100 Greatest Phillies: 44 – Schoolboy Rowe
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Wed, February 11, 2009 05:57 PM | Comments: 14
100 Greatest Phillies, Posts
Schoolboy Rowe
Starting Pitcher
1943-1949
Career w/Phillies: 744 IP / 52-39 / 3.54 ERA / 245 K
Lynwood Thomas “Schoolboy” Rowe was an eccentric, charming southern guy who had a catchphrase and somewhat of a national profile when he arrived in Philadelphia in 1943. He also was a pretty good pitcher. In Philly, he continued that trend with a sparkling 1943 season, going 14-8 with a 2.94 ERA, finishing 14th in MVP voting. But he was assigned to the Navy for service, leaving the Phils temporarily. In the Navy he was a top hitter, recording a .446 batting average for his Naval baseball team. He returned to the Phils in 1946 and was again a great pitcher, going 11-4 with a 2.12 ERA, again finishing with MVP votes. He spent three more seasons with the Phillies – mostly average seasons – but earned an All-Star berth in 1947. By the way, he wasn’t a bad hitter, with a career average of over .260.
Comment: Just before the Whiz Kid days, Rowe was one of the Phils best players. His five seasons with the Phillies were pretty good, and he surely won some accolades for his efforts. He’s more known in Detroit Tiger history, but absolutely has a place in Phils history. Think of him as the Phils’ pitching version of Pete Rose.
Posts: 0 Jim
Great analogy comparing him to the phillie pitcher tenure version of pete rose. Your taking a lot of heat for the rose pick I see but I cant agree with it more. People are convoluted by the fact that rose is #1 all time in hits and is probably ranked on many peoples top 10 lists if not top 20 all time players. This makes rose a great player but he only played 4 years in philadelphia, having 2 good seasons mixed 2 other mediocre ones (the rest of his career standards). I think a good question to ask all of the people who questioned rose in the 50′s: would you still pick mike schmidt in the top 5 had he only played 3-4 years in Philadelphia? Take Jimmie Foxx,he finished his career with the phils, playing one year, and while foxx might make a top ten hitters of all time, he is in no way going to make this list (i think/hope). The value of a player historically to the franchise goes up with not only his performance but his tenure as well. perfect example, mike lieberthal, who i am assuming is coming up on this list.
That was winded, thanks to anyone who read it.
Posted: 07:19 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 0 dmarley
so what was his catchphrase?
Posted: 08:02 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 0 Rob Cowie
Slam-a-lama ding dong
Posted: 08:35 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 0 deal
I am not sure I would compare Rowe to Rose, since Rose won a Championship here while Rowe never did.
Too me that’s a pretty big distinction
Posted: 09:07 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 0 justin
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/mlb/02112009_Phillies_begin_work_on_a_new_season.html?index=2#photo
this is great to see
Posted: 10:04 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 0 Jason B.
Justin, that is great to see. WE keep talking about Donald, but I think “The Chase” will be ready by opening day. That is simply how the man rolls.
Posted: 10:54 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 0 Greg V.
If Mike Lieberthal beats Pete Rose, then I shall halt all my comments on this list for obvious reasons.
Posted: 10:58 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 0 Greg V.
Not to hate on Liebby. I heard the stories of him cheering on the Phils in the Dodgers locker room in ’07 and I know he attended at least one of the World Series games.
Posted: 11:00 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
I mean, if you’re serious Greg, that’s a pretty sad reason to stop commenting.
Posted: 11:54 PM on February 11, 2009
Posts: 0 mets09
i hope thats the same Greg that was just calling me a Moran. He was talking about how it should be natural to have differing opinions then the Blogger and as soon as he has one he bounces. Real character bro
Posted: 12:58 AM on February 12, 2009
Posts: 0 mets09
moron*
Posted: 01:00 AM on February 12, 2009
Posts: 0 Kevin M
I just want to say that I have been really enjoying this countdown!
Posted: 07:01 AM on February 12, 2009
Posts: 0 From Section 113
Greg- Schoolboy Rowe and Lieby would out you over the edge? Wow.
I think the list is a cool idea, though I really don’t care about any of the numbers from 21-100. I have just pretended they aren’t numbered yet. Usually big lists like these, a person has to group players together, or they start getting ticked off a player was ranked 45 instead of 39. Seriously? It’s no big deal. I think the top 20 is all that matters in the true numbering. That and getting your name on the list.
Tim- In the end are you going o have a link to the list or something so we can view all these dudes at once?
Posted: 08:25 AM on February 12, 2009
Posts: 0 Chuck P
Putting together a list like this is extremely difficult. Ranking aside, I’m happy that we’re hearing about some of the lesser known players in Phillies history.
I think that you have to have a set of criteria that you apply to everyone and stick with it… stats alone are not enough but you have to be consistent and I think that the list is pretty consistent.
Things like major awards, championships, tenure and other historical significance should each carry a certain level of priority or preference.
We saw a lot of the championship contributors in the bottom half of the list. We saw some major award winners and players with other historical significance in the middle of the list. We saw some longer tenured players… the guys who can put that all together should fill out the top half of the list.
Although Schoolboy Rowe only spent a few years in Philadelphia, he put up great numbers, he was an all-star and he’s got other historical significance…
Still wonderin’ why Puddin’ Head was so low.
Posted: 05:02 PM on February 12, 2009