Grover Lowdermilk

From BR Bullpen

Grover Lowdermilk

Grover Cleveland Lowdermilk
(Slim)

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 4", Weight 190 lb.

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Grover Lowdermilk had a nine-year major league career as a pitcher in the dead-ball era. He traveled around a lot in the majors, so he played with many of the stars of the time. He also was quite good in the minors (see career highlights below).

He was named after president Grover Cleveland, as was Grover Cleveland Alexander. Like Alexander, who was often known as Pete Alexander, Lowdermilk had a nickname, too - Slim.

He broke in with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1909. He was the brother of Lou Lowdermilk, pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals (1911-1912), and so the two were on the same team in 1911.

In 1912, Grover was briefly with the Chicago Cubs, playing with Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers. Frank Chance was by then managing the team. Mordecai Brown was also on the pitching staff at the age of 35.

For much of 1915, Grover was with the St. Louis Browns with the young George Sisler, who was both on the pitching staff with Grover and also played first base and outfield.

For part of 1915 and 1916, Grover was on the Detroit Tigers with Ty Cobb. Then, for part of 1916, he was on the Cleveland Indians with Stan Coveleski and Tris Speaker.

After spending parts of three seasons with the Browns again, Grover came to the Chicago White Sox to close out his career in 1919 and 1920. There, he played with the Black Sox, but was not one of them. He pitched one inning in the 1919 World Series.

In general, his ERA's tended to be better toward the last half of his career. Early on, he had been a hard-throwing pitcher compared to Walter Johnson, but he tended to walk too many batters. In 590 1/3 lifetime innings, he walked 376 batters. In 1915, he struck out a career-high 148 batters, but still managed to walk more - 157.

Lowdermilk holds the minor league single season strikeout record with 465 in 1907. He fanned 458 with Mattoon in the Eastern Illinois League, and an additional seven with Decatur in the Three-I League.

"Lowdermilk, who has bobbed in and out of the big show since the lamented Hector was a pup, seems to be rather better, certainly steadier and more reliable, than he ever was before." - Baseball Magazine, August 1918

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 1 (1915)

Career Highlights[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • James E. Elfers: "Grover Lowdermilk", in Jacob Pomrenke, ed.: Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2015, pp. 112-115. ISBN 978-1-933599-95-3

Related Sites[edit]

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