Brian Downing
Brian Downing is the No. 5 hitter and starting leftfielder for California in the NES game RBI Baseball. He was a favorite of forum legend Teddyballgame growing up as a kid in Orange County.
Says Teddyballgame:
"Downing was born and raised in Southern California as well, and I also attended all of the same schools as he did. In fact, his dad lived around the corner from me, in the house where Brian grew up. Enough about the personal connection, we'll get down the man and his career, as well as his importance to RBI Baseball.
Brian Downing's uniform number "5" should have been retired by the California Angels at the time he left the team after 1990. Many of his Angel career records stood until Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson began to eclipse them more than ten years later. Downing is widely recognized as one of the first players to use weightlifting to gain mass and better his offensive production. Downing departed the Angels on bad terms and signed with Texas in 1991 where he rejoined former teammate and RBI'er Nolan Ryan.
Brian Downing is the 5th batter in the line-up for California and for the purposes of fantasy leagues, he would be a leftfielder, or more generally, an outfielder. He is known as somewhat of a streaky hitter, but most players don't sub him out of the lineup because of more pressing issues with Pettis, Grich, and Boone."
RBI Stats
- Right-handed hitter
- .267 Batting Average
- 20 Home Runs
- 867 Power Rating
- 20 Contact Rating
- 124 Speed Rating
Career Stats
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2344 | 7853 | 1188 | 2099 | 360 | 28 | 275 | 1073 | 50 | 1197 | 1127 | .267 | .370 | .425 | .795 |
Bio
- October 9, 1950 in Los Angeles, CA
- Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent in 1969.
- Played in the Big Leagues with the Chicago White Sox (1973-1977), California (1978-1990) and Texas (1991-1992)
- Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Dave Frost and Chris Knapp to the California Angels for Bobby Bonds, Thad Bosley, and Richard Dotson on December 5, 1977.
- An All-Star in 1979, when he finished third in the AL with a .326 batting average
- Lead the American League in walks with 106 in 1987
- Set the American League record for consecutive errorless games by an outfielder (244 games, from May 25, 1981 through July 21, 1983)
- In his first major league game, he bruised his leg so severely while catching a foul ball that he was out for nearly six weeks.
- Received two votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998, the only year he was eligible
Nicknames
- Bread
- BD
- Downing Street
- Superman
RBI Baseball Cards
External Links
Brian Downing's Baseball Reference page
Brian Downing's Baseball Library page