Fans of the Vancouver Canadians in 2002 may recall a slightly unathletic looking catcher ambling around the bases for ten games, before being punted upstars to High-A Visalia.

That catcher was Jeremy Brown, the centerpiece of Moneyball, the infamous book that zeroed in on the Oakland Athletics and their ‘new fangled’ ways of drafting and developing minor league talent.

From MLB.com: 

He’s the fat catcher. In a scene depicted in the book, Beane and his
scouts go around and around about whether Brown’s "bad body" should
prevent them from taking him high in the 2002 First-Year player draft.

Beane’s logic — "We’re not selling jeans here," he said — won
out, and Brown was taken in the sandwich round between the first and
second, 35th overall.

Brown had burned up the college leagues, but he was considered an unconventional first rounder by most teams. Not Oakland, however - they wanted him, they got him, and he moved up the system to Double-A ball in quick time, notching a .286/.487/.321 line in Vancouver along the way.

But in AA Midland Texas, Brownii stalled, especially in the power department, hitting .275, .256 and .261 over 2003 to 2005, cracking 5, 6 and 20 home runs respectively. A move to Triple-A Sacramento followed, where the catcher spent the following two seasons in form not much different from the three season prior.

He did manage five games in the bigs in 2006, but when 2004 draftee Kurt Suzuki passed him by on his way to the regular MLB starting catcher job, the writing was on the wall for JeBro. And when Oakland decided to non-roster him recently, that writing switched to bright green neon.

And so it was, that Jeremy Brown, star of Moneyball, first round draft pick, former Vancouver Canadians catcher… quit baseball. 

Oakland Athletics

Agreed to terms with C Matt LeCroy on a Minor League contract; Non-roster invitee C Jeremy Brown announced his retirement.

And with that, the eternal carousel that is baseball keeps turning.

UPDATE: It seems Brown retired due to family issues, and the club has told him the door remains open to him if he decides he wants to come back. Bravo.