Select A Hall of Fame Inductee Ray Prim Johnny Frederick Joe Brovia Elmer Jacobs Jack Salveson Bill Cutler Clarence Rowland

Joseph John Brovia ("Joe")
Outfielder
San Francisco Seals
1941-1942; 1946-1948
Portland
1949-1952
Sacramento
1953-1954
Oakland
1955

Long before NASA opened its doors in California, Joe Brovia, a powerful left-hander was launching baseballs into the stratosphere for the San Francisco Seals, Portland, Sacramento, and Oakland. Perhaps his biggest contribution, though was as an ambassador to the game.

Brovia achieved such a level of devotion in fans that they remembered him long after he retired. A fan recalls that in a 1968 old timers game at Candlestick, "Young fans came out to see [Joe] DiMaggio. We come out and see old Joe Brovia."

One Oakland Tribune writer, who had grown up watching Brovia called him a "cult hero."

Who could question the gushing? In the PCL, Brovia was King Kong. The towering four story high fence at Seals Stadium was the green monster of the Coast League. One of Brovia's dandiest dingers was a towering 550 foot bomb over the wall in 1947 off of a major league pitcher, St. Louis Browns hurler Sig Jakucki, who had been sent down to work out control problems.

He put up numbers offensively to justify the fan enthusiasm. Brovia batted .311 in 1,805 minor league games (.304 lifetime in the PCL) producing 1,846 hits, 1,144 RBIs and 214 home runs.

 

Brovia loved to play baseball. Anytime, anywhere. When he wasn't playing in the PCL, he was playing seven years of winter ball in the Mexican Pacific Coast League.

Defense was not big Joe's forte. His work in the outfield did not impress scouts. When he finally came up for his one cup of coffee with the Reds in 1955, skipper Birdie Tebbets laid out the bad news: He was there to pinch hit. Some say that Tebbets' assessment of his D as a "liability" broke Brovia's spirit.

After his shot with Cincinnati, he spent the winter of 1956-1957 playing ball in Mexico. He hung it up there.

Brovia was the classic big fish in the small pond: He shined best and brightest in a WWII and post-war boom Pacific Coast League that made him a celebrity in the City by the Bay.

Long a hero of the fans of the faded PCL in the major cities of California, he continued to answer fan mail, partially at the urging of his wife, long after he retired.

He was a colorful character of old-time baseball long into the 1990s. Cancer claimed him in August of 1994 in his long-time home town of Santa Cruz, California.

See more about Joe Brovia in "A Glimpse of Fame: Brilliant but Fleeting Major League Careers (Paperback)" by Dennis Snelling.

There is also a great web article on Brovia that goes into more detail by a sports writer who knew him well. See Jim Sargent's excellent biography at the Baseball-Almanac.com

Select A Hall of Fame Inductee Ray Prim Johnny Frederick Joe Brovia Elmer Jacobs Jack Salveson Bill Cutler Clarence Rowland