Tommy Brown Becomes Youngest to Hit MLB Home Run

On August 20, 1945, 17-year-old Tommy Brown of the Brooklyn Dodgers became the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit a home run, establishing a remarkable record that still stands more than 80 years later. Brown’s historic blast provided Brooklyn’s only run in an otherwise forgettable 11-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Ebbets Field. For the teenage shortstop, however, one swing of the bat secured a permanent place in baseball history.

Born in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst neighborhood on December 6, 1927, Thomas Michael Brown reached the major leagues under unusual circumstances. World War II had depleted big-league rosters as millions of American men entered military service, including some of baseball’s greatest stars. Teams increasingly turned to players who ordinarily would have been considered far too young for the majors. In 1944, for example, 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall briefly pitched for the Cincinnati Reds. Brown was another beneficiary of that extraordinary period.

Brown signed with the Dodgers as a teenager and began the 1944 season with Newport News in the Class B Piedmont League. On August 3, the Dodgers called him to Brooklyn to help at shortstop. At just 16 years old, Brown made his major-league debut in a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field. Despite having traveled by train through the night, he played both games and collected two hits in eight at-bats. Brown appeared in 46 games during his rookie season, batting .164 without a home run.

After beginning the 1945 season in the minors, Brown returned to Brooklyn in July and eventually became the Dodgers’ primary shortstop. Then came his historic moment on August 20. Facing Pittsburgh left-hander Preacher Roe, Brown connected for a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. He was only 17 years and 257 days old. The Pirates dominated the game, 11-1, but Brown’s homer ensured that the afternoon would be remembered for something much bigger than the final score.

It wasn’t a fluke, either. Just five days later, Brown homered again, this time against New York Giants pitcher Adrián Zabala. He finished the 1945 season with a .245 batting average before missing the 1946 campaign while serving in the U.S. Army. Brown returned to the Dodgers in 1947, becoming a teammate of Jackie Robinson during Robinson’s groundbreaking rookie season. He remained with Brooklyn until 1951 and later played for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs.

Brown never developed into one of baseball’s superstars, but his unusual path to the majors gave him a distinction that generations of young phenoms have been unable to surpass. He died in 2025 at age 97, still holding the record he established as a teenager. To this day, Tommy Brown remains the only player in American or National League history to hit a home run before his 18th birthday—making his August 20, 1945, swing one of baseball’s most enduring youthful achievements.