He served in the United States Army Air Forces during the World War II era, then joined the administrative staff of the Hollywood Stars of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1946.
Brown came to the Pittsburgh organization in 1950 as business manager of their Waco Pirates farm team in the Class B Big State League, then their New Orleans Pelicans club in the Double-A Southern Association.
Brown maintained and built upon the strong scouting and player development system created during Rickey's term as the Bucs' general manager.
He also swung multiple shrewd trades, acquiring players such as Harvey Haddix, Smoky Burgess, Bill Virdon, Don Hoak, Hal Smith and Vinegar Bend Mizell, who would play key roles in Pittsburgh's 1960 championship.
[4] At the time, the ball club was rocked by a drug scandal, poor play, falling attendance and was on the verge of being sold by the John W. Galbreath family to a local consortium.