Peanuts Lowrey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Peanuts Lowrey |
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| Outfielder | |||
| Born: August 27, 1917 Culver City, California, U.S. |
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| Died: July 2, 1986 (aged 68) Inglewood, California, U.S. |
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| debut | |||
| April 14, 1942, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| August 30, 1955, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .273 | ||
| Home runs | 37 | ||
| Runs batted in | 479 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Harry Lee "Peanuts" Lowrey was a famous American baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1942 to 1955. He played for teams like the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies.
Peanuts was born in Culver City, California, on August 27, 1917. He went to Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. His uncle gave him the nickname "Peanuts" because he was very small as a child. His uncle said he was "no bigger than a peanut!"
When he was young, Peanuts Lowrey was also a child actor. He appeared in the famous "Our Gang" comedies. Later, when he was 35, he played a baseball player named "Peanuts" in a movie. The movie was called The Winning Team (1952). It was about a baseball player named Grover Cleveland Alexander. Ronald Reagan played the main role in the movie.
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Peanuts Lowrey's Baseball Career
Peanuts Lowrey was 5 feet, 8.5 inches tall and weighed about 170 pounds. He threw and batted with his right hand. He played baseball for 13 seasons in the Major Leagues.
Playing Statistics
During his career, Peanuts Lowrey had a .273 batting average. This means he got a hit almost 27.3% of the times he tried to hit the ball. He made 1,177 hits in total. He also hit 37 home runs and helped his team score 479 runs. He played in 1,401 games during his career.
Pinch Hitting Skills
Later in his career, Peanuts Lowrey became known as one of the best pinch hitters in baseball. A pinch hitter is a player who bats in place of another player. In 1952, he set an MLB record by getting seven pinch hits in a row. The next year, in 1953, he got 21 pinch hits. This was almost the all-time record at that time.
Serving His Country
Peanuts Lowrey missed the 1944 baseball season. He was serving in the United States Army during World War II. He was part of a military police unit. After six months, he was discharged and rejoined the Chicago Cubs in 1945.
World Series Appearance
In 1945, Peanuts Lowrey was the starting left fielder for the Chicago Cubs. He played in all seven games of the 1945 World Series. He batted very well, getting 9 hits in 29 tries, which is a .310 batting average. He also hit one double and scored four runs. In the final game, Game 7, he was the last Cubs player to score a run in a World Series for a long time. No other Cub scored a run in a World Series until Kris Bryant did so in Game 2 of the 2016 World Series.
After Playing Baseball
After his playing career, Peanuts Lowrey briefly managed teams in minor league baseball. Then, he became a coach in the Major Leagues. He coached for several teams, including:
- Philadelphia Phillies (1960–1966)
- San Francisco Giants (1967–1968)
- Montreal Expos (1969)
- Chicago Cubs (1970–1971; 1977–1981)
- California Angels (1972)
Peanuts Lowrey passed away in Inglewood, California, on July 2, 1986. He was 68 years old. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
