Bobby Lowe

Lowe was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in July 1865, two months after the end of the American Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His middle name "Lincoln" likely derives from the historic circumstances immediately preceding his birth. Lowe's father, Robert L. Lowe, was a Pennsylvania native and a railroad engineer. His mother, Jane (or Jennie) Lowe, was an immigrant from Ireland. By 1880, Lowe's father had died, and at age 15 he was living with his mother and three siblings in Union Township. ==Amateur and minor league baseball==

In 1881, Lowe was working as an "office devil" at the Newcastle Courant, a newspaper in New Castle, Pennsylvania. In the summer of 1881, at age 16, he played in a baseball game between the printers and the doctors of New Castle. Charley Powers, who played minor league baseball, was working as a compositor at the Courant and was selected as the captain of the printers. Lowe pleaded for a place on the team, and Powers stationed him in right field. He later recalled that "the kid carried off the honors both in the field and at the bat. I saw at once that he was a born ballplayer." In 1882, Lowe played with the Archie Reeds, an amateur baseball club in New Castle. He left his job with the Courant in 1883 and, at age 18, took a job as a machinist at Witherow & Co., the largest manufacturing establishment in New Castle. He was the sole support at the time for his mother and youngest sister, Olive, and gave up baseball for several years. He also demonstrated his versatility in the field, playing 51 games in left field, 21 games at shortstop, 17 games in right field, 11 games at third base, 6 games as catcher, and 5 games in center field. During the 1888 and 1889 baseball seasons, Lowe played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Creams of the Western Association. He hit .246 in 114 games in 1888, and hit .315 in 99 games in 1889. ==Major League Baseball==

Boston Beaneaters (1B), right: Herman Long (SS), bottom: Jimmy Collins (3B), and left: Bobby Lowe (2B) After the 1889 baseball season, the Boston Beaneaters purchased Lowe from the Milwaukee Brewers for $700 in a deal that has been described as "one of baseball's biggest bargains." He made his Major League Baseball debut with the Beaneaters on April 19, 1890, and remained with the Beaneaters for 12 years through 1901. During his years in Boston, Lowe developed a reputation both as a hitter and a fielder. Listed at 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 150 pounds (68 kg), he hit right-handed and was considered one of the best second basemen of the 19th century. He was one of only three (along with Kid Nichols and Herman Long) to play on all five of the Beaneaters teams that won pennants in the 1890s. In 1891, Lowe tied a then major league record with six hits (four singles, a double, and a home run) in six at-bats. Having played mostly in the outfield in 1891 and 1892, he replaced Joe Quinn at second base in 1893 and was the Beaneaters' starting second baseman for eight straight years, from 1893 to 1900. After the game, fans "showered $160 worth of silver on the plate for Lowe." In 1894, he led the National League with 613 at-bats and was among the leaders in fielding and particularly in batting, with 319 total bases (2nd in the league), 17 home runs (2nd in the league), 345 putouts as a second baseman (2nd in the league), 212 hits (4th in the league), 402 assists as a second baseman (4th in the league), and 158 runs scored (5th in the league). Chicago Cubs On December 16, 1901, Lowe was purchased by the Chicago Orphans from the Beaneaters. In April 1902, manager Frank Selee named him team captain. He played for the Orphans, renamed the Cubs later that season, for two years. He was the starting second baseman in 1902. Although his batting statistics declined that year (.248 batting average), his .956 fielding percentage, 328 putouts, and 412 assists each ranked second among National League second basemen. Despite solid fielding in 1904, Lowe's offensive output continued to decline as his batting average dropped to .207, 66 points below his career average of .273. After the injury, Lowe missed the remainder of the 1906 season and appeared in only 17 games (with 37 at-bats) in 1907, his final year in the major leagues. In 1911, Fred Tenney wrote a series of articles for The New York Times selecting the greatest player in baseball history at each position. Having picked Johnny Evers at second base, Tenney chose Lowe as the best utility player of all time. In 1932, syndicated sportswriter Whitney Martin wrote a column arguing that Lowe ranked with Bobby Doerr, Joe Gordon, Nap Lajoie, and Eddie Collins as the greatest second basemen of all time. Martin argued that Lowe's accomplishments were overlooked because he played "at a time when the ball had more turtle in it than rabbit." He catalogued a number of Lowe's accomplishments to support the argument: • Hit four home runs and a single in one game for 17 total bases. • Batted over .300 from 1893 to 1897 "with the dead ball." • Made six hits in six at-bats for 10 total bases in another game. • Scored six runs in one game on May 3, 1895. • Played 34 consecutive games without an error, accepting 165 chances. In the 2001 book The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, writer Bill James ranked Lowe as the 56th greatest second baseman of all-time. ==Coaching career==

In addition to his having been the manager of the Tigers for the last half of the 1904 season, Lowe also coached baseball at the college and minor league level. In 1907, he was hired as the baseball coach for the University of Michigan Wolverines baseball team. In April 1907, a newspaper reported: "Mr. Lowe is the idol of the students at the university and has received the highest possible praise from the college for the excellent manner in which he handles the team." Lowe led the Wolverines to a record of 11-4-1 in 1907. After his career as a Major League player ended in 1907, Lowe was actively pursued by several minor league teams for coaching positions. He ultimately signed with Grand Rapids Wolverines of the Central League. In March 1908, Lowe expressed optimism that "there is more interest being taken in baseball in different league towns than ever before." Lowe's final coaching position was as the baseball coach at Washington & Jefferson College in 1909 and 1910. ==Later years==

After retiring as a player and coach, Lowe continued his affiliation with the game as a scout for the Detroit Tigers in the early 1910s. In February 1912, a syndicated newspaper story reported that Lowe had traveled 20,000 miles as a scout during the prior year, and noted that his itinerary "reads like a cross between a railroad guide and an atlas." Lowe was married to Harriet Hughes, whose father operated the Leslie Hotel in New Castle. They had no children. After Lou Gehrig hit four home runs in a game in 1932, Lowe, wearing his old Beaneaters uniform, posed for photographs with Gehrig. Lowe said, "I feel complimented to share the record with so grand a boy." In December 1951, Lowe died at his home in Detroit at the age of 86. He was posthumously inducted into the Lawrence County Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. ==See also==