Encyclopedia Dubuque
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ROWLAND, Clarence "Pants"
ROWLAND, Clarence "Pants." (Platteville, WI,Feb. 12,1879--Chicago, IL, 1969). Team owner, manager, scout, umpire, league president, and general manager. The parents of Clarence Rowland brought their son to Dubuque soon after he was born. The future baseball great earned his nickname during a baseball game playing for the Dubuque Ninth Street Blues in Dubuque. Wearing a pair of his father's pants, Rowland hit a long ball and raced around the bases. It is said the string that held of the pants began to loosen as he rounded second. He managed to make it home as he later said "by an eyelash." The incident led to his nickname, "Pants."
Early in the twentieth century, Rowland acquired the ownership of Dubuque's minor-league team. It was perhaps his making the acquaintance of Charles Albert COMISKEY or his work as manager of the Peoria Distillers that led Rowland to become an unofficial scout for Comiskey. In this way, he played a role in the lives of future Hall-of-Fame members Urban "Red" FABER and Ray Schalk. When Comiskey decided to change managers for the 1915 season, he shocked the baseball world by choosing Rowland, a man who had never played professionally and managed the bar at the WALES HOTEL in Dubuque during the off-season. Rowland's critics quickly found a new nickname for Rowland--"The Busher from Dubuque."
Rowland quickly proved his ability. In his first year Rowland's White Sox finished 93-61, third in the American League. They finished second the following year. In 1917 the Whte Sox had a 100-54 record before defeating the New York Giants in the World Series. WORLD WAR I took away a lot of the talent in professional baseball, and the White Sox failed to return to the World Series. Comiskey removed Rowland from his manager's role. The fact that he got away from Chicago prior to the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal probably saved his career. Rowland's record was 339-247.
Rowland umpired for seven years, but returned to the minors as an owner and manager. He also continued to scout.
In 1944 Rowland was the manager of the minor league Los Angeles Angels and received The Sporting News' title of #1 minor-league executive. The same year he was hired by the Pacific Coast League (PCL) to be its league president. Before the American and National leagues had teams west of St. Louis, the PCL worked hard to become a third major league. Although the effort failed, Rowland earned a place in the PCL Hall of Fame in 2005. In the mid-1950s, Rowland briefly held the position of executive vice president (general manager) for the Chicago Cubs.
Information obtained from an article written by Brian Cooper.