The Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League  
 
Managers of the Three-I League
by Bill Kemp
Bob Coleman (Terre Haute, 1921-1922; Evansville, 1928-1931; Decatur, 1932; Springfield, 1935; and Evansville 1938-1942; 1946-1949; 1951-1957): In 24 season in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, Bob Coleman won 1,701 and lost 1,273. During his many years in the storied Class B circuit, he led two different clubs to a total of nine league championships: Terre Haute (1922) and Evansville (1930, 1938, 1941, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1956, and 1957). A list of big leaguers that developed under Coleman's watchful eye includes Three Eye veterans Elden Auker, Tommy Bridges, Pete Fox, Hank Greenberg, Felix Mantilla, Charlie Root, Warren Spahn, and Jo-Jo White. One could argue that Coleman stands as the most influential figure in Three-I League history. 

His managerial career (see below) also included stops in San Antonio and Beaumont of the Texas League; St. Paul and Milwaukee of the American Association, and the Boston Braves of the National League. When he retired in 1957, his final minor league record stood at 2,496 wins and 2,103 loses. He is one of only two managers with more than 2,000 career minor league wins. 

Born in Huntingburg, Indiana in 1890, Coleman was an excellent defensive backstop, though a lack of speed on the base paths shortened his playing career. For several seasons (1910 and 1912, though possibly more), he was a catcher for the Davenport Prodigals of the Three-I League. In 1912, he led Three Eye catchers in games caught (128), fielding percentage (.984), and assists (221). Like many managers, Coleman's big league playing career was less than stellar. In 1913 and 1914, he appeared in 97 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1916, he returned to the big leagues to play for the Cleveland Indians, appearing in 19 games. All told, he hit .241 in 228 at-bats. In 108 games behind the plate, he committed 10 errors while compiling a .976 fielding percentage. 

Coleman's bench career began in Mobile of the Class A Southern Association. In 1919 and 1920, Mobile won 135 and lost 155. He spent the next two seasons with Terre Haute. As player-manager in 1921, he led Three Eye backstops in games caught (128), fielding percentage (.991), putouts (701), and assists (248). In 1922, Coleman captured his first of nine Three Eye pennants when the Tots finished 85-51. That year, he also led league catchers in several statistical categories. From 1923 to 1925, Coleman managed San Antonio of the competitive Class A Texas League. In 1926, he was member of the Boston Red Sox coaching staff when Lee Fohl's club finished 46-107. The following year, Coleman returned to managing, this time with Knoxville of the South Atlantic (Sally) League. His brief tenure in this Class B loop marked the last time he would don a catcher's mask as player-manager.

From 1928 to 1931, he returned to the Three Eye to pilot Evansville. He also served as the club's owner of the Detroit affiliate. Overall, 20 of his 24 seasons in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League were spent in this small Ohio River city. In 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, Evansville did not field a club. Coleman then shifted to Decatur until the Three Eye folded in mid-July. During that Depression-shortened season, Coleman's pitching staff included Elden Auker, Dutch Leonard, and Claude Passeau. These three righthanders would enjoy long and successful careers, winning a combined 483 big league games. After the Three-I League closed for business, Coleman, not one to stand idle, finished the season as a coach with the Detroit Tigers.

He then spent the next two years in Beaumont of the Texas League and St. Paul of the American Association (The Three Eye did not field teams in 1933 and 1934). In 1935, he returned once more to Illinois to manage his fourth different Three Eye club. That year, Coleman's Springfield Senators met Burleigh Grimes' Bloomington Bloomers in the post-season playoff. Springfield led the series 4-2 when Coleman refused to replay a contested game and the league declared Bloomington the winner. The league then suspended operations for a second time during the Great Depression, and Coleman returned to San Antonio for his fourth and final season in the Texas League. The following year he managed Scranton of the New York-Penn League. In 1938, Evansville was back in the Three-I League and so too was Coleman. The itinerant skipper managed to remain in Evansville for five consecutive seasons, a run that included two first-place finishes (1938 and 1941).

