Due to a farm-machinery accident in his youth (April 17, 1888), Brown lost parts of two fingers on his right hand,[1] and in the process gained a colorful nickname.

He turned this handicap into an advantage by learning how to grip a baseball in a way that resulted in an exceptional curveball (or knuckle curve), which broke radically before reaching the plate.

[2] He was also known as "Miner", having worked in western Indiana coal mines for a while before beginning his professional baseball career.

Nicknames like "Miner" (or misspelled as "Minor"[3]) and "Three Finger" (or sometimes "Three-Fingered") were headline writers' inventions.

He learned to pitch, as many children did, by aiming rocks at knot-holes on the barn wall and other wooden surfaces.

Players in the league quickly noticed the spin and movement created by Brown's unusual grip.

New York Giants manager John McGraw regarded his own Christy Mathewson and Brown as the two best pitchers in the National League.

[8] However, Brown continued to play, signing with the Louisville Colonels, who traded him to the Cincinnati Reds for the 1913 season.

After the 1913 season, Brown jumped to the Federal League, signing his contract on the same day as Joe Tinker.

[9] Brown was dismissed as manager in August, then finished the season with the Brooklyn Tip-Tops, and was rumored to retire again in October 1914.

[4] Brown and Mathewson wrapped their respective careers by squaring off on September 4, 1916, in the second game of a Labor Day doubleheader.

Following his retirement from the majors, he returned to his home in Terre Haute, where he continued to pitch in the minor leagues and in exhibition games for more than a decade, as well as coaching and managing.

From 1920 to 1945, Brown ran a filling station in Terre Haute that also served as a town gathering place and an unofficial museum.