Oscar Brown, the last and youngest surviving brother of one of the greatest sports families in Long Beach history, has died. He was 74.
Brown died of complications from old age at his home in Carson on Wednesday, June 3, according to daughter Jeannine Cofield.
Oscar was one of three brothers who grew up in Long Beach’s Central District, graduated from Poly High School and became standouts in college football and Major League Baseball. Willie Brown, the oldest, was an All-American football player at USC and played in the NFL. Ollie Brown, the middle brother, was nicknamed Downtown Brown because of his prodigious home runs and was a standout with the San Diego Padres.
Oscar Brown, meanwhile, played five years with the Atlanta Braves alongside Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron and outfielder Dusty Baker, now manager of the Houston Astros. Ollie Brown died in 2015 and Willie Brown died in 2018.
“They were Long Beach icons who will be missed,” said Long Beach’s District 6 Councilmember Dee Andrews, who grew up with the Brown brothers in the neighborhood around 19th Street and Lewis Avenue. “When we were kids playing softball at the Hamilton Bowl, everybody always wanted the Brown brothers on their team because they knew they would win with them,”
But, Andrews added, the brothers were more than just great athletes.
“They also were great human beings who loved Long Beach and would help everybody” he said. “I never heard anything negative about any of them.”
Andrews said Oscar Brown was the quietest of the three brothers.
“But when he spoke, you listened,” Andrews said. “He spoke with honesty and love. He was the glue that held those three brothers together.”
Oscar Brown was born on Feb. 8, 1946, in Long Beach. He was the only one of the three siblings born in California, with the other two natives of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Brown family was part of what’s known as the Great Migration, when black families sought to escape the Jim Crow-era South by venturing to the Northeast, Midwest and West. In the Brown family’s case, they looked for job opportunities and a fresh start in Southern California, with the patriarch getting a job at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard’s dry dock.
Andrews and his family were also part of that migration, moving to Long Beach from Beach from Texas. Andrews and Willie Brown grew up together and became inseparable, “like brothers,” the councilman would say later.
Andrews and the eldest Brown brother became football heroes at Poly High, winning the CIF championship in 1958. Both were running backs. Andrews went on to star at Long Beach City College and Long Beach State University. Willie Brown went on to make history as the original tailback at USC, which became known as Tailback U because of all the greats who have played that position. Willie Brown was a member of USC’s 1962 national championship team. He became known as “Touchdown Willie Brown” for his scoring records. He also played for the USC baseball team, which won the College World Series in 1963.
Willie Brown spent three years in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles before returning to USC as an assistant football coach. He died in 2018 at age 76.
Ollie Brown, meanwhile, starred on Poly’s baseball team and signed as a teenager with the San Francisco Giants in 1962. While playing for Fresno in the California League, he hit such long home runs he got the nickname “Downtown.” He broke into the majors with the Giants in 1965 and in 1968, became the first player chosen by the San Diego Padres in the expansion draft and acquired a second nickname, “the Original Padre.” He spent 13 years in the majors with six different teams, finishing with the Philadelphia Phillies. He died in 2015 at age 71.
Oscar Brown followed more after Ollie Brown. He was a star on the Poly baseball team and attended USC before the Atlanta Braves selected him in the first round of the secondary draft in 1966. He joined the Braves in September 1969 and played for them until 1973, when a knee injury cut short his major league career. While with the Braves, his teammates included Aaron, Ralph Garr and Baker. He and Baker became good friends.
After leaving baseball, Oscar Brown moved to Cerritos and worked as a lab technician at the Texaco Refinery in Wilmington until he retired in 2007, according to Cofield, one of his daughters. He later moved to Carson.
Cofield said the three brothers were always fun to be around.
“They did a lot of things together, especially during holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas,” she said. “They would always argue and talk about sports. They loved to play golf and one year they had a great time going to see the Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia.”
She said her father loved USC football and the Atlanta Braves and would watch their games on TV. He would attend USC games at the Los Angeles Coliseum whenever he could and would go to Dodger Stadium when the Braves came to town. He kept in touch over the years with Baker, she said.
She said her dad had great love for his brothers.
She remembered that at her eldest uncle’s funeral in 2018, her father said the No. 26 on his brother’s football jersey was more than a number on a uniform:
“For Willie, No. 26 was a way of life,” he said. “It meant family. His logon to his computer is WillieFBrown26. The number is on his iPhone. God bless you, Willie. We love you. Fight on.”
Andrews said it was the end of an era with the death of Oscar Brown.
“The Brown brothers were just awesome,” Andrews said. “Even though they are gone physically, they are still with us in spirit.”
Oscar Brown is survived by his wife, Janice; his daughters Jeannine Cofield, Tiffani Brown and Imani Brown; and four grandchildren, Timothy Cofield, William Brown, Braxton Brown and Kennedy Cofield. Services are pending.
Editor’s note: Dusty Baker was an MLB outfielder and current manager. Because of an editing and reporting error, Baker’s position while playing and his current job were incorrect in a previous version of this story.