From 1943 to 1945, the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League suspended play due to World War II. Out of work yet again, Coleman accepted a coaching position with Casey Stengel's Boston Braves. On April 20, Stengel was struck by a taxi, fracturing his leg (Given the sorry state of the Braves, a local newspaper nominated the cabdriver for "sportsman of the year"). Stengel missed much of the season, and Coleman acted as interim manager, though there is no acknowledgment in the official records. The 68-85 Braves ended the season in sixth place.

On February 12, 1944, the perennial second-division Braves named Coleman manager for the upcoming season. In 1944, Boston went 65-86 (.422), again finishing sixth in the National League. There was little improvement the following season, and by the end of July, after a nine-game skid, Coleman's short-lived big league career was over. Of course, Major League baseball during the war years was not for the fainthearted. "Wartime manpower shortages, travel restrictions, insubordination, and downright bad playing have produced an epidemic of managerial psychoneurosis," noted Newsweek in August 1945. "The list of jittery pilots grows longer with every bobbled play." When Coleman stepped down, the Braves were 42-51, with 20 defeats by one run or in extra innings. Explained Coleman: "When even the batboy in Brooklyn says: 'That guy is going nuts,' it's time to let somebody else take the rap."

After the disappointment in Boston, Evansville greeted the return of their longtime owner-manager. In 1946, the Braves finished in third with a 68-51 record, though in the playoffs Evansville defeated Davenport and then Terre Haute to capture the post-season crown. With the exception of one year with Milwaukee of the American Association, Coleman spent the remainder of his career in Evansville. In his final two seasons (1956 and 1957) the Braves enjoyed consecutive first-place finishes.

At some point in his career, he picked up the nickname "Carpet Slippers" after wearing slippers on field due to foot trouble. 

Coleman's longtime relationship with Evansville and the parent club in Detroit proved advantageous for all involved. In addition to those listed above, notable big leaguers that played for Coleman in Evansville include Luke Hamlin, Elon "Chief" Hogsett, John Stone, Jake Wade, brothers Gee and Hub Walker, and Whitlow Wyatt.

No other Three Eye skipper can match Coleman's achievements. Ollie Marquardt led Cedar Rapids to three championships (1939, 1940, 1942), though that falls far short of Coleman's nine pennants. Coleman died July 16, 1959, two years after bidding farewell to the Three-I League. A plaque at Evansville's Bosse Field hails Coleman as the "finest teacher in all organized ball."

