John Lower

John D. Lower
(Johnny)

• Bats unknown, Throws Left

• School Villanova University

• Born November 1883 in Adams County, PA USA
• Died September 6, 1954 in ??Franklin Village, PA??USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher John Lower played in the minor leagues from 1905 to 1914. Although a Pennsylvanian through and through, he made his professional debut far from home, with the Waco Tigers of the Texas League. In one of his first pro games, on May 10, 1905, he attracted national attention when he pitched a tremendous game, giving up one hit in the 1st inning, and then keeping his opponent hitless the rest of the way in a game that went 15 innings. He went 16-20 that first season. He was still in the Texas League the following season, splitting the year between Waco and the Dallas Giants, then moved back east starting in 1907.

He appeared for three different teams in two separate leagues in 1908: the Trenton Tigers and Johnstown Johnnies of the Tri-State League and the Clarksburg Drummers of the Pennsylvania-West Virginia League. In 1908, he headed back west, spending the season with the Omaha Rourkes of the Western League and going 20-12 in 43 games, but in 1910 he was back in Pennsylvania and in the Tri-State League, with the Altoona Rams, where he went 4-8 in 12 games. In 1911, he played for two different teams in the Connecticut State League, the Waterbury Champs and New Britain Perfectos, combining to go 16-13 in 32 games, then in 1912, it was New Britain that moved to Waterbury partway through the season as he went 7-19 in 40 games.

His final two seasons, in 1913 and 1914, were spent in the Eastern Association, with the Springfield Ponies both years, and the New Haven White Wings part of the second. He is listed as going 11-12 in 28 games in 1913 and 11-11 in 33 games in 1914. In all, he was clearly a workhorse pitcher, but never seemed to settle down in any one place for long, and seemed to move up and down among classifications with little rhyme or reason.