Alger prepares to honor phenomenal Negro League pitcher Ray Brown
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Village to install historical marker and mural, will host 2026 grand opening
By Paula Pyzik Scott
On a beautiful Wednesday morning in September, a baseball diamond in Alger, Ohio has a timeless quality. With the sun shining and crickets and birds sounding tranquil notes, you can imagine the generations of ball players who have stirred the dust here.
In the 1920s a boy named Raymond Leslie Brown honed his baseball skills here, graduating in 1926 from Alger High School in a class of 19 students. Some 100 years later, residents of Alger and northwest Ohio are being reintroduced to Brown, who is receiving belated fame as a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
It wasn’t until Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006 that he received wider national recognition as an outstanding professional pitcher. When Major League Baseball officially incorporated Negro League statistics into it records in 2020, Brown was elevated to holding the highest career winning percentage in history at 72.1%.
Also in 2020, local journalist Joe Shriner wrote in the Ada Herald that he was baffled by there being no sign or statue honoring Brown in Alger. That article appeared on the radar of local history buffs and baseball fans, including David Strittmatter, professor of history at Ohio Northern University. Strittmatter tasked his students with applying for an Ohio historical marker honoring Ray Brown and contacting Village of Alger administrator Paul Osborne.
Osborne is now a key promoter of a multifaceted project to honor Brown at the Alger Park. He sees the rediscovery of Ray Brown as a boon for the Village of Alger, Hardin County and the surrounding area. In collaboration with the Hardin County Historical Society, the Village of Alger is preparing to welcome visitors who would otherwise never know about the community of 800 residents.
The park in Alger is being renamed for Brown, the historical marker has been received and will be installed, a 4x16 foot mural designed by ONU student Aubrey Davis will be featured at the park and a 2026 grand opening event is being planned with Governor Mike Dewine as a special guest.
Because Brown no longer has family in the Alger area, organizers have not yet been able to identify his relatives and notify them regarding this event.
Local resident Jerry Cramer has provided researchers with the earliest known photograph of the Hall of Famer (above). Brown stands second from the right in the back row of ten young baseball players, one wearing a sweater with AHS on the chest. The names Gossard, Lawrence, Delcy, Brown and Shackelford are inked on the photo.
Memorials to Brown and projects broadening awareness of his exceptional baseball career have been made possible by a grant from Forecast, a non-profit arts organization. The Hardin County Historical Museums submitted an application for Ray Brown Memorial Park and was awarded a $110,000 Midwest Memory Grant, with $75,000 going directly to the park. https://forecastpublicart.org/midwest-memory/
Osborne is now making presentations to local groups to tell Brown’s almost forgotten story and network with community members to build awareness and support. He has ideas for expanding interest in Ray Brown beyond the physical limits of the park, including Ray Brown merchandise. The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has a jump on one such product: it sells a version of Brown in his Homestead Grays uniform.
At the September 2025 meeting of the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce Osborne told the dramatic story of Brown’s 15-year Negro League career and his days playing in Cuba, Mexico and Canada. Brown retired from baseball in 1953, returning to Dayton, Ohio to work at the Standard Biscuit Company. The former baseball star died in 1965 and was buried in an unmarked grave in New Greencastle Cemetery. Following his Hall of Fame induction, Dayton locals provided a headstone celebrating Brown’s accomplishments.
Organizations and individuals can contact Osborne at the Village of Alger, 207 Angle St, Alger, Ohio, phone 757-419-4321.
LEARN ABOUT RAY BROWN
Ray Brown project in Alger website
Baseball Hall of Fame: Ray Brown
Society for American Baseball Research: Ray Brown in Canada
Negro Leaguers Puerto Rico: Raymond Brown defeated New York Yankees
