Brian Christopher Bowles (born August 18, 1976) is a former

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relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

, born in

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. He was drafted by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in the 50th round of the 1994 amateur draft. Bowles signed on to play minor league baseball in the Blue Jays organization. He batted and threw

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during his

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career.

Major league career

Bowles made his major league debut for the Blue Jays at age 24. That year, had an earned run average of 0.00 in innings. In 2002, Bowles had an earned run average of 4.05 in 20 innings, going 2–1. In 2003, Bowles recorded a 2.57 earned run average in 7.0 innings. On October 15, 2003, Bowles was granted free agency. Less than two months later, Bowles signed with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. After failing to make the Major League roster in 2004, Bowles was released by the Brewers on July 8. On July 21, he signed with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

. Bowles, however, became unhappy in the Rockies system. On October 15, 2004, Bowles was again granted free agency. On March 6, 2005, Bowles was signed by

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. After failing to make the roster, Bowles was released on March 30, only 24 days after he was signed. After not playing in 2005, Bowles was signed on March 4, 2006, by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. After the season, Bowles was granted free agency. On November 13, 2006, Bowles was signed by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. He did not, however, play a game as Giant. After playing the 2007 season for the Triple-A

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in do ...

, Bowles retired. Bowles is now the head varsity baseball coach and teacher for Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. At the time of his retirement Bowles had a 2–1 record, a 3.23 earned run average, 17 walks, and 25 strikeouts. His lifetime fielding percentage was .800.

Pitching style

Bowles threw a 91-mile per hour

four-seam fastball A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the hardest (i.e., fastest) ball thrown by a pitcher. It is ca ...

, an 89-90 mile per hour

two-seam fastball A two-seam fastball is a pitch in baseball and softball. It is a variant of the straight fastball. The pitch has the speed of a fastball and can also include late-breaking action caused by varying the pressure of the index and middle fingers on t ...

in addition to an 84-86 mile per hour

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, and an 80-84 mile per hour

forkball The forkball is a type of pitch in baseball. Related to the split-finger fastball, the forkball is held between the first two fingers and thrown hard, snapping the wrist. The forkball differs from the split-fingered fastball, however, in tha ...

. Bowles' fastballs were his best pitches.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
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Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowles, Brian 1976 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Los Angeles Bridgeport Bluefish players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Hagerstown Suns players Indianapolis Indians players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball pitchers Medicine Hat Blue Jays players Ottawa Lynx players People from Harbor City, Los Angeles St. Catharines Stompers players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos baseball players