 
Bob Coleman's Career Managerial Record
Year Club League Position W. L. Pct.
1919 Mobile Southern Association 4 67 69 .493
1920 Mobile Southern Association 6 68 86 .442
1921 Terre Haute Three-I League 3 70 65 .519
1922 Terre Haute Three-I League 1 85 51 .625
1923 San Antonio Texas League 2 81 68 .544
1924 (split season) San Antonio Texas League 5 38 36 .514
1924 (split season) San Antonio Texas 3 37 39 .487
1925 ((split season) San Antonio Texas League 3 42 33 .560
1925 ((split season) San Antonio Texas 4 39 31 .557
1927 Knoxville South Atlantic League 3 79 68 .537
1928 (split season) Evansville Three-I League 6 30 31 .492
1928 (split season) Evansville Three-I 4 (tied) 32 37 .464
1929 Evansville Three-I League 3 79 57 .581
1930 (split season) Evansville Three-I League 4 (tied) 33 33 .500
1930 (split season) Evansville Three-I 1 46 22 .676
1931 (split season) Evansville Three-I League 6 25 30 .455
1931 (split season) Evansville Three-I 2 42 28 .600
1932 (split season) Decatur Three-I League 6 20 37 .351
932 Decatur Three-I 4 4 6 .400
1933 Beaumont Texas League 5 73 79 .480
1934 St. Paul American Association 7 67 84 .444
1935 (split season) Springfield Three-I League 1 36 17 .679
1935 (split season) Springfield Three-I 2 38 28 .576
1936 San Antonio Texas League 6 73 77 .487
1937 Scranton New York-Penn League 6 63 75 .457
1938 Evansville Three-I League 1 77 47 .621
1939 Evansville Three-I League 2 73 48 .603
1940 Evansville Three-I League 4 68 55 .553
1941 Evansville Three-I League 1 80 45 .640
1942 Evansville Three-I League 3 65 54 .546
1944 Boston National League 6 65 89 .422
1945 (out July 30) Boston National league 7 42 49 .462
1946 Evansville Three-I League 3 68 51 .571
1947 Evansville Three-I League 5 70 55 .560
1948 Evansville Three-I League 3 67 54 .554
1949 Evansville Three-I League 1 74 51 .592
1950 Milwaukee American Association 6 68 85 .444
1951 Evansville Three-I League 2 69 60 .535
1952 Evansville Three-I League 1 74 57 .612
1953 Evansville Three-I League 3 70 59 .543
1954 Evansville Three-I League 1 81 54 .600
1955 Evansville Three-I League 5 60 66 .476
1956 (split season) Evansville Three-I League 1 47 19 .712
1956 (split season) Evansville Three-I 1 37 17 .685
1957 Evansville Three-I League 1 81 49 .623
Career Win-Loss Record
  Majors
107
138  
  Minors
2,496
2,103  
  Three-I League
1,701
1,273  
Source: The Society for American Baseball Research publication Minor League Baseball Stars, Volume II (1985).
 
Walter Holke (Quincy, 1929 and 1931; Terre Haute, 1932 and 1937; and Springfield, 1938-1939): After a workmanlike eleven seasons as a big league first baseman, Walter Henry Holke enjoyed a longer and more productive career as a minor league player-manager. He spent six years as a skipper in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, dividing his time equally between three clubs. Holke played 11 seasons in the Majors without being thrown out of a game. He carried that streak into the minors for another 9 seasons. This record of uncommon gentility ended with a confrontation during a 1935 Texas League game. 

Born Christmas Day 1892 in St. Louis, Holke played his first season of professional ball with Peoria of the Three-I League. In 1912, the 19-year-old Holke led all Three Eye first baseman with 1,383 putouts. He made his big league debut two years later, appearing in 2 games with the New York Giants. He returned to the Giants in 1916. In 24 games at first base, he batted .351 with 39 hits, 13 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. The following season Holke became John McGraw's everyday first baseman. That year, he appeared in 153 games for the pennant-winning Giants, finishing with 55 runs, 146 hits, 12 doubles, 55 RBI, 13 stolen bases, and a .277 batting average. During the World Series, he tallied 6 hits (2 doubles) in 21 at-bats as New York fell to the White Sox in 6 games.

Holke appeared in 88 games for the 1918 Giants, and then enjoyed four solid seasons with the Braves. In Boston, he batted .283 and averaged 134 games, 145 hits, and 55 RBI a season. On May 1, 1920, Boston and Brooklyn played the longest game in Major League history, a 26-inning marathon ending in a 1-1 tie. Holke tallied 42 putouts during the 3-hour, 50-minute contest. In 1923 and 1924, he played his best baseball for the woeful Phillies. In two full seasons in Philadelphia, he batted .306 with 344 hits, 54 doubles, and 134 RBI. Holke then split the 1925 season--his last in the Majors--between the Phillies and the Reds, appearing in a combined 104 games. He left big league ball with 464 runs, 1,278 hits, 153 doubles, 487 RBI, 81 stolen bases, and a .287 batting average. A solid fielder as well, he finished with a lifetime .993 fielding percentage. The first baseman was not ready to hand up the glove, though, and he played three seasons (1926-1928) with the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association.

In 1929, he started his itinerant minor league managerial career with Quincy of the Three-I League. The Quincy Indians, then an affiliate of Class AA Indianapolis, finished the season with 82 wins and 56 losses, 1 game ahead of Frank Desseau's Decatur Commodores. The next year Holke managed the Hazelton Mountaineers of the Class B New York-Pennsylvania League. In 1931, he was back in Quincy, piloting the Indians to a 67-49 record. Quincy finished the second half of the split season atop the standings, so they faced Springfield in the playoff. The Indians defeated the Senators 4 games to 2 to capture the post-season crown. 

Holke was in Terre Haute for the 1932 season when the league suspended play in mid-July due to the Great Depression. The Tots finished the first half of the season atop the standings with 34 wins and 24 losses. In the second half, Holke's club stood at 8-3 when the league cut short the season. Thus Terre Haute captured the pennant by virtue of its league-best record (a combined 42-27). The Three-I League suspended play for the 1933 and 1934 seasons, and Holke shifted to Fort Worth of the Class A Texas League, where the Cats went 63-88.

Perhaps Depression-era ball proved too oppressive, for Holke retired to his DeSoto, Missouri farm after one season in the Texas League. There he remained until 1937, when he returned to the Terre Haute, now affiliated with the St. Louis Browns. The Tots struggled, finishing the first half of the split season 15-38. Terre Haute and Bloomington folded in early July, and Holke spent the remainder of the season with the Mayfield Clothiers (another Brownies affiliate) of the Class D Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee (Kitty) League. In 1938, he was back in the Three Eye, this time with the Springfield, the Browns new representative in the storied Class B loop. The renamed Springfield Browns finished fourth with 63 wins and 60 losses. The following year, Holke's club again finished fourth (65-55), but in the playoffs the Browns first defeated Evansville 3 games to 1 and then bested Decatur 3 games to 2 to capture the post-season crown. 

After two seasons in Springfield, Holke became a coach with the big league Browns. "Holke won the assignment as aid to Manager Fred Haney through his ability to handle young players," noted a Springfield newspaper on February 18, 1940. In 1941, he left St. Louis to manage St. Joseph, a Browns affiliate in the Class C Western Association. Yet Holke was gone by the time the club moved mid-season to Carthage.

After leaving the Western Association, his professional career becomes sketchy. Readers are encouraged to contact this site's author with additional information on Holke's life and career. He died in St. Louis on October 12, 1954.

 
Earle Mack (Moline, 1920-1922): Son of the legendary Philadelphia Athletics magnate Connie Mack, Earle spent three seasons as player-manager for the Moline Plowboys. He then spent the greater part three decades acting as assistant manager during his father's 50-year run as the A's skipper. With Connie Mack's senility evident by the late 1940s, Earle and brothers Roy and Connie, Jr. proved inadequate to the enormous task of restoring financial health to the once-fabled organization. Poor decision by all three "Mack Men," as well as family squabbling, hastened the club's demise and eventual move to Kansas City. 

Of the three sons, Earle was the only one to play in the big leagues, although his baseball career was less-than-stellar. On October 5, 1910, Earle made his Major League debut when his father inserted him into the lineup as catcher. The younger Mack smacked a single and a triple (the only two hits of his Major League career) in a 7-4 loss to the New York Highlanders. The following year he appeared in two late season games, and his big league career ended with two similar appearances in 1914. Still, his playing days were far from over, and Mack returned to the minor leagues to act as a player-manager.

From 1913 through 1915, Mack managed Raleigh of the Class D North Carolina State League. During Mack's three seasons at the helm, the Capitals won 175 and lost 178, finishing no better than third in the six-team circuit. In 1917, he returned to the N.C.S.L., managing Charlotte until the league folded May 30. He finished the year leading the Hanover Raiders of the Blue Ridge League, another Class D circuit.

In 1920, Earle Mack joined Moline of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. During his first season as player-manager, the Plowboys and the Cedar Rapids Rabbits tied for fourth place in the eight-team loop. The following year Moline captured the pennant with a 78-55 record. As a team, the Plowboys led the league in most offensive categories, including batting average (.285), runs scored (760), total bases (1,862), doubles (239), and home runs (70).

