Stewart Cole (Doc) Bowers (February 26, 1915 – December 14, 2005) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

who played in

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) ...

from through . Bowers was a

switch hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. He was born in

New Freedom, Pennsylvania New Freedom is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the borough had a population of 4,874. Once an industrial/railroad town, the community has evolved into a mostly residential town. History New Freedom Borough is locate ...

. Bowers played at

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women ...

before being signed by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

. He reached the majors in 1935 with the Red Sox and pitched 15 games for them between 1935 and 1936. He posted a 2–1 record with a 4.60

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Com ...

and five strikeouts in 29 ⅓

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is ...

, including two starts and one

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pit ...

. He also had a single appearance in 1937 as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been subs ...

. Following his baseball career, Bowers served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and later worked for American Insulator Company and for Ford Motor Company. On March 28, 1944, he enlisted in the army."Index Record for Stewart C. Bowers Jr WWII Army Enlistment Records", (Army Serial Number 33849249), ''Fold3 by Ancestry.com website''. Retrieved August 24, 2020. Bowers died in

Havertown, Pennsylvania Havertown is a residential suburban unincorporated community in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 9 miles west of the center of Philadelphia. Havertown's ZIP Code is 19083 and "Havertown" is a post ...

, at the age of 90.

References

External links

Historic Baseball
* 1915 births 2005 deaths Boston Red Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Pennsylvania Gettysburg Bullets baseball players People from New Freedom, Pennsylvania United States Army personnel of World War II {{US-baseball-pitcher-1910s-stub