John Lowenstein | |||
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Left fielder | |||
Born: Wolf Point, Montana |
January 27, 1947 |||
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MLB debut | |||
September 2, 1970, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
May 4, 1985, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .253 | ||
Home runs | 116 | ||
Runs batted in | 441 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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John Lee Lowenstein (born January 27, 1947) is a former professional baseball player who played Major League Baseball primarily as an outfielder from 1970 to 1985. He attended the University of California, Riverside, where he played college baseball for the Highlanders from 1966–1968.
Lowenstein was born in Wolf Point, Montana. He is known for being part of a platoon with Gary Roenicke for the Baltimore Orioles.
Lowenstein hit an extra inning walk-off home run for the Baltimore Orioles to win Game 1 of the 1979 American League playoffs against the California Angels. He also hit a home run for the Orioles in Game 2 of the 1983 World Series.
Although he never played in a major league game for them, Lowenstein was briefly a member of the expansion Toronto Blue Jays between the 1976 and 1977 seasons. He was traded by the Indians to the Blue Jays for designated hitter Rico Carty, and reacquired in the same off-season for utility infielder Héctor Torres.
As a member of the Indians, he famously proclaimed himself President and General Manager of the John Lowenstein Apathy Club, since no Indians follower had ever started a John Lowenstein Fan Club during his tenure with the team.
In 1980, after being hit in the back of the neck on the basepaths with a thrown ball, Lowenstein was taken off the field on a stretcher. As he reached the dugout, he abruptly sat up, and pumped his fists to the crowd.