Although Moline finished the 1921 season 23 games above .500, there were few legitimate big league prospects on the pennant-winning roster. The exception was pitcher Fred "Lefty" Heimach, who led the Class B loop in wins (24) and ERA (2.38). Heimach would enjoy a decent Major League career, winning 62 games, mostly with the Athletics and Dodgers. Another righthander, Jim Sullivan, recorded a league-leading 185 strikeouts. Like his teammate Heimach, Sullivan finished the year in Philadelphia, but his short-lived career consisted of 73-plus innings of work over three seasons for the A's and Indians. Outfielder Lee Gooch led the league with 36 doubles, and he too spent the end of the year with the A's, but he never again returned to the Majors.

Earle Mack was a competent fielder, and in 1920 and 1921 he led Three Eye first baseman in assists (87 and 105 respectively). He also demonstrated a knack for manufacturing runs. In 1921, he led the league with 47 sacrifice hits. The Plowboys followed up the championship season with a last-place performance, ending the season 40 games below .500. Mack finished his three-year tenure in Moline with 196 wins and 214 losses. 

After three seasons in the Three Eye, Mack returned to the Blue Ridge League. In 1923, his Martinsburg Blue Sox won the pennant with 67 wins and 30 loses. The following year he was back in Philadelphia, sitting next to his father as assistant manager.

The senior Mack expected Earle to succeed him as manager and Roy and Connie, Jr. to run the front office. Unfortunately, the senior Mack's deteriorating mental health and the organization's increasingly precarious financial condition cut short dreams of an enduring Mack dynasty. The 1950 season represented the 87-year-old Mack's fiftieth season as manager. Although Philadelphia celebrated the jubilee anniversary, there was little to cheer about. In the 19 years since the A's last pennant (1931), Philadelphia had lost 90 or more games 12 times.

In August of that year, Earle and Roy gained controlling interest of the A's, though at the expense of mortgaging much of the club to the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. In 1951, Connie Mack stepped down to make way for Jimmy Dykes, and the A's, saddled with an unsustainable debt load, limped along for several seasons. In 1954, Philadelphia finished last in the A.L. with 51 wins and 103 losses, 60 games behind the pennant-winning Indians. The following season the storied franchise relocated to Kansas City. 

 
Jack Onslow (Waterloo, 1947): "Happy Jack" was born in 1888 in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. Like many baseball managers, his big league career was short-lived. In 1912, the 24-year old catcher appeared in 36 games for the Ty Cobb-led Detroit Tigers. Five years later, he returned to the majors to play 9 games for John McGraw's New York Giants. In 277 career plate appearances, he batted a meager .169. His younger brother Eddie played sporadically for Detroit, Cleveland, and Washington during the 1912-1913, 1918, and 1927 seasons.

During the 1920s, Onslow coached for the Senators and Pirates. In 1946, he accepted a scouting position for the perennial second-division White Sox. In the middle of the next season, he replaced Johnny Mostil as skipper of the Waterloo White Hawks, Chicago's affiliate in the Three-I League. If anything, Mostil's career was stranger than Happy Jack's. After hitting a career high .328 for the 1926 White Sox, he attempted suicide at a Shreveport, Louisiana hotel. The Chicago press reported that the speedy outfielder (he led the league in stolen bases in 1925 and 1926) suffered from a severe nervous disorder, though those close to the organization whispered of an affair between Mostil and Red Faber's wife. Though Mostil recovered, appearing in 13 games at the end of the 1927 season, he was never the same, and his once-promising career was cut short two years later. 

At the time of Mostil's departure, Waterloo was struggling in sixth place. With Onslow at the helm, the White Hawks played only marginally better, and by the final day of the season they had scratched their way to fifth. Fortunately for Onslow, second-place Terre Haute defeated fourth-place Evansville twice in a season-ending double header, dropping them to fifth. Waterloo vaulted to fourth place, earned the last playoff spot, and went on to win the league's postseason crown. Onslow's White Hawks defeated the Danville Dodgers 4 games to 1. During the series, the Dodgers pitching staff included Carl Erskine, a righthander who would win 122 Major League games for Brooklyn-Los Angeles.

