Michael Allen Brown, age 36, a resident of Oliver Springs, passed away Sunday, Jan. 13, in Oliver Springs.

Michael was born Oct. 13, 1976, in Knoxville. He lived in Florida and Pennsylvania before moving back to Oliver Springs.

Michael was a professional baseball pitcher who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before the team was franchised into major league baseball. While playing at Tampa Bay, the team was franchised, and the first pitch of the first game was signed by the entire team of the Devil Rays and the baseball is now archived in Cooperstown, in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for the Tampa Bay Rays for four years and later for the Pittsburgh Pirates for two years. Following a career-ending injury, he returned home and worked in auto sales at Toyota of Knoxville. [Read more…]