Ralph Rowe

Ralph Emanuel Rowe (July 14, 1924 – February 29, 1996) was an American outfielder and manager in minor league baseball, and a coach at the Major League level. A native of Newberry, South Carolina, Rowe threw right-handed, batted left-handed, stood 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).

For the priest, see Ralph Rowe (priest).

He was signed at age 17 by the Cleveland Indians after graduating from Newberry High School in 1942. In 1958, he played for the Charlotte Hornets, a Washington Senators affiliate, and moved his family to Charlotte, where they lived until 1974. While living in Charlotte, he was a player-coach for the Hornets in 1961, and managed the 1969 Hornets to the Double-A Southern League championship. He lived in Newberry from 1974 until his death in 1996 at age 71.

Rowe's professional career got off to a rousing start in 1942, when he batted .357 for the Thomasville Hi-Toms, a Cleveland affiliate in the Class D North Carolina State League. But he lost the next four full seasons (1943–46) to military service and, despite batting .360 and leading the 1948 Class B Tri-State League in runs batted in (123), he spent most of his playing career at the Double-A level. Rowe's career reached its apex with a 14-game trial with the Los Angeles Angels of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1949. He played in the farm systems of the Indians, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and the Senators through 1958, then became a manager in the Washington/Minnesota Twins farm system in 1959–71, winning four league championships. His overall record was 836–757 (.525).

He finally reached the Major Leagues as a coach, serving for four seasons with the Twins (1972–75) as their third base coach, and four more (1981–84) as the batting coach of the Baltimore Orioles. He was a member of the Orioles' staff during their 1983 world championship season. Rowe also served as a roving minor league batting coach for the Twins, Orioles, and, after 1984, the Montreal Expos.

References
  • Howe News Bureau, 1985 Montreal Expos Organization Book. St. Petersburg, Florida: The Baseball Library, 1985.
Preceded by
Frankie Crosetti		 Minnesota Twins third base coach
1972–1975		 Succeeded by
Joe Nossek
Preceded by
Frank Robinson		 Baltimore Orioles hitting coach
1981–1984		 Succeeded by
Terry Crowley
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