PEORIA, Ariz. – Daren Brown’s sixth managerial job – he’s replacing Dave Brundage at the helm of the Tacoma Rainiers – will afford him more time to devote to the task than his first managerial job.

In 1998, Brown accepted an offer to call the shots for the Amarillo Dillas of the independent Texas-Louisiana League. The assignment was only slightly complicated by the fact Brown happened to be the Dillas’ best starting pitcher at the time.

Potential conflicts – how does the starter plead his case with the manager, if the starter is the manager? – were avoided, as Brown provided the pitching coach with a predetermined timetable on how deep into the game he thought he could go.

It somehow worked for the Southeastern Oklahoma University graduate, who’ll be he first to tell you that splitting time between pitching and coaching is not be confused with splitting, say, the atom. The Dillas won the league championship in 1999, Brown’s swan-song year as a pitcher. He also guided the team to the division title in 2000, by which time the self-described “small-town Oklahoman” arrived at two conclusions.

He had live during the offseason in Amarillo – his wife, Cindy, is from there – and he had attempt to seek his baseball destiny as a manager.

“I hadn’t really thought about managing at first,” Brown said recently before a morning workout at the Mariners’ spring training complex. “Most pitchers look at becoming a pitching coach, that type of thing. But I tried managing a couple years, had some success and enjoyed it.”

On the mound, the 6-foot-4 right-hander was versed in the basics (fastball, curve, change-up, slider), but had no dominant pitch. As a manager, Brown realized the guile that enabled him to survive five seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays organization – and earn him three Pitcher of the Year honors in the Texas-Louisiana league – translated to his new line of work.

“I didn’t throw a 95-mile-an-hour fastball, so in order to compete I had to think a little bit,” he said. “That’s probably helped me more than anything in managing. I wasn’t a guy who just went out there and expected to get outs. I had to think to get my outs.”

Brown’s baseball education began with some home-schooling in Holdenville, Okla. (That’s 90 miles straight south of Tulsa, “closer to Ada,” for those of you charting the Sooner Nation map at home.) His father, Paul, was a former Philadelphia Phillies’ phenom who. in 1961 at the age of 20, jumped from Class D to the big leagues, as a fll-in for injured Hall of Famer Robin Roberts.

Paul Brown spent parts of three seasons with the Phillies before a chronically injured shoulder forced him to quit in 1969. Jackie Brown, Paul’s younger brother and former high school teammate in Holdenville, was a starting pitcher for Texas, Cleveland, and Montreal during the 1970s, finishing with a career record of 47-53.

Upon reaching the crossroads awaiting them after active careers, the brothers took different paths. Paul, with two young children at home and a third on the way, returned to Oklahoma to sell cars. Jackie, who once played for Ted Williams and was part of a trade for Gaylord Perry, remained in uniform as a pitching coach for several teams.

“Dad needed to go home,” Daren Brown said. “I’m sure he thought about staying in baseball – he’s told me he did – but in this game, you’ve got make some tough decisions. You’re on the road a lot. He decided he needed to stay home and be with his family.”

The oldest of four children, and the only boy, Brown was privy to some expert advice.

“Not too many kids have the luxury of having a big-league pitcher in the house any time you play catch,” he said. “My dad was always right there working with me, coaching all my Little League teams. But he never pushed me toward baseball. His attitude was that no matter what I did, give it 1000 percent.

“My dad and my uncle are still a big part of my life,” continued Brown, who’ll turn 40 on June 13. “I know they’re just a phone call away when I feel I need some advice, or just to get another perspective on whatever I’m thinking.”

Extra perspective can be priceless for a minor league manager because even the most astute tacticians can ask the dumbest questions. Such as, uh, where am I again?

Hired by the Mariners after winning a third consecutive division in Amarillo, Brown’s tour through the farm system has included stops in San Bernadino, Calif. (2001-02), Appleton, Wis. (2003), back to San Bernadino (2004-05) and San Antonio (2006).

He also spent three weeks last year in Seattle, coaching first base during the final three weeks of the season as a replacement for Mike Goff, who moved to the bench after Ron Hassey was released.

The big club had long been eliminated from the playoff race, but the procession of call-ups from the minors put a joyful twist on an otherwise bleak September.

“When you walk into the clubhouse,” Brown said, “and you see six, seven, eight guys you’ve had the previous three or four years, putting on a big-league uniform, some of your thoughts go back to when you had them the California League, going out onto the field to work with them at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

“Even then, we were letting those kids know we were preparing them to be successful in the big leagues, not preparing them to be successful in A ball or Double-A. It’s about the big leagues. It was a good feeling on my part, knowing they got there. Now it’s a matter of getting them ready to stay.”