Larry Bowa

Lawrence Robert Bowa (born December 6, 1945) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played professionally for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and the New York Mets. Bowa went on to manage the San Diego Padres and Phillies.

Early life Bowa was born in Sacramento, California, the son of Paul Bowa, a former minor-league infielder and manager in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. While at C. K. McClatchy High School, Bowa tried out but never made the school's baseball team. After graduation, Bowa went to Sacramento City College where he started, and was expected to go in the MLB draft, but didn't. The Philadelphia Phillies were the only Major League team interested in Bowa. They sent a local scout, Eddie Bockman, to watch Bowa play in a doubleheader, only for Bowa to be thrown out of both games for arguing. Bockman had a winter league team in the area and offered Bowa a chance to play. Bowa played well and signed with the Phillies for a $2,000 bonus. After 4 years in the minors, he made the Phillies' roster at the age of 24 in 1970.

Professional career Bowa won two Gold Glove Awards and led the National League (NL) in fielding percentage six times, then a league record. He retired with the NL record for career games at shortstop (2222) and was also among the career leaders in assists (sixth, 6857) and double plays (fourth, 1265); Bowa's records have since been broken, though he retains the NL mark for career fielding percentage. Apart from his fielding achievements, Bowa was a switch-hitter, batting .280 or better four times (.305 in 1975); he also had nine seasons with 20 or more stolen bases.

Bowa returned to Major League Baseball and the Phillies by joining Ryne Sandberg's staff as bench coach for the season. Bowa remained with the Phillies as bench coach under Pete Mackanin, who took over after Sandberg resigned during the season.

Bowa was relieved of his coaching duties on October 13, 2017, and accepted the role as Matt Klentak's senior advisor to the general manager. He also hosted a weekly show during the baseball season with Chris Russo on Sirius XM while occasionally providing postgame analysis for Phillies games on WPHL.

Managerial record +Team Year Regular season PostseasonGamesWonLostWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultSD 19871626597 6th in NL West – – – –SD 1988461630Fired*––––SD total 208 81 127 – – – PHI 20011628676 2nd in NL East – – – –PHI 20021618081 3rd in NL East – – – –PHI 20031628676 3rd in NL East – – – –PHI 20041608575 Fired* – – – – PHI total 645337308––– Total 853–––