John Charles "Jack" Rowe (December 8, 1856 – April 25, 1911) was 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 ...

player, manager and team owner from 1877 to 1898. He played 12 years 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), ...

, as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

(657 games),

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 ...

(298 games), and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

(103 games), for four major league clubs. His longest stretches were in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

(1879–1885) and

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

(1886–1888). He was also a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

and part owner of the

of the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

in 1890, and the manager of the Buffalo Bisons (Eastern League) from 1896 to 1898. Rowe appeared in 1,044 major league games, compiled a .286

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and .392

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

, and totaled 764 runs scored, 1,256 hits, 202 doubles, 88 triples, 28

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 644

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. From 1881 to 1888, he was part of the "Big Four", a group of renowned batters (the others being

Dan Brouthers Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , wh ...

Hardy Richardson Abram Harding "Hardy" Richardson (April 21, 1855 – January 14, 1931), also known as "Hardie" and "Old True Blue", was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1875 to 1892 with a brief minor league comeback in 1898. He ...

, and

Deacon White James Laurie "Deacon" White (December 2, 1847 – July 7, 1939) was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball ...

) who played together in Buffalo and Detroit and led Detroit to the

pennant and

1887 World Series The 1887 World Series was won by the Detroit Wolverines of the National League, over the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, 10 games to 5. It was played between October 10 and 26, and played in numerous neutral cities, as well as in De ...

championship.

Early years

Rowe was born in

Cold Spring Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Cold Spring Township is a township in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lebanon, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 52 at the 2010 census. Almost all of the township is part of the Pennsylvania S ...

, in 1856. His older brother, Dave Rowe, also played and managed in the major leagues between 1877 to 1888.

Professional baseball

Minor leagues

At age 19, Rowe began his career in organized baseball in 1876 with a club in

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,446 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the ...

. In 1877, he played for the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

club in the

League Alliance The League Alliance was the first semi-affiliated minor league baseball league. Proposed by Al Spalding on January 15, 1877. Independent baseball teams were to affiliate with National League teams, which would honor their respective contracts. The ...

. He also played in 1877 and/or 1878 under

Tom Loftus Thomas Joseph Loftus (November 15, 1856 – April 16, 1910) was a manager in the American Association, the National League, and the American League. His playing career began in 1877 with the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the National League ...

with the Peoria Reds. In 1879, Rowe and his brother, Dave Rowe, signed with the

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

team in the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

. At Rockford, Rowe earned a reputation as a hitter and "one of the best bare-handed catchers in the game."

Buffalo Bisons

After the Northwestern League folded in early July 1878, Rowe signed with the

of the

. He made his major league debut on September 6, 1879, at age 22, and played in eight games for Buffalo that season, batting .353 in 38 plate appearances. Rowe remained with Buffalo for seven years from 1879 to 1885. During the 1879 to 1884 seasons, Rowe was principally a catcher, appearing in 272 games at that position, 91 games as an outfielder, 55 as a shortstop and 20 at third base. In 1881, he compiled a .333

and led the National League with 11 triples. Two of Rowe's triples came in one game against the Chicago White Stockings on August 16, 1881. His .480

in 1881 was the third highest in the league, and his 2.8

Wins Above Replacement Wins Above Replacement or Wins Above Replacement Player, commonly abbreviated to WAR or WARP, is a non-standardized sabermetric baseball statistic developed to sum up "a player's total contributions to his team". A player's WAR value is claimed to ...

(WAR) rating was the fifth highest among the league's position players. In 1882, he registered a 2.7 WAR rating and did not strike out even once in 329 plate appearances. Rowe was one of four Buffalo players (with

, and

) who became known as the "Big Four." The "Big Four" were "regarded for many years as the greatest quartette (sic) in the history of the national pastime." During the 1884 season, the "Big Four" led Buffalo to a third place finish and a 64–47 (.577) record – the highest winning percentage in the club's history. Rowe registered a career high 4.6 WAR rating in 1884 and ranked among the league leaders with 14 triples (3rd), a .450 slugging percentage (9th) and a .352

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

(10th). He also led the National League's catchers in 1884 with a .943

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. In 1885, Rowe transitioned from a catcher to a shortstop, catching 23 games and playing shortstop in 65 games. Despite the strong bats of the "Big Four" (the "Big Four" combined for a .315 batting average in 1885), the Bisons had the worst pitching in the National League with a 4.28

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA), far above the league average of 2.82 ERA. The team finished in seventh place with a 38-74 record. The Bisons left the National League after the 1885 season.

Detroit Wolverines

In September 1885, the "Big Four" were sold by Buffalo to the

. All four remained with the Wolverines for three seasons, until the team disbanded after the 1888 season. During the 1886 season, Rowe appeared in 111 games and was Detroit's starting shortstop. He also appeared in three games as a catcher. He compiled a 4.2

(WAR) rating during the 1886 season, the eighth highest rating among all position players in the National League. As a batter, he hit for .303 average and ranked among the league leaders with a 4.0 Offensive WAR rating (10th), 97 runs scored (10th) and 199 total bases (10th). On June 12, 1886, the Wolverines set a major league record with seven home runs in a game, with Rowe and

Sam Thompson Samuel Luther "Big Sam" Thompson (March 5, 1860 – November 7, 1922) was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At , the Indiana native was one of the larger players of his day and was known ...

each hitting two. (The record stood until 1939.) He also

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League Ba ...

