Rowland Office

Rowland Johnie Office

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.
• School Sacramento City College
• High School McClatchy High School
• Debut August 5, 1972
• Final Game April 20, 1983
• Born October 25, 1952 in Sacramento, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Rowland Office played 11 seasons in the majors, mostly as a center fielder in the National League.

Office went to McClatchy High School in Sacramento, CA and also attended Sacramento City College. Both schools have produced quite a few major leaguers. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1970 amateur draft and began his minor league career in 1971 hitting .302 for the Greenwood Braves. In 1972 he played with the Savannah Braves, although his average dropped, and he also made his major league debut with Atlanta, going 2-for-5 in two games. He was half the age of 38-year old Hank Aaron, who played first base that year. He was the youngest player in the National League, while teammate Rod Gilbreath was the second youngest. Both Gilbreath and Office were drafted in 1970, one round apart.

In 1973 Office played for the Richmond Braves, with his batting average dropping to .236. Despite the tough year on the farm, he was up in the majors for all of 1974, appearing in 131 games and playing almost as many innings in center field as the regular, Dusty Baker. The following year, 1975, saw Office as the regular center fielder for the team, while Dusty moved over to right field. Office hit .290, his highest major league average and the best batting average on the team, which hit .244 as a whole.

Office continued as the Braves' regular center fielder through 1979, although he was not a strong hitter most years. The highlight of his time in Atlanta came in 1976 when he put together a 29-game hitting streak, which was the second-longest in team history at that point, and which has only been topped twice since. After becoming a free agent at the end of 1979, he became part of the Montreal Expos, playing a lot of right field in 1980 while Ellis Valentine was out with various injuries. Rowland was injured himself in 1981, cutting his season to 26 games, and did not play in the only year his team reached the postseason. He was released by the Expos after only 3 games in 1982. He was in the minors for parts of 1982 and 1983. In his last professional season, in 1983, he appeared in 87 games for the Columbus Clippers in the Yankees organization, hitting .297 and slugging .514, and came to the major league Yankees for two games.

Through the end of 2008 he is the only major league player with the first name Rowland and also the only one with the last name Office.