Former Phillies Friday: Domonic Brown reflects on trials and tribulations in Philadelphia
Domonic Brown holds a unique place in Philadelphia Phillies history.
He was one of the most-touted prospects the franchise has ever had. Given that he posted a .710 OPS over parts of six campaigns in red pinstripes — the only MLB seasons he had — he didn’t live up to the billing he had when he entered the league.
Still, Brown is well regarded at Citizens Bank Park. He’s a very personable guy, and there are absolutely some special moments in his career that you can point to.
He electrified Citizens Bank Park in his MLB debut, doubling off the right-field wall in his first at-bat, which he now admits he thought was going to be a home run. When Odúbel Herrera caught the final out of Cole Hamels’ no-hitter at Wrigley Field in July of 2015, Brown, playing right field that day, greeted him to celebrate. And then, of course, there was Brown’s month in May of 2013, the Phillies equivalent of a Linsanity run.
Brown — who threw out the first pitch at Citizens Bank Park before Thursday afternoon’s game against the Texas Rangers — revisited the best month of his career 11 years later in a conversation with Phillies Nation.
“Comfort, obviously,” Brown said when asked what he remembers about that month. “If I had to pinpoint, I would say Wally Joyner and Steve Henderson, the hitting coaches, did a really good job. It was very tough not to be successful with the clubhouse we had, [there are] potential Hall of Famers in that lineup. So for me, it was all about the comfort.
“…Being able to have Charlie Manuel on the staff as well, he always shot it to us straight. So I definitely pinpoint those things for sure.”
Brown hit just .236 across 147 games between the 2010 and 2012 seasons, unable to strike on opportunities to be the successor in right field to Jayson Werth and later Hunter Pence.
But still only 25, Brown exploded in May of 2013. Even without drawing a single walk — something he was typically pretty good at — Brown finished the month with a .991 OPS. That’s because he homered 12 times and drove in 25 runs.
Brown would homer six more times in June, which he rode to an All-Star Game appearance at Citi Field, alongside a much more subdued Cliff Lee.
Brown, though, was never able to replicate the magic of what he did in May and June or 2013. He homered 23 times over 355 at-bats in the first half of 2013. Over what proved to be the final 803 at-bats of his MLB career — that would be the second half of 2013, along with the 2014 and 2015 seasons — Brown homered 19 times.
With the help of technology that wasn’t available until a few years after his tremendous month, Brown is able to understand what he wasn’t doing right before and after his breakout month, as opposed to what worked so well when things were going right for him.
“I definitely was getting stuck on my backside, kind of using one side of my body, not realizing that,” Brown said. “With the technology now, I understand that. I was a guy that was super standing up straight. If you look at that 2013 month, I was more hingey, hips were out and I was able to stay through the middle of the field a lot better and using both sides of my body. I really hammer and teach that now.”
“You wait three or four years later, then I probably would be able to replicate that because I can do that in the cage now, even though I’m getting older,” Brown added. “But we can do that off of one swing, instead of trying to find it after 200 swings.”
Now 36 years old, Brown has taken the technology that started to become available towards the tail end of his career and turned it into his second career in the sport. He’s currently instructing at Diamond Baseball Academy in King of Prussia, along with coaching for the Phillies scout team.
“And that’s why I like teaching as well, I’m able to get right in there look at biomechanics stuff and get kids back going the right way and not guessing the whole time, which is cool,” Brown said.
Brown and his wife have four kids, but seems interested in potentially getting involved with an MLB coach staff at some point in the future.
In the meantime, Brown is at peace with the highs and lows of his career in Philadelphia. He doesn’t hide from the fact that things didn’t always go perfectly, but he’s thankful to have been a Phillie.
“It was awesome, man,” Brown said. “I wish that I was a little bit more mature. Definitely the injuries, I wish that I wasn’t banged up as much. But other than that, the guys were great. Having Ruben Amaro Jr. and guys that played in the front office. [Executive vice president] Dave Buck, I still talk to a lot.
“It was an awesome experience being able to come to work and kind of know everybody. You go to Spring Training and know the groundscrew guys. … Here in Philly, I knew everybody, I knew some of the season-ticket holders and all that stuff. And that’s the Philly way … working hard, making sure that you love and care about everybody, pick your teammate up and worry about your responsibilities and go out and have fun. And being able to get taught that, I knew that I would always get back on my feet and figure out what I wanted to do next.”
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