For those who witnessed 1992 Branford Sports Hall of Fame inductee John H. McGowan excel in baseball and basketball both in high school and college, the question most frequently asked by many revolved around which sport was he most successful playing.\u00a0 By looking at the achievements bestowed upon him, one could assume that John H. McGowan was truly a great two sport athlete.<\/p>\n
While attending Branford High School, John was a pivotal part of the basketball and baseball programs.\u00a0 In his sophomore and junior year, the basketball team reached the semi finals of the C.I.A.C. tournament in both cases losing to other Housatonic League teams, Shelton and East Haven respectively.\u00a0 In his senior season, McGowan had several big games for the Hornets Basketball team.\u00a0 One such game included a 58-47 upset win against a tough Shelton Gaels team.\u00a0 At that time, home games were played at the Branford Armory and it was there that a crowd of 500 fans saw the Hornets break a 22-22 tie at the end of the third quarter and rally behind McGowan\u2019s 20 points to clinch the victory.\u00a0 In previous a Branford win, a 56-44 decision over Staples, McGowan broke the school scoring record of 34 points by netting 35 points.\u00a0 During the baseball season, McGowan batted over .600 and did not strike out once all season \u2013 a remarkable feat achieved by few.<\/p>\n
After graduating as one of Branford\u2019s top three students academically, in 1954, McGowan played for the Branford Townies baseball team which won the Shoreline League as John won the league\u2019s batting title with a .476 average.\u00a0 In the fall of 1954, McGowan entered Trinity College where he continued to play basketball and baseball while being tabbed captain of both sports.\u00a0 While playing varsity basketball, McGowan averaged 20 points per game, including a 29 point effort against M.I.T.\u00a0 As a member of the varsity baseball team, John played centerfield and batted over .300.\u00a0 In his sophomore year with the team, McGowan led Trinity to a 20-0 record and received an invitation to the NCAA Tournament but due to college finals, the school has to decline the opportunity.<\/p>\n
Upon graduation from Trinity, McGowan signed a baseball contract with the Baltimore Orioles organization and played in their minor league system from 1959 through 1962, advancing to the club\u2019s second highest level.\u00a0 In 1960, the Orioles minor league team won the Three-I league by a record margin of 15 games.\u00a0 McGowan played in every inning of every game on a team which was managed by legendary Earl Weaver and had such future major league stars as Boog Powell, Dean Chance and Steve Barber.\u00a0 In 1962, McGowan led the Orioles minor league affiliates in the Florida State League in home runs and rbi\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Married to the former Susan Heck of East Haven, John is the father of five children Kay, John, Kerry, Liam, and Daniel.\u00a0 John is the son of the late John A. McGowan and Margaret Purcell and nephew of two Branford Sports Hall of Famer\u2019s, 1989 inductee Frank B. McGowan and 1991 inductee Joe Purcell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is one of the most important things to me because I have always lived in Branford.\u00a0 Because I\u2019m in with people who I have watched and played, people who I\u2019ve admired, people who my father always praised, people who have coached me, it\u2019s just a big thrill to be part of the group,\u201d said McGowan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":501,"template":"","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductee\/500"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductee"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/inductee"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/branfordsportshalloffame.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}