From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ralph Emanuel Rowe
(July 14, 1924 ? February 29, 1996) was an American
outfielder
and
manager
in
minor league baseball
, and a
coach
at the
Major League
level. A native of
Newberry, South Carolina
, Rowe threw right-handed, batted left-handed, stood 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).
He was signed at age 17 by the
Cleveland Indians
after graduating from Newberry High School in 1942. Rowe's professional career got off to a rousing start in 1942, when he
batted
.357 for the
Thomasville Hi-Toms
, a Cleveland affiliate in the Class D
North Carolina State League
. But he lost the next four full seasons (1943?1946) to military service and, despite batting .360 and leading the 1948 Class B
Tri-State League
in
runs batted in
(123), he spent most of his playing career at the Double-A level. Rowe's career reached its apex with a 14-game trial with the
Los Angeles Angels
of the
Triple-A
Pacific Coast League
in 1949. In 1951, while playing for the
Nashville Vols
, Rowe was named to the
Southern Association
All-Star team.
[1]
[2]
He played in the
farm systems
of the Indians,
Chicago Cubs
,
Chicago White Sox
and
Washington Senators
through 1958, then became a manager in the Washington/
Minnesota Twins
farm system from 1959 to 1971, winning four league championships. His overall record was 836?757 (.525).
At age 47, he reached the Major Leagues as a coach, serving for four seasons with the Twins (1972?1975) as their third base coach, and four more (1981?1984) as the batting coach of the
Baltimore Orioles
. He was a member of the Orioles' staff during their
1983
world championship season
. Rowe also served as a roving minor league batting coach for the Twins, Orioles, and, after 1984, the
Montreal Expos
.
Rowe moved his family to
Charlotte, North Carolina
, after he played for the
baseball Hornets
in 1958. While living in Charlotte, he was a
player-coach
for the Hornets in 1961, and managed the 1969 Hornets to the
Double-A
Southern League
championship. After returning to his home town of Newberry in 1974, he lived there until his death in 1996 at age 71.
External links
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Howe News Bureau,
1985 Montreal Expos Organization Book.
St. Petersburg, Florida: The Baseball Library, 1985.