UNION, Ky. — Cincinnati Reds pitching legend, Tom Browning, died at his Kentucky home Monday, Dec. 19. He was 62.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office responded to Browning’s home in Union after getting a call about a man who wasn’t breathing.
Deputies arrived and found Browning unresponsive on his couch. Deputies and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel performed life-saving measures but were unsuccessful. They pronounced Browning dead at 1:13 p.m.
Browning helped the Reds win the 1990 World Series and was the only pitcher to ever throw a perfect game in franchise history. The Reds swept the Oakland A’s. Browning pitched six innings in Game 3 at Oakland and walked away with the 8-3 win and, of course, the title.
The team put out a statement on social media shortly after the news came out about Browning.
The man nicknamed “Mr. Perfect,” played for the Reds for ten years from 1984 to 1994. Browning was 123-88 with a 3.92 ERA in 300 games. He started in 298 of those. He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting to Cardinals outfielder Vince Coleman.
Former teammate Barry Larkin remembered his friend, who also shared his birthday.
In 1994, while pitching for the Reds against the San Diego Padres, Browning broke his arm. He missed the rest of the season. In 1995, he was with the Kansas City Royals and tried to make a comeback, but after two starts for the team, he was forced to retire after breaking the same bone in the same arm.
Born in Casper, Wyoming, Browning played college baseball at Le Moyne College in Syracuse. The Cincinnati Reds took him in the 9th round of the 1982 MLB June Amateur Draft. Browning was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2006.
