100 Greatest Phillies: 44 – Schoolboy Rowe

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.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.