disabled list. On September 9, 2009, he lined into a bases-loaded inning-ending double play against the Orioles in his first major league at bat. On September 30, 2009, the day after the Red Sox clinched the 2009 AL Wild Card, Brown came into pitch the ninth inning of a blow out game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He became the first catcher to pitch for the Red Sox in recorded history. Brown only gave up one run, and struck out a batter. He obtained his first strike out before his first major league hit. On October 3, 2009 he got his first major league hit, a home run over the Green Monster at Fenway. Brown was the 24th player on the Red Sox roster to hit a home run in the season, creating a new franchise record. On July 18, 2010 Brown was called up to the Red Sox. On July 26, 2010 Brown was optioned back to Triple-A Pawtucket. On August 19, 2010 Brown was once again called up to the Red Sox, after

Jarrod Saltalamacchia Jarrod Scott Saltalamacchia (; born May 2, 1985) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Between 2007 and 2018, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Boston Red So ...

was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

Pittsburgh Pirates

On November 10, 2010 Brown became a minor league

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He was signed by the

on December 1 to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Brown had his contract purchased by the Pirates on May 30, 2011. He was designated for assignment on June 25. He elected free agency after the season.

Texas Rangers

On December 2, 2011 Brown signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.

Oakland Athletics

Brown signed a minor league deal with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

in January 2014. He was released on July 21, 2014.

Cleveland Indians

On August 3, 2014, he signed a minor league deal with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. He became a free agent after the 2014 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Dusty 1982 births Living people Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Orange, California Boston Red Sox players Pittsburgh Pirates players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Lowell Spinners players Augusta GreenJackets players Sarasota Red Sox players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Portland Sea Dogs players Pawtucket Red Sox players Indianapolis Indians players Round Rock Express players Columbus Clippers players Peoria Javelinas players Mesa Solar Sox players Estrellas Orientales players Toros del Este players Azucareros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic