Brant Alyea was born in Passiac, New Jersey on December 8, 1940 and passed away at the age of 83 in his Pennsylvania home on February 4, 2024. Alyea was a very athletic student lettering in three sports at Rutherford High School, playing quarterback for the Bulldogs and starring in basketball and baseball.
According to his SABR Bio, after graduating from high school Alyea accepted a scholarship to Hofstra College in Hempstead, New York, a seemingly perfect fit as the small Long Island institution was established on a campus bequeathed by a Dutch lumber magnate, William Hofstra, in the 1930s, and their athletic teams were known as the Flying Dutchmen. More significantly, Hofstra would give Alyea the opportunity to play basketball as well as baseball. The basketball team was then coached by another Dutchman originally from New Jersey, Butch van Breda Kolff. Alyea and the Dutchmen enjoyed significant basketball success in the NCAA College Division. In the 1959-60 season, they finished 23-1, losing only to Wagner College of Staten Island by two points in January, but that loss cost them the conference title and they were not selected for postseason play. The next year, Alyea led the Dutchmen in scoring and rebounding, and Hofstra was selected for the small-college tournament, in which the team was eliminated by Albright College.
But it was Alyea’s baseball skills, particularly his power that attracted baseball scouts and eventually led to his signing with the Cincinnati Reds in the Spring of 1962. The Reds assigned their 6’5″ prospect to Geneva (New York) of the Class D New York-Penn League, and he clubbed 32 home runs while hitting .319 in just 105 games. Those healthy numbers made Alyea a prime target in the Rule 5 draft, which at that time covered all first-year players who had not been placed on the 40-man roster, and Alyea was snatched up by the Washington Senators.
Alyea’s big league debut was an interesting one on September 11, 1965 in D.C. Stadium against the California Angels in which he never played in the field nor stepped up to home plate in front of a small crowd of 1,472 fans. Alyea was announced as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Mike McCormick in the sixth inning with two on and two out. But when the Angels brought in Bob Lee to replace George Brunet, Senators manager Gil Hodges countered by sending up Jim King to hit for Alyea. King hit a three-run homer to give Washington a 4-3 lead, but the Angels rallied to win 6-5.
Alyea’s first trip to a major-league batter’s box came the next day in the same park against the same team but this time only 840 fans attended the game. The Senators came into the day 18 games under .500, and only 840 fans showed up for the Sunday afternoon game on a day that saw the nation’s capital receive nearly two-thirds of an inch of rain. With runners on first and second, one out and the Senators leading 3-0 in the sixth inning, Hodges again turned to Alyea, this time to pinch-hit for lefty-hitting second baseman Don Blasingame. Alyea crushed l eft-handed pitcher Rudy May’s first pitch over the left-field wall becoming one of a select few who hit a home run on the first big league pitch he ever saw, doubling the Senators’ lead.
Garrabrant Ryerson Alyea IV spent 1966-1967 in the minors and in 1968 split his season between AAA Buffalo and the Washington Senators appearing in 53 big league games playing for manager Jim Lemon. In 1969 he spent the year playing for the Senators and skipper Ted Williams and appeared in 104 games hitting 11 home runs. In March 1970 the Senators traded Alyea to the Minnesota Twins for pitchers Joe Grzenda and Charlie Walters.
With the Twins in 1970, Alyea made an immediate impact with his bat, as he smacked two home runs and drove in seven runs in an Opening Day 12-0 Twins victory over the White Sox at Chicago. In September of 1970 in the first game of a DH against the Milwaukee Brewers at Met Stadium he again had seven RBI in a game becoming the first Twins players to ever do so. Kirby Puckett accomplished that same feat in 1994. Individual Twins players have had 7 or more RBI in a game 19 times but these are the only two gents to do it twice and they both accomplished the feat within a single season. By season’s end Alyea reached career highs with 12 doubles, 16 home runs and 61 RBI. The Twins finished first in the AL West with 98 wins, so Alyea got his only postseason experience that year. He was 0-for-7 with a couple of walks and a run scored, as the Twins were swept in 3 games by the Baltimore Orioles.
Alyea started well in 1971 but slumped badly and after the season the Twins optioned him to AAA Portland. That transaction made him eligible for the Rule 5 Draft and he was snapped up by the Oakland A’s. Oakland had a loaded outfield in 1972 so Alyea played sparingly before being traded to the Cardinals on May 28th. He couldn’t find playing time their either and the Cardinals released Alyea on July 23 to the Iowa Oaks, Oakland’s Triple-A team. The outfielder batted .400 in 10 games and was brought back to Oakland in August. He had 3 hits in 18 at-bats, though one of them was a solo homer. The last hit of his career was a booming base hit off Baltimore’s Jim Palmer. As he rounded first base, he tore a groin muscle and it never really recovered. After the season, the A’s traded Alyea to Texas, but he failed to make the team in spring training of 1973 and was released ended his career in the Red Sox minor league system in 1973.
There’s also a pretty remarkable tale of how Alea was reunited with his son Brant Jr. after 17 years apart. It involves Nicaraguan political instability, tanks and Epy Guerrero, you can read about it in the obituary written by ripbaseball.com below.
Brant was the loving husband of the late Robin Huber. Beloved father of Steve Souder, Brant Alyea, Jr., Blair Alyea, Nicole Higgins (Jim Direso) and Ken Huber (Sabrina). Adored grandfather of Elizabeth, Kaylee, Kenny, and Connor. He was preceded in death by his parents, Garrabrant and Robertina Alyea (nee Douglas) and brothers Robert and Peter Alyea. He is survived by his sister Suzanne Fabiano, brother David Alyea (Christine), sister Kathryn Alyea, his cousin Linda Lovstad, as well as a number of nieces and nephews.
We send our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Brant Alyea. Thank you for the memories Brant Alyea.
Obituary of Brant Alyea by ripbaseball.com