Bowa was born in Sacramento, California, the son of Paul Bowa, a former minor-league infielder and manager in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. While at C. K. McClatchy High School, Bowa tried out but never made the school\'s baseball team. After graduation, Bowa went to Sacramento City College where he started, and was expected to go in the MLB Draft, but didn\'t. The Philadelphia Phillies were the only Major League team interested in Bowa. They sent a local scout, Eddie Bockman to watch Bowa play in a doubleheader, only for Bowa to be thrown out of the game for arguing. Bockman had a winter league team in the area and offered Bowa a chance to play. Bowa played well and signed with the Phillies for a $2,000 bonus.\n', '

Characterized by his "soft" hands, strong arm, and fiery personality, he won two Gold Glove Awards and led the National League in fielding percentage six times, then a league record. He retired with the NL record for career games at shortstop (2222) and the Major League records for fielding average in a career (.980) and a single season (.991, in 1979), and was also among the career leaders in assists (sixth, 6857) and double plays (fourth, 1265); his records have since been broken, though he retains the NL mark for career fielding average.\n', '

Apart from his fielding achievements, he was a switch-hitter, batting .280 or better four times (.305 in 1975); he also had nine seasons with 20 or more stolen bases. From his 1970 rookie season through 1981, Bowa provided solid reliability in the Phillies\' infield, along with third baseman Mike Schmidt; from 1976 to 1981, the Phillies reached the postseason five times, ending a drought dating back a quarter of a century. Bowa batted .333 in a losing cause in the 1978 NLCS, but played an even greater role in 1980, hitting .316 in the NLCS and .375 in the World Series as the Phillies captured the first title in franchise history. In 1979, Bowa set a Major League record for shortstops with a .991 fielding average; Tony Fernández broke the record with a .992 mark in 1989, and Rey Ordóñez broke the NL record with a .994 average in 1999. He tied Ozzie Smith for the most post-1930 seasons with at least 400 at-bats and no home runs, with six.\n', '

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