Beauty McGowan

Who was Beauty McGowan?

Frank Bernard "Beauty" McGowan was an American professional baseball player, an outfielder who appeared in 375 games over five widely-dispersed seasons in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Browns and Boston Bees. The native of Branford, Connecticut, threw right-handed, batted left-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches and weighed 190 pounds.

McGowan spent the intervening seasons as a stalwart in minor league baseball. He played all or parts of 13 seasons in the top-level International League — largely with the minor league edition of the Baltimore Orioles, but also with the Newark Bears and Buffalo Bisons — and was a member of the inaugural class of the International League Hall of Fame. McGowan was a slugger in the minors, once hitting 37 home runs for the Orioles. In the Majors, his 316 hits included only six homers, although he hit 58 doubles and 16 triples.

After retiring from the field, he became a long-time scout for the Baltimore Orioles of the American League, the former St. Louis Browns franchise. He died in Hamden, Connecticut, at age 80.