He was a useful player when he was used as a utlity player. They tried too long to make him a full-time third baseman. McKinstry is similar in that way.
A long time ago in another forum, I ran into a big Brookens fans. I suggested that Brookens really wasn't that good and the guy went ape ****. He went through all the usual stuff - Brookens was clutch, he hit into a lot of tough outs, knew how to move to runner over and thart I needed to get my head out of my spreadsheets and watch the games. We had some "good debates".