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Another Edition of “Baseball’s Forgotten Stars”: Lynwood “Schoolboy” Rowe
“The one ambition of my life has always been to win my first big-league game.” –“Schoolboy” Rowe
Thanks to our reader, Joe Bessey, for suggesting Schoolboy Rowe for inclusion in the ongoing series, “Baseball’s Forgotten Stars.” The Schoolboy fits right in and is a great example of a star from long ago who has been forgotten over the passage of time. Let’s shine the spotlight on Scholboy Rowe for just a moment!
Lynwood “Schoolboy” Rowe was born in Waco, Texas and brought up in El Dorado, Arkansas. He was an all-around athlete in high school, competing in tennis, golf, football, and baseball; but his first love was always baseball, as the above quote attests. Exactly how he got his unusual nickname isn’t clear. Some say he got it by playing in an adult church league when he was only 14. Others say it came from his days as a newsboy, peddling papers on the streets of his hometown. Whatever its origin, in a game known for zany, off-beat nicknames, it remains one of the most memorable.
Schoolboy Rowe was one of the games biggest stars in the mid-1930s who early-on showed unlimited promise. Rivaling his fellow Arkansan Dizzy Dean with an unpredictable, whacky personality and a flare for the dramatic, he drew large crowds wherever he pitched. He loved mingling with fans and would spend much time before and after games signing autographs.
A known eccentric off the field, he was steady on the mount, and kept his composure at all times. In a career shortened by injury, he’s one of baseball’s many players who never reached full potential. The “what-if” question will always be applied to Schoolboy Rowe. What would he have accomplished if he had been injury free? We’ll never know. But for a brief three-year stretch, 1934-’36, he was unquestionably one of the game’s finest young pitchers.
Schoolboy pitched 15 seasons in the major leagues (1932-’49) for the Tigers (1932–‘42) Dodgers (1943), and Phillies (1943, 1946–‘49). Over his career, Rowe went 158-101 (.610), with a 3.87 ERA, 913 strikeouts, and 22 shutouts, and a stellar 1.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The 6’4”, 210 lb. right-hander was a three-time All-Star, and a member of three Tigers’ pennant winners (1934, 1935, 1940), including a World Series championship in 1935. In eight post-season games, he went 2-5 with a 3.91 ERA. Rowe had a complete arsenal of pitches. To go with his pinpoint control, he add a blazing fastball; a hard, sweeping curve; and a deceptive change.
Schoolboy Rowe joined the Tigers in 1933 along with Hank Greenberg. He appeared in just 19 games in his rookie year, going 7-4. He followed this with a break-out year in 1934 (24–8), including an American League record sixteen consecutive wins. Rowe had another strong year in 1935 (19–13), with 21 complete games, and a league-leading six shutouts as the Tigers won their second consecutive pennant. Rowe added a third outstanding season in 1936 (19–10). But a sore arm limited him to just 31 innings in 1937 and 21 innings in 1938 and a return trip to the minors. He rebounded in 1940, going 16-3, leading the American League with a .842 winning percentage as the Tigers won their third pennant in a seven year stretch.
Schoolboy was known for his tremendous control. In 1934 he was third in the American League in strikeouts (149), and second in 1935 (140). He also led the American League in strikeout-to-walk ratio in both 1934 and 1935. He finished in the top four in walks-per-nine innings seven times, including a league best 1.31 in 1943. Rowe was also an outstanding hitting pitcher, posting a .263 lifetime average, with 18 home runs, and 153 RBI’s. In the Tigers’ pennant years of 1934 and ’35, Rowe contributed to the winning cause with .303 and .312 averages respectively.
A bit of a flake with an abundance of southern charm, Schoolboy Rowe became a fan favorite in Detroit. Like most ball players, he was superstitious and was known to carry good-luck charms in his pockets during games. He always picked up his glove with his left hand, and, on occasion, was known to even talk to the ball. Rowe was particularly popular with female fans due to his Hollywood good looks and for his highly publicized devotion to high-school sweetheart, Edna Mary Skinner. During his 16-game win streak in 1934, a reporter asked him for the secret of his success. Schoolboy responded in his typical home-spun matter: “I’d just eat a lot of vittles, climb on that mound, wrap my fingers around the ball and say to it, ‘Edna, honey, let’s go.'”
During a September 13, 1934 interview on the Eddie Cantor radio show, Rowe blurted out in the middle of the interview, “How’m I doin’, Edna honey?” The line became famous, as Cantor repeated it often on his national broadcasts. The incident endeared Schoolboy to women across the country, but, to nobody’s surprise, led to relentless taunting and catcalls from fans and opposing players. Prior to the 1934 World Series, the Detroit News brought Edna to Detroit. Pictures of Edna and Schoolboy posing with Babe Ruth were published in the newspapers, as the nation became caught up in their highly publicized romance. They married shortly after the 1934 World Series.
Schoolboy missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons to wartime service in the Navy. He was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station where his former manager, Mickey Cochrane, led an All-Star baseball team that included Schoolboy, Bob Feller, Johnny Mize, Dom DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, and Billy Herman. After the war, he proved he still had some good years left, going 52-39 over five seasons with the Phillies. He was released by the Phillies after the 1949 season and finished his pitching career in 1950, with San Diego in the Pacific Coast League. After retiring, he spent two seasons as the Tigers’ pitching coach and later worked as a Tigers scout. He also spent some years managing in the minor leagues.
Schoolboy Rowe died of a heart attack at age 50 on January 8, 1961 in El Dorado, Arkansas. He will forever be remembered as one of the greatest right-handed hurlers in Tigers history; and, like his contemporary Dizzy Dean, he will be remembered as one of baseball’s great, enduring characters.
Gary Livacari
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Photo Credits: All from Google search
Information: Excerpts edited from the Schoolboy Rowe Wikipedia page; and from article on Schoolboy Rowe in National Pastime Museum On-line: http://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/my-favorite-player-schoolboy-rowe
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