Ken Rowe

Kenneth Darrell Rowe

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 185 lb.

• Debut April 14, 1963
• Final Game May 4, 1965
• Born December 31, 1933 in Ferndale, MI USA
• Died November 22, 2012 in Dallas, GA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Ken Rowe pitched three years in the major leagues and later spent two seasons as the Baltimore Orioles pitching coach.

Originally signed by the Detroit Tigers before the 1953 season, Rowe played three seasons in their chain before being drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers. He missed the entire 1957 campaign while serving in the U.S. Army but returned the next summer with the Macon Dodgers. He pitched for the Spokane Indians in 1962, going 9-9 with a 3.44 ERA in 70 relief outings, and reached the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963. As a 29-year-old rookie, he went 1-1 with a 2.93 ERA in 14 games for the world champion team.

After making a team-record 88 pitching appearances for Spokane in 1964, Rowe's contract was sold to the Orioles in September. He won his first game for Baltimore on September 14th, but in 6 outings for the club that month, he posted an 8.31 ERA. He made the team's Opening Day roster in 1965 and got into a half dozen games before being sent down to the Rochester Red Wings. He continued to pitch in the Orioles organization through 1968 but never made it back to the majors.

After retiring as a player, Rowe managed in the O's chain for several years. He was skipper of the Bluefield Orioles in 1968 and was manager of the Aberdeen Pheasants from 1969 to 1971. He was pitching coach of the Rochester Red Wings in 1982 and joined Baltimore's staff as pitching coach in 1985, replacing Ray Miller, holding the job through 1986.

Moving to the New York Yankees organization, Rowe was the pitching coach of the Columbus Clippers through 1990. The next summer, he moved on to the Cleveland Indians, where he replaced Rick Adair as pitching coach for the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox in mid year when Adair became roving pitching instructor for the Indians. He held the same role with the AA Canton-Akron Indians in 1992-1994, Watertown Indians in 1995, A Kinston Indians of the Carolina League in 1996 and 1997, Columbus RedStixx in 1998, and then back to AAA with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League in 1999 and 2000. He was with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in 2001-2002, returned to Kinston in 2003 and was back with Buffalo in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, Bisons manager Marty Brown credited Rowe with turning the staff around when he took over the pitching coach duties in June. He was later the pitching coach for Mahoning Valley again from 2006 to 2010.

Notable Achievement

• Won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963 (he did not play in the World Series)