After his success in the Three-I, White Sox management promoted Onslow to Memphis, and in 1948 he led the club to a second place finish in the Southern Association. Onslow had friends in high places, namely Charles A. Comiskey II, the 22-year-old grandson of the club's founder. The Old Roman's widow, Grace Comiskey, had named her grandson successor to the throne. The season after Onslow's triumph in Waterloo, Comiskey became the White Hawks general manager. His schooling in the Byzantine world of baseball management included brief stays at other minor league affiliates. During his stops in Waterloo and Memphis, it is likely the young Comiskey learned to appreciate the no-nonsense Onslow. Despite the protestations from general manager Frank Lane, the Comiskeys (Chuck and family matriarch Grace) brought Onslow to the Major Leagues, signing the old hand to a two-year contract at $20,000 a season. 

The cantankerous Onslow made few friends during his brief tenure in Chicago. Most famously, he banned wives and girlfriends from the ChiSox spring training camp (then in Pasadena), and they retaliated by forming the Down-With-Onslow-Club (DWOC). "No one who makes it to the big leagues and is under 30 should be saddled with a woman," Onslow observed in a May 1959 feature in True magazine. In the article ("Baseball's Biggest Headache--Dames!" by Al Stump) Onslow's rant against the opposite sex included this decidedly politically incorrect observation: "Women are born frightened. They run scared in a game that's insecure enough for the guy in it. They're jealous of baseball, too, because their old man often loves it above all else. Inside, they hate his profession. But they're perverse about it. They think it's a dumb game for kids, but they still insist on showing up at the park. Does a doctor's wife stand behind him, telling him which knife to use?" (As an aside, Stump's article opened with this archaic observation: "Ever since a woman invented Ladies Day, females have been raising hell with the National Pastime. Armed with everything from wedding rings to shotguns, they've wrecked more ball clubs than bad liquor, night baseball and slow horses put together.")

Onslow lasted less than two seasons on Chicago's south side (1949 and a mere 30 games in 1950). During his combative tenure, the White Sox won 71 and lost 113 (.386 winning percentage). The relationship between Lane and Onslow was one of disdain and distrust, and the press corps relished post-game shouting matches between the two. The Comiskeys finally fired Happy Jack on May 26, 1950 after the Sox had lost 22 of their first 30 games. "They won't second guess me anymore," a surly Onslow remarked upon his departure. "As far as I'm concerned Lane can manage the Sox and Comiskey can coach at third base or any place he likes!" 

Onslow's stormy tenure included one trade that played a principal role in the franchise's resurgence of the mid- and late-1950s. Onslow and Joe Tipton, a player acquired from Cleveland, had nothing in common save an immediate and intense hatred of each other. To the surprise of no one, the two came to blows after Happy Jack accused his disgruntled catcher of inadequately covering his signals. Shortly thereafter (October 19, 1949), Tipton was dealt to the Philadelphia Athletics for unheralded second baseman Nellie Fox. Onslow died on December 22, 1960, in Concord, Massachusetts, a little more than a year after Fox led the "Go-Go Sox" to their first pennant in forty long years. 

 
Clarence Rowland (Dubuque, 1903, 1908, 1911-1913; and Peoria, 1914): Referred to as "The Busher" by hard-bitten newsmen, this Three-I League skipper vaulted straight from the minors to the big leagues. Brought to Chicago by magnate Charles Comiskey, Rowland led the 1917 White Sox to the World Championship, becoming the first manager to win a pennant and World Series without previous big league playing experience. During his lifelong association baseball, he also served as Major League umpire, Pacific Coast League president, and Chicago Cubs executive. 

Born February 12, 1879, Rowland grew up in Dubuque, Iowa. For much of his life, he was known as "Pants." The nickname stems from an incident during a Dubuque sandlot game. "I took a pair of my dad's pants, tucked them under the knees and held them in place with a piece of twine," Rowland recalled. "In the third inning of a game I walked. Johnny Kleis, our best player, got a hit. I skidded against the rock--which was second base--and the twine snapped. Once of the pants legs came down. I turned third base and tripped three times, but finally made it to home plate. Billy Baumann, who was the umpire, said: 'Pants, I didn't think you were going to make it.' " 

During his association with the Three-I League, Rowland served--at one time or another--as player, manager, and owner. In 1903, he split managerial duties with longtime Dubuque skipper Charles Buelow. The club finished league play in seventh place, 20 games below .500. In 1908, Rowland returned to Dubuque to manage a full season. The Dubs won 67 and lost 69 to end the campaign in fifth place. During his years in the Three-I League, Rowland earned a reputation as a solid judge of talent. Most famously, he convinced the Dubuque Dubs to sign Red Faber, a righthander who would win 254 big league games (61 under Rowland), all with the White Sox. Rowland became interested in Faber when the future hall of famer was studying bookkeeping and playing ball at St. Joseph's College in Dubuque. Faber pitched for the Dubs in 1909 and 1910 (throwing a perfect game in his second year), though his managers were Forrest Plass and Buelow. 

From 1911 through the 1913, Rowland led the Dubs to a combined 206-206 record, finishing sixth, fifth, and second in the eight-team circuit. In 1914, his last year in the Class B loop, Rowland shifted to Peoria, leading the Distillers to a second-place record of 81-56. In his five complete seasons as manager, he finished with 354 wins and 331 losses. 

On December 17, 1914, Charles Comiskey shocked the baseball world by naming the then-unknown Rowland manager. The Old Roman had called the Three Eye skipper to Chicago and said, "You're not afraid to take my club, are you?" Rowland accepted without hesitation. Unfortunately, "The Busher" never received credit for guiding the Pale Hose to the World Series. After the 1914 season, Comiskey purchased second baseman Eddie Collins from Connie Mack's Athletics for a then-unheard of $65,000. And from Milwaukee of the American Association, he picked up centerfielder Happy Felsch for $12,000. With these and other pricey acquisitions, many observers maintained that Rowland's subsequent success was based less on his abilities and more on The Old Roman's deep pockets. In Rowland's first two seasons on the South Side, the White Sox finished third (93-61) and second (89-65) respectively. 

Both Comiskey and coach Kid Gleason directed the club behind the scenes, undermining Rowland's effectiveness. In addition, many of the veteran players were apathetic to his instructions. Managing from the third base coaching box, the easygoing Rowland stood in stark contrast to the many short-fused managers of the day. "Directives often took the form of fatherly advice and well-meaning suggestions," noted Richard C. Lindberg in The White Sox Encyclopedia (Temple University Press, 1997). "Seldom would he compromise his calm judgments with angry histrionics." 

In 1917, the White Sox finished the regular season 100-54 (.649), a record that remains tops in franchise history. With a powerhouse roster that also included Eddie Cicotte, Chick Gandil, Joe Jackson, and Ray Schalk, Chicago finished 9 games ahead of second-place Boston. In the World Series, the White Sox defeated John McGraw's New York Giants in six games. Fellow Three Eye veteran Red Faber led the way, winning the second, fifth, and sixth games. Following the last out of the Series, Rowland went to shake the hand of his legendary counterpart. "Mr. McGraw, I'm glad we won, but I'm sorry you had to be the one to lose," he said. McGraw's response? "Get away from me you damned busher!"

In 1918, the White Sox, with a roster decimated by injuries and World War I, limped to a sixth-place finish (57-67). On New Year's Eve, Comiskey dismissed Rowland and installed Kid Gleason. In four seasons on the Southside, Rowland finished with a 339-247 record (.578). 

