University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Elmari W. Bowman 1920 - Baseball, Football
Elmer Bowman, who became a UVM Hall of Fame member in 1978, took pride in his undergraduate accomplishments on the UVM football field, but it was baseball that became his No. 1 sport after graduation from the University in 1920.
Beginning his freshman year (1916) as a varsity fullback, Bowman was Vermont's place-kicker, punter, passer and a defensive linebacker. Recognized among the top three punters in college football at the time, Bowman averaged 55 yards per kick.
The Washington Senators signed a member of the UVM baseball team in 1917 and 1919, and inked Bowman immediately after graduation in 1920. Although Bowman appeared in just two major league games, with the Senators in 1920 (0-for-1 with a walk in two trips to the plate), he gained respect across the nation with his explosive bat in ten years of minor league ball. After a season with Minneapolis, a Triple A farm club of the Senators, he then went to Norfolk of the Virginia League, where he led the circuit in extra base hits his first year with nine home runs, 18 triples and 42 doubles, hitting a nifty .356. In 1922 he moved to New Haven of the Eastern League, and led the loop in both extra base hits and batting, hitting at a .365 clip. A consistent .300 and over hitter, he was dubbed the "Sultan of Swat" and "Big Bow" while at New Haven.
An electrical engineering major at UVM, Bowman left baseball in 1930 to take a job as a lighting technician on the cinema scene in Hollywood, a position from which he retired from Warner Brothers Studios in 1960. His name is still found in many movie credits across the silver screen.
