Samuel Edward Bowens (March 23, 1938 – March 28, 2003) was an American

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

who played for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1963–1967) and Washington Senators (1968–1969). Bowens batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

. During his playing career he was considered to have one of the strongest throwing arms in the league, however knee injuries and drinking problems cut his career short. He was named "one of the nicest people I have ever met" by former teammate Wally Bunker.

Early career

Bowens played four sports at Williston High School in Wilmington. He received a $5,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

from the Orioles and started his minor league baseball career with the

Bluefield Orioles Bluefield may refer to: * Bluefield, Virginia, US *Bluefield, West Virginia, US * Nvidia BlueField, a line of computer hardware See also *Bluefields, Nicaragua *Bluefields, Jamaica Bluefields is a settlement in Westmoreland Parish on the Cari ...

of the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from J ...

and the

Leesburg Orioles Leesburg may refer to several locations in the United States of America: *Leesburg, Alabama *Leesburg, Florida *Leesburg, Georgia *Leesburg, Idaho, a community and historic district listed on the NRHP in Lemhi County, Idaho *Leesburg, Illinois * L ...

of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A follow ...

in 1960.

Major League Baseball

In 1963, Bowens appeared in 15 games, batting .333 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

and nine

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. In his first full year, 1964, Bowens batted .263, with 22 home runs, 71 RBI, 58 runs, 132

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

, 25 doubles, in 139 games. His playing time declined however, because of injuries, an alcohol addiction, and the blossoming of 1965 American League Rookie of the Year

Curt Blefary Curtis Leroy "Clank" Blefary (July 5, 1943 – January 28, 2001) was an American professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1968), Houston Astros (1969), New York Yankees (1970–1971), ...

. In 1965 he appeared in 84 games, batting only .163 with seven home runs and 20 runs batted in. He hit over .200 only once more in his career, in 1966 when he hit .210 in 89 games while he was

hit by a pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

five times, finishing tenth in the league. He was a member of the

1966 World Series The 1966 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1966 season. The 63rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and National League ...

champion Orioles, but he didn't appear in a game. His World Series ring was allegedly stolen from a hotel room a year later. He later described his career with the Orioles as "wasted years". After the 1967 season, his contract was purchased by the Washington Senators, where he finished his career with batting averages of .191 and .193 in 1968 and 1969. In a seven-season career, Bowens posted a .223

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

with 45

s and 143

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

in 479

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

Later life

Bowens had three children and lived in Indianapolis before moving back to Wilmington in the mid 1980s. He spent his final year in a nursing home in Wilmington, where he died, at the age of 65.

References

External links

Sam Bowens
at Baseball Almanac
Venezuelan Winter League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowens, Sam 1938 births 2003 deaths African-American baseball players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Wilmington, North Carolina Bluefield Orioles players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Columbus Jets players Fox Cities Foxes players Leesburg Orioles players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Rochester Red Wings players Shreveport Braves players Tennessee State Tigers baseball players Tennessee State University alumni Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Washington Senators (1961–1971) players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people