Jay King "Babe" Towne (March 12, 1880 – October 29, 1938) was a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. Towne began his professional baseball career in 1902 with the Class D

Rock Rapids Browns The Rock Rapids Browns were a minor league baseball team based in Rock Rapids, Iowa. The Rock Rapids Browns played the 1902 season as members of the Class D (baseball), Class D level Iowa-South Dakota League. The Rock Rapids Browns are the only min ...

. From 1903 to 1906, he played for Des Moines of the Class A Western League. In July 1906, Towne was batting .357 when he was purchased by the

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 ...

. He played in 14 games and also pinch-hit once in the

1906 World Series The 1906 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1906 season. The third edition of the World Series, it featured a crosstown matchup between the American League champion Chicago White Sox and the National Leagu ...

, which the White Sox won. Towne returned to the minor leagues the following year. From 1909 to 1912, he played for the Western League's

Sioux City Packers The Sioux City Packers was the primary name of the minor league baseball team based in Sioux City, Iowa playing in various seasons between 1888 and 1960. History Sioux City has a long professional baseball history. The team was known as the S ...

, managing the team in 1910 and 1911. He batted .333 in 73 games for the 1910 team, which he also managed to 108 wins and the pennant."1910 Sioux City Packers"
''MinorLeagueBaseball.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-16. He ended his playing and managing career in 1916 in the

Central Association The Central Association was an American minor league baseball league. It began operations in 1908, as it was essentially renamed from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association ran continuously through 1917. It was reorganized thirty yea ...

. Towne was born in

Coon Rapids, Iowa Coon Rapids is a city in Carroll and Guthrie counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 1,300 at the 2020 census, which is a decrease of 5 from the 2000. The small portion of Coon Rapids that lies in Guthrie County is part of the D ...

, and died in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

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* 1880 births 1938 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Chicago White Sox players Rock Rapids Browns players Des Moines Undertakers players Des Moines Prohibitionists players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Des Moines Underwriters players Des Moines Champs players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Burlington Pathfinders players Sioux City Packers players Norfolk Drummers players Fort Dodge Dodgers players Baseball players from Iowa {{US-baseball-catcher-1880s-stub