N.Y. Mets honor Brown for Double-A leadership

Some of Scott Brown's first memories of baseball revolve around Frank Cashen.

Brown remembers sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Baltimore Orioles' offices, where his father worked, and listening to Cashen, the architect of the great Orioles' teams of the 1960s and '70s, tell stories.

This week, Brown, who's now the Binghamton Mets' general manager, received the J. Frank Cashen Award from the New York Mets.

The award is given to the outstanding executive among the team's minor league affiliates.

"It's very, very humbling," Brown said. "He was certainly one of those people in the game you look up to and hope you can have a fraction of the success he had."

Brown, who just finished his first season as the B-Mets' GM, was also named the 2005 Eastern League's Executive of the Year.

Under Brown's guidance this season, the B-Mets drew 222,243 fans to NYSEG Stadium, the third highest-attendance total in franchise history.

The team also had a strong year in advertising, season ticket sales, skybox sales and sponsorship revenues.

"I don't think anybody has a love for minor league baseball more than Scott," B-Mets president Michael Urda said. "He's well-received and well-liked by everyone in New York. Nobody has the heart and passion for the minor league baseball and New York Mets baseball like Scotty Brown."

Before being promoted to GM, Brown served as the B-Mets' assistant general manger for eight of the team's first 13 seasons.

He also served as GM of the St. Lucie Mets in the Single-A Florida State League and was New York's assistant scouting director from 1991-94, where he worked with Cashen.

"I don't think this award could mean any more to anyone on earth than Scotty Brown," Urda said.

Bill Terlecki and R.C. Reuteman, Brown's predecessors as B-Mets' GM, also have won the Cashen award.

"I guess we have a reputation for taking care of our minor league players and really looking after their welfare," Brown said. "Win or lose, that's the reason we're in this game. We love the game of baseball."