Joseph Emil Bowman (June 17, 1910 – November 22, 1990) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

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), ...

for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. A starter most of his career, Bowman also filled various

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

roles coming out from the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

, as a closer or a

middle reliever In baseball, a middle reliever or middle relief pitcher, is a relief pitcher who typically pitches during the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings of a standard baseball game. In leagues with no designated hitter, such as in the National League pri ...

, and as a set-up man as well. He reached the majors in 1932 with the

, spending one year with them before moving to the

(1934),

(1935–37),

(1937–41),

(1944–45) and

(1945). He was one of two 20-game losers with the last-place 1936 Phillies, but won 39 games in five seasons for Pittsburgh. He went 12–8 with Boston in 1944 and won 11 games for Cincinnati in 1945, his last major league season. Often used as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

, he hit .333 in 1938 and .344 in 1939. In an 11-season career, Bowman posted a 77–96 record with a 4.40

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

and 11 saves in 298 appearances, including 184 starts, 74

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s, five

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s, and 1465

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. As a hitter, he collected a .221 batting average (141-for-639) with two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 75 RBI in 430 games. After his playing career, Joe Bowman was a minor league player and manager before becoming a successful baseball scout. Bowman was the Scouting Director for Charlie Finley's Kansas City A's from 1960 to 1968. In that role, Bowman was instrumental in assembling a scouting staff and finding the players who would become the core of the Oakland Athletics' three World Series Champion teams from 1972 to 1974. When the A's moved to Oakland in 1968, Bowman decided to stay home in Kansas City where he became a regional scout first for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

for a brief time before a long stint scouting for 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 ...

References

External links

Joe Bowman
at Baseball Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, Joe 1910 births 1990 deaths Atlanta Braves scouts Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from Kansas Boston Red Sox players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Cincinnati Reds players Great Falls Electrics players Harrisburg Senators players Kansas City Athletics scouts Leavenworth Braves players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers New York Giants (NL) players Omaha Packers players Sportspeople from Kansas City, Kansas Philadelphia Athletics players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Pueblo Steelworkers players St. Paul Saints (AA) players San Diego Padres (minor league) players York White Roses players