Rich Rowland

Rich Rowland
Rich Rowland
Runs batted in	26
Teams
	Detroit Tigers (1990–1993); Boston Red Sox (1994–1995);

Richard Garnet Rowland (born February 25, 1964) is an

minor league baseball on and off from 1988 to 1997, where he even served as a pitcher

in three games.

Minor leagues

Born in

Eastern League in 1990. He played for London for the first half of the season, where his statistics were impressive enough for a mid-season promotion to the AAA-class Toledo Mud Hens of the International League

. For London, he batted .286 with 46 hits in 47 games with 161 at-bats. For Toledo, he batted .260 with 50 hits and 192 at-bats.

For his efforts, he was called up to the Detroit Tigers on September 7, 1990 and played seven games with them during the 1990 season. From 1991 to 1993, he played the majority of time with Toledo, while being called up on occasion to play for the Tigers as catcher. His statistic in the Major Leagues were unimpressive due to his limited time on the Tigers' roster, but his statistics with Toledo were far more impressive. When he was not called up to play for the Tigers, he was a consistently solid hitting full-time catcher with Toledo reaching 136 games in 1992. His minor league playing time in 1993 was shorter, as he played more time on the Tigers. That season with Toledo, he batted .268 but hit 21 home runs in 325 at-bats— a relatively high home run ratio of 15.48. His slugging percentage of .548 ranked fourth in the International League in 1993.^[2]

At the start of the 1994 season, Rowland was traded from the

Syracuse Chiefs of the International League in 1996. He played 96 games with 288 at-bats but only had a .226 batting average (his lowest minor league batting average). While on the Chiefs, he was never called up to play for the Blue Jays and was traded to the San Francisco Giants for the start of 1997. He never played for the Giants but instead played on their AAA affiliate Phoenix Firebirds of the Pacific Coast League during the 1997 season. His time on the Chiefs was short, and he only played in 19 games before retiring.^[2]

Major leagues

Detroit Tigers

He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in round 17 of the June 1988 draft. He played on various minor league teams before he made his professional debut late into the 1990 Detroit Tigers season on September 7, 1990 at the age of 26 as part of the team's late season expanded roster.^[1] While playing in the Major Leagues for the Detroit Tigers, Rowland also played intermittently on their Toledo Mud Hens minor league team and was occasionally called up to the Tigers when needed . In 1990, he played in only seven games, accumulating only three hits in 19 at bats for a .158 batting average.^[3] He returned for the Tigers in 1991 as a backup catcher to Mickey Tettleton, who rarely missed a game. Because of that, Rowland saw very little playing time with two other backup catchers— Andy Allanson and Mark Salas— on the roster as well. That season, he played in only four games, accumulating only four at-bats, one hit, one run batted in, and a .250 batting average. Rowland saw similar playing time in 1992; he only played in six games, batting 14 times with three hits for a .214 batting average. Despite very little playing time, he was contracted for the league-minimum $120,000 that season but spent most of his time on assignment with minor league Toledo.^[3] In 1993, Rowland saw his most playing time on the Detroit Tigers. That year, primary catcher Mickey Tettleton played more time as a first baseman and outfielder, giving Rowland and fellow backup catcher Chad Kreuter more playing time. That year, Rowland played 21 games, accumulating 10 hits in 46 at-bats for a .217 batting average.

Boston Red Sox

On April 1, just prior to the start of the 1994 season, Rich Rowland was traded to the

strike-shortened 1994 season would prove to be by far Rowland's best season. He played in 46 games, accumulating 118 at-bats, 27 hits, nine home runs (hitting his first Major League home run this year), 20 runs batted in, and a .229 batting average. He also posted a career high .483 slugging percentage, among other career highs this season. In 1995, Rowland played again on the Red Sox, who won American League East division that year. He played in only 14 games, accumulating 29 at-bats with five hits and a low .172 batting average. He played his final Major League game on June 15, 1995. He was sent back full-time to the Pawtucket Red Sox minor league team for the duration of the season. During the off-season, Rowland was granted free agency from the Red Sox and was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays and later the San Francisco Giants— though he never played in the Major Leagues again.^[3]^[4]

Personal life

Rowland's sons, Robbie and Richie, are both professional baseball players.[5]

References

^ ^a ^b Baseball Almanac (2000–2009). "Rich Rowland stats". Retrieved September 30, 2009.
^ ^a ^b The Baseball Cube (2009). "The Baseball Cube: Rich Rowland". Retrieved November 6, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sports Reference LLC (2000–2009). "Rich Rowland at Baseball References". Retrieved September 30, 2009.
^ Fanbase (2009). "Fanbase: Rich Rowland". Retrieved September 30, 2009.
^ "Osprey bolster pitching depth".

External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
Rich Rowland at Baseball Almanac
Rich Rowland at Fanbase

[balm-1] Baseball Almanac (2000–2009). "Rich Rowland stats". Retrieved September 30, 2009.

[cube-2] The Baseball Cube (2009). "The Baseball Cube: Rich Rowland". Retrieved November 6, 2009.

[bref-3] Sports Reference LLC (2000–2009). "Rich Rowland at Baseball References". Retrieved September 30, 2009.

[4] Fanbase (2009). "Fanbase: Rich Rowland". Retrieved September 30, 2009.

[5] "Osprey bolster pitching depth".

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