Dwight Lowry (October 23, 1957 – July 10, 1997), born Dwight Lowery was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

who played in

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 ...

for the

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 ...

(1984–1987) and

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

(1988). He won a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

championship with the 1984 Detroit Tigers.

Early years

Lowry was born in Lumberton, North Carolina, in 1957. He attended Pembroke High School in Pembroke, North Carolina. He next attended the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

earning a degree in industrial relations. He lettered in baseball with the Tar Heels in 1977, 1979, and 1980.

Professional baseball player

Lowry was drafted by the

in the 11th round of the

1980 Major League Baseball draft The 1980 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1980. The draft saw the New York Mets select Darryl Strawberry first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. C ...

. He made his major league debut with the 1984 Detroit Tigers team that began the season with a 35–5 record, won 104 games, and beat the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

in the

. As a backup for All-Star catcher Lance Parrish, Lowry appeared in 32 games for the Tigers in that season, hitting 2

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 driving in 7 runs while scoring 8 times. On May 20, 1984, Lowry hit his first major league home run in a 4–3 Detroit win over the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

. His blast was the difference in the win that extended the Tigers' record-setting start to 32–5. On September 29, Lowry hit his second home run in an 11–3 win over 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 ...

. The game was the team's record-setting 104th victory of the season. Lowry spent the 1985 season with the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

. On July 17, 1985, he caught a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

by batterymate

Bryan Kelly __NOTOC__ Bryan George Kelly (born January 3, 1934) is an English composer, conductor, and pianist from Oxford. Education He was a choir boy at Worcester College and attended Southfield Grammar School. After lessons with Harold Spicer, the long- ...

. He returned to the Tigers for 56 games in 1986, batting .307, the second-highest on the team among players with at least 150

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. He appeared in 13 games in 1987, when the team again won AL Eastern division. Lowry was released by the Tigers on October 16, 1987, and signed as a free agent with the

on October 23. He had only seven at bats for the Twins and played his last major league game on April 23, 1988. On April 27, Minnesota optioned Lowry to the Triple-A

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

. In between, Lowry played winter ball with the

Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A., better known by its commercial name as the Leones del Caracas, is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVPB). The owner and sole shareholder of the sports club is Ricardo C ...

club of the Venezuelan League in the 1985 to 1986 season. He later won the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

championship with the St. Petersburg Pelicans in its 1989 inaugural season.

Managerial career

After his playing career ended, Lowry became a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

in the Tigers' minor league system. He managed the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

's Fayetteville Generals for three seasons from 1994 to 1996. In 1995, he led them to a first-place finish (86–55). In 1996, the team's record dropped to 76–63, though they won the second-half division title. For his work with the Generals, Lowry was named the Detroit Tigers Player Development Man of the Year. In 1997, Lowry was assigned to manage the Jamestown Jammers of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

Family and posthumous honors

On July 10, 1997, Lowry died of a heart attack at age 39 after collapsing outside his home in

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...

. Lowry and his wife Pamela had two daughters (Sesilie and Amanda) and one son (Zachary). In 1997, the Detroit Tigers renamed the Player Development Man of the Year Award as the Dwight Lowry Award in his honor. Lowry had won the award in 1996. He was inducted into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame in 1998.

References

External links

RetrosheetSABR BioProject Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowry, Dwight 1957 births 1997 deaths Baseball players from North Carolina Birmingham Barons players Detroit Tigers players Evansville Triplets players Indianapolis Indians players Lakeland Tigers players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Lumbee people Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball catchers Minnesota Twins players Minor league baseball managers Nashville Sounds players North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players Sportspeople from Lumberton, North Carolina Portland Beavers players St. Petersburg Pelicans players Toledo Mud Hens players University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American expatriate baseball players in Italy Grosseto Baseball Club players