on August 21, 1886, in an 18–14 loss to the Chicago White Stockings. Defensively, he also ranked among the league leaders with a 1.0 Defensive WAR rating (7th) and 310 assists at shortstop (5th). With the addition of the "Big Four", the Wolverines improved substantially, finishing in second place with an 85-38 record. The 1887 season was the pinnacle in the history of the Detroit Wolverines. The team won the National League pennant with a 79-45 record and then defeated the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

in the

. Rowe was the starting shortstop for the 1887 team, appearing in 124 games at the position, and continuing to rank among the best players in the National League. Rowe hit for a .318 average, and his 4.1 WAR rating ranked as the 10th highest among the league's position players. He further ranked among the league leaders with 135 runs scored (2nd), 30 doubles (7th) and 239 total bases (9th). He also had another solid year defensively, finishing with the fifth highest Defensive WAR rating (1.1) in the league, ranking second among the league's shortstops with a .907 fielding percentage, and ranking third with 378 assists at shortstop. Rowe also played well in the postseason, scoring 12 runs and stealing five bases in the

. During the 1888 season, the Wolverines finished in fifth place with a 68–63 record. Rowe continued to play well with a 2.6 WAR rating in 105 games as the Wolverines' shortstop. However, he committed a career high 72 errors, the second highest total in the National League by any player at any position. With high salaries owed to the team's star players, and gate receipts declining markedly, the team folded in October 1888 with the players being sold to other teams. On October 16, 1888, the Wolverines sold Rowe and Pete Conway to the

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

Pittsburgh

Rowe initially refused to recognize the validity of his sale to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. In December 1888, Rowe and Deacon White purchased interests in the Buffalo baseball club, deciding they would prefer to return to Buffalo as co-owners, managers, and players. William Nimick, the Alleghenys' owner, refused to release Rowe and White, reportedly saying, "If they don't want to play in Pittsburgh, they'll play nowhere." In July 1888, Rowe and White agreed to play for Pittsburgh. He appeared in 75 games as the Alleghenys' shortstop, but his batting average dropped to .259.

Players' League

In 1890, Rowe concluded his playing career as a player, manager, and owner of the

in the newly organized

. Rowe and Deacon White owned the club. Rowe appeared in 125 games as the shortstop and saw his batting average drop to .250. Defensively, he led the Players' League shortstops with a .901 fielding percentage. He appeared in his last major league game on October 5, 1890. As the team's manager, he compiled a 27-72 (.273) record. The Players' League collapsed after the 1890 season, but Rowe and White sold the Buffalo club and grounds to "some Buffalo capitalists" for $2,500 in stock and $8,000 in cash. In 1891, ''The Sporting Life'' wrote that, having sold for a profit before the league's collapse, "Rowe and White are pretty slick, you bet."

Return to minors

Although Rowe did not return to the major leagues, he continued to play minor league baseball through the 1893 season. He played in 1891 for the Lincoln Rustlers of the Western Association. Rowe was reunited with his brother, Dave Rowe, who was manager of the Lincoln club. Rowe concluded his playing career back in Buffalo, playing for the Buffalo Bisons of the Eastern League. In his last season of organized baseball, Rowe, at age 36, continued to hit well. In 110 games for the 1893 Bisons, Rowe compiled a .349 batting average and .456 slugging percentage with 113 runs scored, 22 doubles, nine triples, three home runs and 18 stolen bases.

Manager at Buffalo

In November 1895, after two years out of the sport, Rowe was hired to manage the Buffalo Bisons (Eastern League) for the 1896 season. At the time, ''The Sporting Life'' wrote: "Rowe is a resident of Buffalo and has lived in this city with his family for many years. He is well known in local base ball circles, and, for that matter, his is a familiar name in connection with the history of the game all over the country." Rowe managed the Bisons from 1896 to 1898. As the Bisons' manager, he developed several major league players, including

Claude Ritchey Claude Cassius Ritchey (October 5, 1873 – November 8, 1951) was a Major League Baseball player. Nicknamed "Little All Right", he played second base, shortstop, and outfield for the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Doves, and Louisvil ...

Chick Stahl Charles Sylvester "Chick" Stahl (January 10, 1873 – March 28, 1907) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who was among the most feared and consistent hitters in his time. Stahl was an active major-league player when he committed ...

, Harry Smith and Jack Barry. In 1897, Rowe had an all red-headed outfield at Buffalo that inspired

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

's 1922 story, "The Red-Headed Outfield".

Later years

After retiring from baseball, Rowe operated a cigar store in Buffalo. His store was reportedly "a popular gathering place for sporting figures of the city." In January 1899, ''The Sporting Life'' described him as "one of the most contented men in Buffalo these days", attending to his cigar business, and "ever ready to talk base ball." Rowe became ill in 1910 and moved to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, to live with his daughter, Helen. Rowe died in April 1911 at his daughter's residence in St. Louis at age 55. His cause of death has been reported as

aortic regurgitation Aortic regurgitation (AR), also known as aortic insufficiency (AI), is the leaking of the aortic valve of the heart that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole, from the aorta into the left ventricle. As a conseq ...

and

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of th ...

. He was buried at

Bellefontaine Cemetery Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine is home to a number of architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as the ...

in St. Louis.Baseball-Almanac
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References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Jack 1856 births 1911 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball player-managers Major League Baseball shortstops Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Detroit Wolverines players Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Buffalo Bisons (PL) players Minor league baseball managers Milwaukee (minor league baseball) players Rockford White Stockings players Lincoln Rustlers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Baseball players from Pennsylvania