James Frank Rowson (born September 12, 1976) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He is currently the assistant hitting coach for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

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), ...

(MLB). He was previously a coach in MLB for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

and

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

Playing career

The

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

drafted Rowson in the ninth round of the

1994 MLB Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation picks Compensation Picks Other notable players *Troy Glaus, 2nd round, 37th overall by the San Diego Padres, but did not ...

. He played minor league baseball in the Mariners' and the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

' minor league systems from 1995 to 1997, and played for the Cook County Cheetahs in the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Heartland League The Heartland League was an independent baseball league that operated from 1996 to 1998 in the central United States. The Heartland League was founded with teams in Lafayette, Indiana; Anderson, Indiana; Will County, Illinois; and Dubois County, ...

in 1998.

Post-playing career

Rowson served as the Yankees' minor league hitting coordinator for six seasons, joining the

as their minor league hitting coordinator for the 2012 season. He took over as the hitting coach of the Cubs in June 2012, after

Rudy Jaramillo Rudolpho "Rudy" Jaramillo a-dah-MEE-yoh(born September 20, 1950) is an American former professional baseball coach and player. Jaramillo graduated from Dallas's Sunset High School in 1970 and attended the University of Texas at Austin. He is bes ...

was fired.Cubs dismiss hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo
/ref> After the 2013 season, he rejoined the Yankees as their minor league hitting coordinator. Rowson was hired to be the hitting coach for the

in 2017. In the offseason following the 2019 season, Rowson left the Twins to become the Marlins' bench coach.Marlins hire Rowson for dual role
/ref> On November 15, 2022, the

hired Rowson as an assistant hitting coach.

References

External links

1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Mount Vernon, New York Baseball coaches from New York (state) African-American baseball coaches Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches Chicago Cubs coaches Detroit Tigers coaches Minnesota Twins coaches Miami Marlins coaches Minor league baseball coaches Everett AquaSox players Tampa Yankees players Greensboro Bats players Oneonta Yankees players Cook County Cheetahs players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-baseball-bio-stub