[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 20 (Monday, February 3, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN RECOGNITION OF GARRY BROWN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. RICHARD E. NEAL

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 3, 2014

  Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
introduce an article entitled ``Garry Brown will join a Hall of Fame 
that would be incomplete without him'' that was published in the 
Springfield Republican on January 28, 2014. This tribute written by Ron 
Chimelis highlights the outstanding career of Garry Brown.
  Garry has been a well-known and beloved sports writer in Western 
Massachusetts for over sixty years. Even after retiring, he still 
offers features and his famed column Hitting on All Fields, which he 
has written for the Springfield Republican for over forty years. 
Garry's passion and dedication to all sports in Western Massachusetts 
has earned him the admiration of his readers as well as his peers. As a 
result, Garry was inducted into the Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall 
of Fame on Friday, January 31, 2014.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to congratulate Garry on this well-
deserved honor and wish him the best in the future.

 Garry Brown Will Join a Hall of Fame That Would Be Incomplete Without 
                                  Him

                   (By Ron Chimelis, The Republican)

       He was born in the same year as Mickey Mantle, grew up 
     watching Ted Williams and began his sports writing career 
     when Joe DiMaggio was playing center field at Yankee Stadium.
       Garry Brown was there at Busch Stadium in 2004, when the 
     Boston Red Sox ended an 86-year World Series title drought. 
     His encyclopedic knowledge of baseball's local history is 
     unmatched.
       It is not who he has covered or where he has been, however, 
     that best defines Brown. It is how he is viewed by others who 
     find themselves practically forcing well-deserved honors upon 
     a man too humble to expect them.
       One such honor will come Friday night. Brown is part of the 
     seven-man inaugural class of the Western Massachusetts 
     Baseball Hall of Fame, which will hold enshrinement at the La 
     Quinta Inn & Suites in Springfield.
       No individual--not a player, manager or executive--has 
     lived a life more interwoven with baseball's local history 
     than Brown, who is still going strong at The Republican in 
     Springfield.
       Technically, he is retired. That has not stopped the 82-
     year-old from continuing to offer features, retrospectives, 
     and live coverage of the Springfield Falcons.
       He is still serving up ``Hitting to All Fields,'' which has 
     survived 40 years of seismic change in newspapers.
       Achievements? Let's run down a few, sticking to baseball 
     because the overall list is too long.
       Brown was a high school beat writer from 1952-66, which he 
     calls his favorite time. He covered Pittsfield's run to the 
     1960 state title and that summer's American Legion World 
     Series, with a 15-year-old shortstop named Mark Belanger 
     leading the way.
       How about Chicopee High's three straight state titles from 
     1961-63? When fellow Hall of Fame inductee Al Stanek struck 
     out 25 and Amherst's Cliff Allen whiffed 16 in Chicopee's 1-0 
     tourney win in 1960, Brown was there.
       He was the Red Sox beat writer from 1986 to June 2009, but 
     also covered the World Series in 1967 and 1975. That was 
     Brown, writing on deadline when Carlton Fisk's home run and 
     Bill Buckner's error changed history.
       Awards? A story on Carl Yastrzemski's final weekend made 
     ``Best Sports Stories of 1983.'' The American Legion's 
     national award saluted his coverage in 1963.
       In 2002, Brown was in his 52nd year of writing when he 
     earned a New England award for columns. In 2003, the Boston 
     Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America 
     honored him with the prestigious Dave O'Hara Award, a prized 
     honor that signifies recognition by one's peers.
       The night was memorable. So was the acceptance speech by a 
     man whose humility is rare for his field.
       ``I do get tired of people asking me if Cy Young was a nice 
     guy,'' said Brown, who paused for effect.
       ``He was,'' the honoree said, drawing warm laughter and 
     applause from the crowd. He won the Kid Gore Award for high 
     school coverage in 1998. That's associated with basketball, 
     but it's still a biggie.
       When the Springfield Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame 
     selected its inaugural class, the committee wanted badly to 
     elect Brown as a contributor. He respectfully declined, 
     saying the first year should be reserved for the athletes.
       He was elected in the second.
       He campaigned tirelessly for a return of minor league 
     baseball to Springfield. Had it materialized, a popular 
     public choice for the new ballpark's name over his objections 
     was Garry Brown Stadium.
       For the Western Mass. Baseball Hall of Fame, Brown was 
     elected unanimously before he could say no.
       Now in his seventh decade of service, Brown was asked about 
     the attributes that made him a success.
       ``Not knowing when to quit,'' he said with typical self-
     effacing humor.
       That knowledge, or lack of it, has been a blessing to his 
     readers and made this region a much better place. The Western 
     Mass. Baseball Hall of Fame would be incomplete without him, 
     even if an ageless writer for all ages would never say so 
     himself.

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