Michael Evan Rowland (born January 31, 1953) is an American former

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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 ...

who played for the

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

in parts of two seasons from 1980 to 1981. Listed at 6' 3", 205 lb., Rowland batted and threw right handed. He was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

.MLB Statistics and History
''Baseball Reference''. Retrieved on January 8, 2017. Rowland attended

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Millikin was initially esta ...

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, where he played for the

Millikin Big Blue The Millikin Big Blue are the intercollegiate athletic programs of Millikin University (MU) located in Decatur, Illinois, United States. The Big Blue athletic program is a member of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) and comp ...

baseball team in 1975.Millikin Big Blue Induction Class of 1984
''Millikin University Athletics Hall of Fame Website''. Retrieved on January 8, 2017. The Giants selected Rowland in the 22nd round of the

1975 MLB Draft The 1975 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1975 MLB season. The draft saw the California Angels select Danny Goodwin first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1975 Major League Base ...

. He garnered popularity in his short stint as a Giants middle reliever through his trademark moustache and permed hair. Rowland made 28 pitching appearances for the Giants (one

start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

), going 1–2 with a 2.74

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

without saves. In addition, he hit a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

and drove in a run in his only major league

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, b ...

. Besides, Rowland posted a 64–78 record with a 4.28 ERA in eight

Minor League Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

seasons from 1975–1982, and also played winter ball with the

Cardenales de Lara The Cardenales de Lara () is a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP). Founded in 1942 and based in Barquisimeto, the Cardenales have won seven domestic titles, including back-to-back in 1998 and 1999, 2019, 2020 and ...

club of the Venezuelan League in its 1977-78 season.Venezuelan Winter League Statistics
''Pelota Binaria''. Retrieved on January 8, 2017. Afterwards, Rowland gained induction into the Millikin University Athletics Hall of Fame as part of their 1984 Class.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Mike 1953 births Living people Baseball players from Chicago Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Fresno Giants players Great Falls Giants players Lafayette Drillers players Major League Baseball pitchers Millikin Big Blue baseball players Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Waterbury Giants players 20th-century American sportsmen