Alfred Edward Cowens, Jr. (October 25, 1951 – March 11, 2002) was an American

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. From through , Cowens played for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

(1974–79),

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

(1980),

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1980–81) and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

(1982–86). He batted and threw right-handed.

Baseball career

A native of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Cowens was a product of the

farm system, having been selected by the team in the 1969 MLB draft. He made his major league debut with the Royals in 1974 and played for them through 1979. His most productive season came in 1977, when he batted .312 with 23

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 112 RBI, earned a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

, and finished second to Rod Carew in balloting for the American League MVP Award. Cowens was traded along with

Todd Cruz Todd Ruben Cruz (November 23, 1955 – September 2, 2008), was an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between and with the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Calif ...

from the Royals to the

for

Willie Aikens Willie Mays Aikens (born October 14, 1954) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Toronto Blue Jays between 1977 and 1985. He had establis ...

and

Rance Mulliniks Steven Rance Mulliniks (born January 15, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball player. Playing career Drafted as a shortstop, Mulliniks made his major league debut in for the California Angels, batting .269 in 78 games. He saw limi ...

at the Winter Meetings in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on December 6, 1979,Durso, Joseph. "Angels Get Cowens In Deal With Royals," ''The New York Times'', Friday, December 7, 1979.
Retrieved May 25, 2022. with

Craig Eaton Craig Eaton (born September 7, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for one season. He was a pitcher who pitched in five games for the Kansas City Royals during the 1979 season. He played college baseball at Flori ...

being sent to the Angels to complete the transaction four months later on April 1, 1980. The need for Cowens was the result of injuries to

Joe Rudi Joseph Oden Rudi (born September 7, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder between and , most prominently as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won th ...

and Dan Ford which hurt the Angels' chances of winning the American League pennant. A shortage of power hitters due to injuries to Don Baylor and Brian Downing by the second month of the 1980 season led to Cowens being dealt from the Angels to the

for Jason Thompson on May 27, 1980. He played with the Tigers through the end of the 1981 season. In March 1982, the Tigers sold his contract the

, where he played until the team released him on June 12, 1986. Overall in 13 MLB seasons, Cowens appeared in 1584 MLB games, batting .270 with 108 home runs and 717 RBIs. He played in three postseason series, appearing in 14 total games with the Royals in the

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. The winner of the ALCS wins the AL pennant and ...

of 1976 through 1978, each of which the team lost to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Farmer incidents

Early in the 1979 season, a notable feud started between Cowens, then with the Royals, and pitcher Ed Farmer, then with the Texas Rangers. On May 8, a Farmer pitch thrown in the top of the fifth inning fractured Cowens' jaw and broke several teeth, causing him to miss 21 games. Farmer later said that Cowens had attempted to steal signs from the catcher and thought the pitch would be a

breaking ball In baseball, a breaking ball is a pitch that does not travel straight as it approaches the batter; it will have sideways or downward motion on it, sometimes both (see slider). A breaking ball is not a specific pitch by that name, but is any ...

away, but it was actually an inside

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

. At the start of the same game, Farmer had also hit Royals second baseman Frank White and broke his wrist, which kept him sidelined for a month. The next season, on June 20‚ 1980, Farmer and Cowens faced each other again; Farmer now with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

and Cowens now with the Tigers. In a game at

Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a ballpark in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-south side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Built by Wh ...

, with Farmer pitching, Cowens hit a ground ball to shortstop. While Farmer watched his infielders make the play, Cowens ran to the mound rather than first base, and tackled the pitcher from behind, landing several punches before the benches cleared and the two were separated.

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

president

Lee MacPhail Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. (October 25, 1917 – November 8, 2012) was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball. MacPhail was a baseball executive for 45 years, serving as the director of player personnel for the New York Y ...

suspended Cowens for seven games, and Farmer filed a criminal complaint, resulting in a warrant being issued for Cowens in Illinois. Later, Farmer agreed to drop the charges in exchange for a handshake‚ and the two players brought out the lineup cards before a game in Detroit on September 1, and shook hands. A later appearance by Cowens at Comiskey Park was greeted by fans with a "Coward Cowens" banner.

Death

Cowens died in

Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program and Taco Bell. It is ...

, on March 11, 2002, at the age of 50 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. At the time of his death, Cowens had been scouting players for the Kansas City Royals. He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

References

External links

*, o
Retrosheet
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowens, Al 1951 births 2002 deaths African-American baseball players Águilas del Zulia players Arizona Instructional League Royals players Billings Mustangs players Bradenton Explorers players Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery California Angels players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Detroit Tigers players Gold Glove Award winners Jacksonville Suns players Kansas City Royals players Kansas City Royals scouts Kingsport Royals players Major League Baseball right fielders San Jose Bees players Seattle Mariners players Baseball players from Downey, California Baseball players from Los Angeles Waterloo Royals players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen

Baseball career

Farmer incidents

Death

See also

References

External links