Tom Browning, Who Pitched a Perfect Game for the Reds, Dies at 62

Tom Browning, an All-Star pitcher who threw the only perfect game in Cincinnati Reds history and helped the team win a World Series title, died on Monday at his home in Union, Ky. He was 62.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office announced the death on Twitter. No cause was given.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to Browning’s home after receiving a report of a man found not breathing. They discovered him unresponsive on a couch, and efforts by deputies and Emergency Medical Services personnel to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. The sheriff’s office said foul play was not suspected.

Browning was known not just as a skilled left-handed pitcher but also as a colorful character. He once bolted from the Wrigley Field bullpen and sat in full Cincinnati uniform with Chicago Cub fans atop a rooftop across the street during a Reds-Cubs game in July 1993. He was fined $500 for that stunt, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

His biggest individual moment on the mound came when he retired all 27 batters he faced in a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Riverfront Stadium on Sept. 16, 1988. After a two-hour rain delay, the game started at 10:02 p.m. and took only an hour and 51 minutes. It came a little more than three months after Browning lost a no-hit bid in San Diego in the ninth inning on a one-out single by Tony Gwynn.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/20/sports/baseball/tom-browning-dead.html