Rowland's baseball career, though, was far from over. He spent 1919 as part-owner of the American Association club in Milwaukee. The next year, recruited by American League president Ban Johnson, he acted as a big league scout. In 1921, he returned to the minors as skipper of the Columbus Senators. He then served as an American League umpire from 1923 through 1927. After five seasons as a big league umpire, he managed the Nashville Volunteers of the Class A Southern Association and acted as a scout for P.K. Wrigley's Cubs. In 1942, he became president of Wrigley's Los Angeles club in the Pacific Coast League, and two years later he was the circuit's president.

In 1951, Minor League Baseball named Rowland the first recipient of its "King of Baseball" award. Other honorees include Frank Shaughnessy (1953) and Three-I League veteran Donnie Bush (1963). In the mid-1950s, he returned to Chicago to serve as a Cubs executive. Rowland died on May 17, 1969 in Chicago. At the time of his death, he was vice-president emeritus for the Cubs. 

 
Ben Tincup (Peoria, 1937): Austin Ben Tincup, a full-blooded Cherokee from Oklahoma, won 8 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in his rookie season of 1914. Although he never won another Major League game again, he remained active in baseball for several decades. He was a minor league player and manager, as well as a big league pitching coach and scout. 

There are few details to fully delineate Tincup's life and career. Furthermore, many accounts are contradictory. For instance, depending on the source one employs, his year of birth is 1890 or 1892 or 1894. 

The particulars of Tincup's minor league career are also unknown to this author. According to a July 8, 1980 obituary in the Claremore (Oklahoma) Progress newspaper, Tincup first played professional ball in 1913. According to the obituary, he pitched in a Class B league, ending the season with 14 consecutive wins. Yet this account does not mention the team or league, let alone offer additional minor league statistics or anecdotes. 

In 1914, Tincup appeared in 28 games (17 as starter) for the sixth-place Philadelphia Phillies. He recorded 8 wins, 10 losses, and 2 saves in 155 innings of work. He finished with 9 complete games and 3 shutouts while surrendering 165 hits and 45 earned runs (for a 2.61 ERA). He also walked 62 and struck out 108. Unfortunately, his career failed to meet the high expectations of his rookie season. The next year he earned no decisions in 10 games (all in relief). He returned to the Phillies in 1918, appearing in 8 games, recording 1 loss in 16-plus innings. Ten years later, he worked 2 games in relief for the Chicago Cubs. In 211-plus career innings, he won 8 and lost 11 with a 3.10 ERA. 

In all likelihood, Tincup played minor league ball all or part of the decade between his brief appearances in the Majors. Yet pending availability of such records, these years, like much of his life and career, remain a blank. 

Thankfully, there are glimpses of his still-active career in the early 1930s. For example, in 1931, he played for Louisville and Minneapolis of the American Association, appearing in a combined 14 games, winning 1 and losing 4 in 28 innings of work. The next year he pitched for the Sacramento Salons of the Pacific Coast League. In 198 innings of work, he won 9 and lost 12 with a 4.32 ERA. 

In 1936, Tincup managed the Paducah Indians of the Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee (Kitty) League. His next managerial assignment was Peoria of the Three Eye. In the 1937 split season, the Peoria Reds won 46 and lost 65 (.414), far behind the champion Moline Plowboys (74-51, .643). The Three Eye struggled to remain in operation during the darkest years of the Great Depression. The Class B circuit suspended operations in the middle of 1932, and the next two seasons were cancelled. After a six-team league completed a full schedule in 1935, the Class B loop remained dormant in 1936. The league continued to struggle the year Tincup managed in Peoria. Although six clubs began the 1937 season, Terre Haute and Bloomington disbanded in July.

According to Tincup's biographical entry in the reference work American Indian Sports Heritage, he also acted as a Major League pitching coach and scout for the Yankees, Pirates, Browns, and Phillies, though no dates are given. 

On July 5, 1980, Tincup was found dead in his room at the Will Rogers Hotel in Claremore, Oklahoma. He had boarded at the hotel for eight years. After his death, he was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, located on the campus of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. 

 

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Last revised: 08/20/08