| John Bowker | |
|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies – No. 16 | |
| First baseman / Outfielder | |
| Born: July 8, 1983 Sacramento, California |
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| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| MLB debut | |
| April 12, 2008 for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Career statistics (through 2011 season) |
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| Batting average | .232 |
| Home runs | 17 |
| Runs batted in | 73 |
| Teams | |
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John Brite Bowker (born July 8, 1983 in Sacramento, California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. He bats and throws left-handed.
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Prior to playing professional baseball, Bowker played for Arden Little League as a Giant, and was named an All Star in the "Major League" Division in 1994 along with future high school stars Jeff Geremia, Garrick Javidi, and Rafael Bergstrom, who went on to play professional baseball in Europe. Bowker attended Rio Americano High School in Sacramento playing under Coach Martin Whitley, who preached the timeless mantra of "play hard, play smart, play catch." Bowker was named All- League in 3 sports after lettering 3 years in baseball, 2 seasons in football and 1 in basketball. He established school single-season records for batting average (.463) hits (41), Home runs (8) and RBI (41). He spent two years at Long Beach State University, before entering draft following his sophomore campaign. Batting .323 over that time, he was named to the 1st Team All-Big West after leading the LBSU 49ers to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2004.
Originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the third round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, Bowker signed and began his professional career that very same year. Between time spent with the AZL Giants and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, he played in 41 games, collecting 63 hits in 170 at-bats for a .371 batting average. Former Salem-Keizer manager Walt Weiss famously told the Daily Oregonian, "Some players give 110 percent only 50 percent of the time. Bowker gives 110 percent 110 percent of time." With the AZL Giants, he hit .512 in 43 at-bats.
He spent the 2005 season with the High Single-A San Jose Giants. In 121 games, he hit 22 doubles, one triple, and 13 home runs en route to a .267 batting average. In 2006, he split time between San Jose and the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies. Combined, he hit .285 in 114 games.
Bowker spent all of 2007 with the Connecticut Defenders, the Giants' Double-A affiliate. In 139 games, he hit .307 with a career highs in home runs (22), RBI (90), doubles (35), and triples (6). Overall, he has hit .296 with 48 home runs and 250 RBI in 104 minor league games.
On April 12, 2008, Bowker made his Major League debut. He was told late the night before to report to the Giants and left Fresno at 5:30 a.m. the next morning, having slept only 3 hours.[1] Inserted into the starting lineup, he singled and hit a three-run home run, becoming the eighth player in San Francisco Giants history to hit a home run in his first game.[2] The next day, Bowker hit his second home run, off Joel Piñeiro, to become the first player in San Francisco Giants history to hit a home run in each of his first two Major League games.[3] On June 7, he hit the first grand slam of his career, off of Luis Ayala, in a 6-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.[4] On July 2, 2008, Bowker hit a "Splash Hit" home run into McCovey Cove. Nonetheless, on August 13, he was sent back down to Triple-A Fresno due to a lack of offensive production. He was recalled to the Giants after rosters expanded in September.
Bowker was again called up to the Giants on July 9, 2009.[5]
On January 19, 2010, KNBR's Tom Tolbert compared Bowker to Bull Durham character "Crash" Davis, a veteran minor league slugger, after Bowker won the MiLBY award as the top Triple-A hitter in 2009, but hit just .194 in 67 Major League at-bats.
On July 31, 2010, Bowker and Joe Martinez were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Javier Lopez.[6] The Pirates assigned Bowker to their AAA club, the Indianapolis Indians, where he batted .319 in 25 games with four home runs and 10 RBIs.[7] He was called up to the Pittsburgh club on September 1, 2010, and joined the team in Chicago for the afternoon series finale with the Cubs.[8]
He was designated for assignment by the Pirates on April 27, 2011. On May 4, he was assigned to Indianapolis after clearing waivers.[9]
On August 30th, 2011, Bowker was acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies.