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Kenneth Darrell Rowe
Baltimore Orioles
Pitcher
Born: December 31, 1933, Ferndale, MI
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1953 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1963; Baltimore Orioles 1964-1965
Died: November 22, 2012, Dallas, GA (age 78)
Ken Rowe spent only parts of a few seasons playing for the Dodgers and Orioles, but all told he was involved in professional baseball for a span that covered 60 seasons. Rowe played for 15 seasons in the minor leagues between 1953 and 1968 and enjoyed a few cups of coffee with the Dodgers in 1963 appearing in 14 games and with the Orioles in 1964 and 1965, appearing in 12 games. He pitched down the stretch drive with the Dodgers during their 1963 World Championship winning season but did not appear in the World Series. In total he appeared in 26 big league games, going 2-1 with a 3.57 ERA.
After retiring as an active player, Rowe stuck with the Orioles organization where he spent time as a minor league manager, pitching coach and pitching coordinator. After a brief stint in the Phillies organization, he served as the Orioles pitching coach in 1985 and 1986. His minor league career can be tracked by following his minor league baseball card team set appearances, and his cards show Rowe coached for the Columbus Clippers, the Yankees top farm club, between 1987 and 1991. He joined the Indians organization in 1992 where he served as a pitching coach throughout their minor league system until his death in 2012.
The Card / Orioles Team Set
Rowe is wearing a Dodgers uniform here, and sporting the questionable 1960s and 1970s style of wearing his warm-up jacket under his jersey. Those are some huge letters with Rowe's name on the back of the card! Rather than try to produce a cartoon for Rowe, Topps opted to simply make the letters in his name bigger. His 60 years in professional baseball streak was interrupted by the two years he spent in military service during 1956 and 1957.
1965 Season
Rowe made the Orioles' opening day roster and was used sparingly over their first 17 games. In his last Major League action, he appeared in 6 games, throwing 13 1/3 innings with no record and a 3.38 ERA. He spent the rest of the season with the Rochester Red Wings, where he appeared in 36 games and went 5-9 with a 4.35 ERA over 91 innings pitched.
Phillies Connection
I was intrigued by his Wikipedia entry's mention of the time Rowe spent in the Phillies organization, so I went hunting through old Phillies Media Guides to see if I could figure out when he was with the team and what he had done. It looks as if Rowe was only with the club for one season, as he's listed in the 1979 Media Guide as a coach with the High A Peninsula Pilots of the Carolina League. The most notable player on that team was future Phillie and Cubs' Gold Glover Bob Dernier.
Building the Set
August 21, 2020 from Charleston, SC - Card #168
In my largest (by volume) purchase to date, I spent an enjoyable hour or so in mid-August browsing the eBay store of seller mantlerulz and clicking Add to Cart on 30 different cards. We had previously added 29 cards to our set back in February from the Philly Show. The 30 cards, all commons, cost me $52 total (before shipping and taxes) with the cards ranging in prices from $1 to $6. I love this haul and I found the seller's store by accident when I was browsing eBay in an attempt to add a few more cheap cards from the set's first series. With this purchase, we've now passed the quarter mark for completion of the set. We still have a long way to go, and quite a few pricey cards to add, but any day I can add 30 commons in excellent shape and at very low prices is a great day. This Rowe card was $2.
In my largest (by volume) purchase to date, I spent an enjoyable hour or so in mid-August browsing the eBay store of seller mantlerulz and clicking Add to Cart on 30 different cards. We had previously added 29 cards to our set back in February from the Philly Show. The 30 cards, all commons, cost me $52 total (before shipping and taxes) with the cards ranging in prices from $1 to $6. I love this haul and I found the seller's store by accident when I was browsing eBay in an attempt to add a few more cheap cards from the set's first series. With this purchase, we've now passed the quarter mark for completion of the set. We still have a long way to go, and quite a few pricey cards to add, but any day I can add 30 commons in excellent shape and at very low prices is a great day. This Rowe card was $2.
The Card / Orioles Team Set
Rowe is wearing a Dodgers uniform here, and sporting the questionable 1960s and 1970s style of wearing his warm-up jacket under his jersey. Those are some huge letters with Rowe's name on the back of the card! Rather than try to produce a cartoon for Rowe, Topps opted to simply make the letters in his name bigger. His 60 years in professional baseball streak was interrupted by the two years he spent in military service during 1956 and 1957.
1965 Season
Rowe made the Orioles' opening day roster and was used sparingly over their first 17 games. In his last Major League action, he appeared in 6 games, throwing 13 1/3 innings with no record and a 3.38 ERA. He spent the rest of the season with the Rochester Red Wings, where he appeared in 36 games and went 5-9 with a 4.35 ERA over 91 innings pitched.
Phillies Connection
I was intrigued by his Wikipedia entry's mention of the time Rowe spent in the Phillies organization, so I went hunting through old Phillies Media Guides to see if I could figure out when he was with the team and what he had done. It looks as if Rowe was only with the club for one season, as he's listed in the 1979 Media Guide as a coach with the High A Peninsula Pilots of the Carolina League. The most notable player on that team was future Phillie and Cubs' Gold Glover Bob Dernier.
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #562
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2): 1963, 1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Fleer ProCards #3135
34 - Rowe non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/25/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
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