Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

Former pitcher playing new tune

Ex-Yankees player has turned to music, entertaining many local communities

By Amy Calder acalder@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- Nearly four decades ago, Larry Gowell was pitching for the New York Yankees.

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Former Yankee baseball pitcher Larry Gowell, now a musician, plays a flugelhorn during a luncheon at the Alfond Youth Center in Waterville on Wednesday.

Staff photo by David Leaming

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Hear and see Larry Gowell perform “Ave Maria” and other songs on YouTube.com

On Wednesday, he was singing holiday songs in a powerful operatic voice to older active adults at the Alfond Youth Center.

The 62-year-old Auburn native's life has been marked by a love of music and sports from the time he was a young child.

He is now devoting his time to his new vocation -- singing and playing the piano and flugel horn for shut-ins, older adults in nursing homes, church groups and others.

"I'm just doing the things that I love," Gowell said. "I'll probably never get rich from doing this, but I get feedback from people, which is worth more than all the money in the world."

That feedback has included a recent note from a dying woman who had attended one of his concerts.

"The note said, 'I was mesmerized for 45 minutes, and it took all of the attention from my cancer,'" Gowell recalled before performing Wednesday.

Another older woman whose husband died two years ago approached him at an Oddfellows event in Auburn last week.

"She said, 'I haven't been hugged in two years. Can you hug me?' It blew me away. I gave her a hug and I gave her a kiss."

Gowell is 6-foot-2-inches tall and has thick gray hair and an infectious smile.

He was called up to the Yankees in September 1972. In October against the Milwaukee Brewers, he hit a double on a three-ball, two-strike count, hitting a fastball by pitcher Jim Lonborg for his first and only major league hit.

It was the last time a pitcher had a base hit in a regular season American League game before the designated hitter rule was instituted.

The baseball he hit was placed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N. Y.

What does he remember about that hit?

"I remember I was very psyched up," he said. "I thought in my mind, 'Who knows? This might be the last time I get up in the major league, and I'd better make the best of it.'"

The pitch was a high inside fast ball and he hit a double, right down the line, he said.

"I was as surprised as anybody -- believe me."

He spent the rest of his baseball career in the minor leagues.

Getting prepared to sing before an audience is similar to getting psyched up to play ball, he said.

"You have to get 'up' for what you're doing."

As much as Gowell's childhood revolved around sports -- he started playing at age 5 -- it also was marked by lots of music.

"My whole family are musicians," he said. "They all play piano, organ, violin. My brother (Dick) also played baseball. I started playing trumpet and took lessons for 7 years. I started playing in church at 12-years-old."

At Pine Tree Memorial, a Seventh-day Adventist Church elementary school he attended in Freeport, Gowell played trumpet in the band. Then he started singing in the choir.

"I really enjoyed music. Our family always got together and played piano; I played rock 'n roll with my brother."

Gowell has produced his own CD, "Music for the Soul," which is also the name of his singing ministry. The CD features what he calls "inspirational songs," including "Ave Maria" and "How Great Thou Art."

"I'm just starting," he said of his year-old ministry.

He sings in the choir at the United Methodist Church in Auburn, although he does not consider himself a Methodist; rather, an "independent Christian." He was drawn to sing there because their music is more classical than some, he said.

His life, while full and fascinating, has not been without adversity. He recently was divorced (he has two adopted children and one child with his former wife) and underwent open-heart surgery. He has lost weight and now focuses on healthful eating and exercise, he said.

Gowell came to Waterville Wednesday at the invitation of Ken Walsh, chief executive officer of the Alfond Center, who met Gowell last summer at the first junior Red Sox baseball camp at the mini-Fenway Park at Camp Tracy in Oakland.

Walsh had invited the Major League Baseball Alumni Association to attend and Gowell accepted.

Gowell was a hit with the Alfond Youth Center audience of about 30 Wednesday.

"I thought he had a fantastic voice," said Barbara Chase of Waterville. "It was just beautiful."

Gowell, who said he has had only one singing lesson in his life, sings with a voice that he describes as between bass and baritone.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com