Science Hill High School

Billy Joe Bowman

Billy Joe Bowman 1948

Billy Joe Bowman's younger brother Ferrell got the Major League career, but Billy Joe got the state championship at Science Hill.

He also had a long minor league career, interrupted two years by the Korean War, and ended up pitching batting practice and working with the Houston Colt 45s and Astros for more than three decades.

Bowman, who also ran track and was captain of the basketball team, combined with Ralph Carrier for a shutout in the '47 state championship game. The Hilltoppers won 3-0 against Memphis Christian Brothers at Sulpher Dell ballpark, home of the Southern League’s Nashville Volunteers.

Bowman scored one of the runs too.

Carrier and Bowman also combined on a shutout against Franklin while winning the semifinal 1-0.

"Bobby Rowe was our shortstop and John Mackley was the catcher," Bowman said. "They were our catalysts. Bobby just had that sixth sense, always on top of things. John was the quiet leader.

Bowman had similar success at Tennessee, where he pitched a six-hitter as the Vols beat Princeton 3-2 in the 1951 College World Series in Omaha. The Vols finished runner-up after a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma. Bowman got the victory in the Vols’ 9-8 win against Southern Cal, which put them in the championship. He pitched 7 2/3 innings of relief and drove in two runs.

Bowman won 56 games in the minors, which began in Johnson City with the St. Louis Cardinals. He went 12-3 for Carl Jones' club.

When he returned from Korea, Bowman was 3-1 with Columbus, Ga., and 16-5 for Peoria (Ill.) in 1955. He was with the Triple-A Rochester Wings in '57 and in Houston in '58. He met up with pitching coach Cot Deal there, forming a bond that led to lengthy stay with the organization.

Bowman, who works at a golf course in Lenoir City, pitched batting practice for years while getting close enough to guys like Nolan Ryan and 6-foot-8 J.R. Richard to feel the heat.

Bowman's baseball life stretched from Stratton school -- Howard McCorkle's 1930-something Ford pulled players their on a trailer for pickup games -- to the wee hours with Yogi Berra.

"Other than my dad (John Frank Bowman), who played with Pappy Crowe's father (Manuel) for the Johnson City Soldiers," Bowman said, "McCorkle had more to do with me getting into baseball than anybody."

Billy Joe influenced Ferrell while casting a long shadow.

"When I got to play as a freshman, some of the guys were saying, 'The only reason you're getting to play is because of your brother,'" said Ferrell, who played in the '62 World Series with San Francisco. "I grew up hearing and seeing what a great player he was. I got a baseball scholarship to Tennessee because of Billy Joe. It made you proud to be his brother, and I always will be."