Lawrence Robert Bowa (born December 6, 1945) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 wh ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

, and

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 ...

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), who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. Bowa went on to

manage Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

and Phillies, and is currently a senior advisor to the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the Phillies.

Early life

Bowa was born in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, the son of Paul Bowa, a former minor-league infielder and manager in the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

farm system. While at C. K. McClatchy High School, Bowa tried out but never made the school's baseball team. After graduation, Bowa went to

Sacramento City College Sacramento City College (SCC) is a public community college in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community ...

where he started, and was expected to go in the

MLB Draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

, but didn't. The Philadelphia Phillies were the only Major League team interested in Bowa. They sent a local scout,

Eddie Bockman Joseph Edward Bockman (July 26, 1920 – September 29, 2011) was an American professional baseball third baseman and scout, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (), Cleveland Indians (), and Pittsburgh Pirates (– ...

to watch Bowa play in a doubleheader, only for Bowa to be thrown out of the game for arguing. Bockman had a winter league team in the area and offered Bowa a chance to play. Bowa played well and signed with the Phillies for a $2,000 bonus. After 4 years in the minors, he made the Phillies' roster at the age of 24 in 1970.

Professional career

Bowa won two Gold Glove Awards and led 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 ...

(NL) in fielding percentage six times, then a league record. He retired with the NL record for career games at shortstop (2222) and was also among the career leaders in assists (sixth, 6857) and double plays (fourth, 1265); Bowa's records have since been broken, though he retains the NL mark for career fielding percentage. Apart from his fielding achievements, Bowa was a switch-hitter,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.280 or better four times (.305 in 1975); he also had nine seasons with 20 or more stolen bases.

Philadelphia Phillies (1970-1981)

From his 1970 rookie season through 1981, Bowa provided solid reliability in the Phillies' infield, along with

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 18-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a ...

; from 1976 to 1981, the Phillies reached the postseason five times, ending a drought dating back a quarter of a century. In 1978, Bowa had one of his most productive seasons, hitting .294 and leading NL shortstops with a .986 fielding percentage while finishing third in

NL MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...

voting. He batted .333 in a losing cause in the 1978 NLCS, but played an even greater role in 1980, hitting .316 in the NLCS and .375 in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, as the Phillies captured the first title in franchise history. In 1979, Bowa set a Major League record for shortstops with a .991 fielding average;

Tony Fernández Octavio Antonio Fernández Castro (June 30, 1962 – February 16, 2020), better known as Tony Fernández, was a Dominican baseball player who played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven teams from 1983 to 2001, most notably ...

broke the record with a .992 mark in , and

Rey Ordóñez Reynaldo Ordóñez Pereira (born January 11, 1971) is a former professional baseball shortstop. He played nine seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Chicago Cubs. Early life Ordóñez defected from ...

broke the NL record with a .994 average in . Bowa tied

Ozzie Smith Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National ...

for the most post-1930 seasons with at least 400 at-bats and no home runs, with six.

Chicago Cubs (1982-1985)

By the end of the 1981 season, Bowa had worn out his welcome with the Phillies' front office, and let it be known he was available. The Chicago Cubs, who had just hired former Phillies manager Dallas Green as general manager, quickly expressed interest. However, Green, who had managed the 1980 world champions, knew that Bowa didn't have many years left and demanded a young rookie third baseman named

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

as a part of the trade. In return, the Phillies received shortstop

Iván DeJesús Iván Alvarez DeJesús (born January 9, 1953), is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball shortstop and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, N ...

. The trade paid off tremendously for the Cubs, as Bowa's veteran leadership and Sandberg's outstanding all-around play (en route to a Hall of Fame career) brought the Cubs to the postseason in for the first time in 39 years. At the beginning of the 1985 season, Bowa lost the Cubs' starting shortstop job to veteran journeyman

Chris Speier Christopher Edward Speier (born June 28, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop, most notably for the San Francisco Giants and the Montreal Expos. He is known by the nickname " ...

and eventually to their 1982 first-round draft pick,

Shawon Dunston Shawon Donnell Dunston (born March 21, 1963) is an American retired professional baseball player. A shortstop, Dunston played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1985 through 2002. Dunston was the first overall pick in the 1982 MLB draft by the ...

, mainly because he couldn't get the ball all the way from shortstop to first base, which left the 39-year-old Bowa discontented with the Cubs' organization. After becoming the

' manager in 1987, Bowa vented his frustrations with the Cubs in an autobiography, titled ''Bleep!''

New York Mets (1985)

After being released by the Cubs in August 1985, he played the last month of the season with the

, before retiring. Bowa was a .260 career hitter with 15

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, 525 RBI, 2,191 hits, 987 runs, 262 doubles, 99 triples, and 318 stolen bases in 2,247 games. His NL records for career games at shortstop and most years leading the league in fielding were later broken by Ozzie Smith; Bowa's Major League record for career fielding average has been broken by

Omar Vizquel Omar Enrique Vizquel González (; born April 24, 1967), nicknamed "Little O", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. During his 24-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indi ...

