The Mangled Hand That Built a Cubs Dynasty
Chicago sometime in 1907 or 1908. The Cubs are kings of the National League and this is the arm that keeps them there. Morai Peter Centennial Brown. They called him Threefinger after a farm machinery accident mangled his right hand when he was a boy. But the injury became his greatest weapon. Here on a sunwashed afternoon, he leans toward the camera, his shortened fingers clamped around the seams, showing the strange grip that made his curveball dive like no one else’s. In 1907, he went 20 and6 with a 1.39 ERA. In 1908, he followed with 29 wins more, 49 victories in two summers, an ace at the heart of a dynasty. Brown would throw three World Series shutouts for these Cubs, including the clincher in 1907 and another masterpiece in 1908 against Tai Cobb’s Tigers. Three-finger brown and a baseball held just wrong enough to be perfect.
Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown shouldn’t have been a pitcher at all.
A childhood farm accident mangled his throwing hand—then gave his curveball a break no one had ever seen.
From 1907–08 he won 49 games and led the Cubs to back-to-back World Series titles, carving three Fall Classic shutouts out of that damaged grip.
A broken hand. A dynasty in Chicago. A reminder that perfection in baseball is rarely symmetrical.
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