One emergency promotion. One long day at Wrigley. And a performance nobody saw coming — including Brown.
Pressed into duty when Mark Grace hit the DL, Cubs rookie Brant Brown delivered one of the most unlikely power displays of 1996, slugging three home runs across a June 18 doubleheader against the Dodgers. His ninth-inning pinch-hit blast in the opener briefly ignited Wrigley, and he followed it with back-to-back homers in the nightcap to power a Cubs win. For a player fresh from Triple-A, it was the kind of day that instantly found it’s way into clubhouse lore.
🕵️ Inside Today’s Original Newspaper Coverage:
A rookie’s disbelief after an unexpected power surge
Teammates spark a not-so-leisurely home-run trot
A live TV interview ends with classic rookie justice
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