Larry Bowa
Baseball’s first summer Draft was in 1965 and Larry Bowa, a skinny shortstop from Sacramento, Calif., wasn’t selected -- 824 amateur players were.
Phillies northern California scout Eddie Bockman had seen “Bow” play at various levels of amateur baseball in the San Francisco Bay area. He knew Larry had basic baseball tools, knew he had heart, knew he was a competitor, knew he had a temper and thought it was worth bringing Paul Owens (director of the farm system then) into the picture.
During the 1965 World Series, Bockman and Owens met in Owens' hotel suite in Los Angeles. Bockman had some eight-millimeter film of a young infielder and wanted Owens to see the home movie. They had no screen, so Owens took the sheet off his bed and the two of them attached it to the wall. Owens liked what he saw. Larry signed for $1,200 on Oct. 12, 1965.
Bowa was ready to quit after his first pro game with the Spartanburg Phillies (1966). Four strikeouts in four at-bats. The pitcher? Future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.
His first year in the Phillies' big league camp was in Clearwater, Fla. (1967). He wore No. 53. I remember manager Gene Mauch saying, “I can see him run, can see him catch the ball, can see him throw. When he hits, I don’t hear anything.”
His Major League debut came in the last season opener at Connie Mack Stadium (1970). Ballpark security wouldn’t let him in believing he wasn’t a player. He talked his way in, batted first, wore No. 10 and was hitless in three at-bats. The pitcher? Future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins.
Despite hitting .191 through the first two months, manager Frank Lucchesi stuck with him. Bowa finished the season with a .250 average.
When Steve Carlton dominated in 1972, Bow proclaimed it was “Win Day” when Lefty pitched. Larry’s first Major League home run came that season off Houston’s Dave Roberts -- an inside-the-park four-bagger in his 1,746th career plate appearance.
Years later, he and Greg Luzinski collided chasing a foul ball down the left-field line -- a Mack truck colliding with a Volkswagen beetle. The quick-witted Bowa told Bull after the game, “You need to wear a cowbell.”
During batting practice one day in the early years of Veterans Stadium, Luzinski sent a ball into the left-field upper deck. Bowa blurted, “That ball’s outta here!” Broadcaster Harry Kalas, standing nearby, overheard the description and adopted it. The rest is history.
Larry played in the last game at Connie Mack Stadium, the first game at Veterans Stadium (got the first hit there) and managed the last game at Veterans Stadium and the first game at Citizens Bank Park.
His post-playing career included coaching for the Phillies twice (1988-96; 2014-17) and managing for four seasons (2001-04). Larry was named NL Manager of the Year Award (2001). No other Phillies manager has won the BBWAA Award.
He was ultra-competitive, a battler, scrappy, chirpy, feisty and an endless worker. He used all of that and ended up with 2,191 hits in 2,247 games and a .260 average. As a shortstop, he made only 211 errors in 19,058 1/3 innings.
Ultra-competitive? He was ejected 35 times wearing a Phillies uniform -- 22 times as a manager, eight as a player and five as a coach. For his entire career: 52. Who was the last Phillie to be ejected at both Veterans Stadium and Jack Russell Memorial Stadium? Yes, Larry. You.
Throughout 143 years of Phillies baseball, no one has spent more seasons in uniform than Larry Bowa. For 29 years -- 13 as a coach, 12 as a player and four as manager. As a senior advisor to the general manager since 2017, the 80-year-old continues to wear the uniform every year in Spring Training, working daily with infielders of all levels.
A kid cut from his high school team three times, undrafted and ready to quit pro ball after one game wound up as one of the most beloved figures in franchise history. Phillies royalty.