Turk Lown

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Turk Lown

|caption=Lown {{circa}} 1953

|position=Pitcher

|image=TurkLown1953bowman.jpg

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date|1924|5|30}}

|birth_place=Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|2016|7|8|1924|5|30}}

|death_place= Pueblo, Colorado, U.S.

|debutleague= MLB

|debutdate= April 24

|debutyear= 1951

|debutteam= Chicago Cubs

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 22

|finalyear=1962

|finalteam= Chicago White Sox

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=55–61

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=4.12

|stat4label=Saves

|stat4value=73

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=574

|teams=

Chicago Cubs ({{baseball year|1951}}–{{baseball year|1954}}, {{baseball year|1956}}–{{baseball year|1958}})
Cincinnati Redlegs ({{baseball year|1958}})
Chicago White Sox ({{baseball year|1958}}–{{baseball year|1962}})

}}

Omar Joseph "Turk" Lown (May 30, 1924 – July 8, 2016) was an American professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of 11 seasons (1951–54, 1956–62) with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox. The {{convert|6|ft|2|abbr=on}}, {{convert|180|lb|abbr=on}} Lown received his nickname as a child because of his fondness for eating turkey.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Lown was signed as an amateur free agent by the Brooklyn Dodgers and entered their farm system in 1942.{{cite web|title=Turk Lown Statistics and History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lowntu01.shtml#trans|website=baseball-reference.com|publisher=sports-reference.com|accessdate=June 8, 2016}} He attended and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School.{{cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=turk-lown|title=Turk Lown Baseball Statistics [1951-1962]|website=thebaseballcube.com|accessdate=July 24, 2016}} His baseball career was interrupted by World War II, serving in the US Army as an infantryman seeing action in the Battle of the Bulge and receiving the Purple Heart. Following his military service, he returned to minor league baseball with the Dodgers from 1946 to 1950.{{cite web|title=Turk Lown Register Statistics & History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=lown--001oma|website=baseball-reference.com|publisher=sports-reference.com|accessdate=June 8, 2016}} In November 1950, he was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the Rule 5 draft making his major league debut on April 24, 1951.

For his career, Lown compiled a 55–61 record in 504 appearances, mostly as a relief pitcher, with a 4.12 earned run average, 73 saves and 574 strikeouts. In 1959, he led the American League in saves and games finished to help lead the White Sox to the pennant. Lown did not give up a run in three appearances in the 1959 World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also led the National League in successive seasons (1956–57) in games finished, while topping the NL in games pitched (67) in 1957.

Lown celebrated his 90th birthday with Violet, his wife of 65 years, their three sons, four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and many close friends, on Memorial Day 2014, in Pueblo, Colorado, where he played minor league baseball and in 1947 met Violet Krizman, who "became his best friend for life." They returned to Pueblo, where he worked as a mail carrier for 23 years, after he retired from professional baseball.{{cite web|title=Paige: Pueblo's Turk Lown defines honor on and off the baseball field|url=http://www.denverpost.com/2014/05/24/paige-pueblos-turk-lown-defines-honor-on-and-off-the-baseball-field/|first1=Woody|last1=Paige|publisher=The Denver Post|website=denverpost.com|accessdate=June 8, 2016|location=Denver, Colorado|date=May 24, 2014}}

Lown died on July 8, 2016, of leukemia.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160729/news/160728863/|title=Lester: Sox pitcher key to '59 pennant dies as modestly as he lived|first1=Kerry|last1=Lester|date=July 29, 2016|website=dailyherald.com|accessdate=July 29, 2016}}