Managerial and coaching career

San Diego Padres (1987-1988)

After retiring, Bowa was named manager of the Las Vegas Stars, the Triple-A affiliate of the

, for the 1986 season. In Bowa's only season at the helm, the Stars went 80–62 en route to the Pacific Coast League championship. Bowa was hired to manage the Padres on October 28, 1986, a little over a year after playing in his final MLB game. His aggressive and often angry style combined with an extremely young and inexperienced roster led to a down 1987 season in San Diego, and when higher expectations for the 1988 team (mainly engendered by those young players showing greatly improved performances in the 2nd half of the 1987 season and the 1988 spring training slate) were not met, he was fired on May 28, 1988 with an overall record of 81–127 as the club's skipper.

First stint with the Philadelphia Phillies (1989-1996)

Bowa returned to the Phillies as the team's third base coach on August 11, and remained there through the season. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, he and

John Vukovich John Christopher Vukovich (July 31, 1947 – March 8, 2007), nicknamed "Vuk" or "Johnny Vuk", was an American professional baseball utility infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB),

became the first two Phillies in franchise history to go to the World Series with the club as both a player and coach (Vukovich was Bowa's teammate on the 1980 World Champions and was the bench coach for the '93 National League champs. Milt Thompson, an outfielder for the 1993 club, would become the third member of this group when he served as hitting coach for the 2008 World Champions and 2009 National League Champions). When

Jim Fregosi James Louis Fregosi (April 4, 1942 – February 14, 2014) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , primarily for the Los Angeles / California Angels. He also played for th ...

was fired as Phillies manager following the 1996 season, Bowa was one of the candidates to interview for the vacant position, which ultimately went to

Terry Francona Terrence Jon Francona (born April 22, 1959), nicknamed "Tito", is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox fo ...

Anaheim Angels (1997-1999) and Seattle Mariners (2000)

Bowa then joined the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

as their third base coach, where he served from to before spending the season in the same capacity with 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) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

Second stint with the Philadelphia Phillies (2001-2004)

After being passed over for the job four years earlier, Bowa was named manager of the Phillies on November 1, 2000. Taking over a team that had gone 65–97 in , Bowa led the club to a surprising 86–76 mark in , two games behind the

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

Champion

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) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. Bowa was honored as National League Manager of the Year and also received the ''Sporting News'' NL Manager of the Year Award that year. In addition, he was voted the ''Baseball Prospectus'' Internet Baseball Awards NL Manager of the Year in 2001. Despite a promising first season at the helm, Bowa's Phillies could never quite build off the 2001 club's surprising success. A disappointing 80–81 campaign in would be the franchise's last losing season until . The and seasons saw the Phillies finish with similar records of 86–76, and the former season was marked by considerable turmoil with Bowa having clashes with such players as Tyler Houston and

Pat Burrell Patrick Brian Burrell (born October 10, 1976), nicknamed "Pat the Bat", is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, and San Francisco Giants. Bur ...

. Though respectable, much more was expected from the club in those latter two campaigns and Bowa was fired with two games remaining in the 2004 season after failing to reach the postseason or finish within 10 games of first place in his last three years. Bowa's managerial record with the Phillies was 337–308.

New York Yankees (2006-2007) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2008-2010)

After a one-year absence, Bowa returned to the field as third base coach for the

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

in , a position he held for two seasons. On November 5, 2007, the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

hired Bowa to be the team's third base coach, following the hire of new manager

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...

, under whom Bowa had served with the Yankees. Torre became the seventh manager to have Bowa on his staff as third base coach, following

Lee Elia Lee Constantine Elia (born July 16, 1937) is an American former professional baseball infielder, who played only sparingly in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox () and Chicago Cubs (). Following his playing career, he managed t ...

, Nick Leyva,

, Terry Collins, and

Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...

. The Dodgers won consecutive

National League West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

titles in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and 2009, but in both seasons were eliminated in five games in the NLCS by the Phillies, managed by Bowa's permanent successor in Philadelphia, Charlie Manuel. The conclusion of Bowa's tenure with the Dodgers coincided with Torre's retirement at the end of the season.

Third stint with the Philadelphia Phillies (2014-2017)

Bowa reunited with Joe Torre and served as his bench coach for the USA team in the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike t ...

. Bowa returned to Major League Baseball and the Phillies by joining

's staff as bench coach for the season. Bowa remained with the Phillies as bench coach under Pete Mackanin, who took over after Sandberg resigned during the season. Bowa was relieved of his coaching duties on October 13, 2017, and accepted the role as

Matt Klentak Matthew Klentak (born August 14, 1980) is an American baseball front office executive who served as the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball from October 2015 to October 2020. He also previously served as the as ...

's senior advisor to the general manager.

Broadcasting career

ESPN and XM radio

Bowa spent the season as an analyst for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's ''

Baseball Tonight ''Baseball Tonight'' (stylized as ''Baseball Tonight presented by Chevrolet'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American television program that airs on ESPN. The show, which covers the day's Major League Baseball action, has been on the air since ...

'' and co-hosted a baseball talk show on

XM Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...

. After leaving the Dodgers, Bowa was a studio analyst for the

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...

from 2011–13, regularly appearing on the network's daily studio show "MLB Tonight." He also hosted a weekly show during the baseball season with

Chris Russo Christopher Michael Russo (born October 18, 1959), also known as Mad Dog, is an American sports radio personality best known as the former co-host of the '' Mike and the Mad Dog'' sports radio program with Mike Francesa, which was broadcast on ...

on Sirius XM while occasionally providing postgame analysis for Phillies games on WPHL.