Ian Lowe was born in Bradwardine, Manitoba. After honing his skills on the local diamonds and playing tournament ball, he joined the Moosomin Badgers in 1938 and won the Saskatchewan intermediate championship. The following season, the third baseman moved to the Saskatoon Lions of the Northern Sask. Senior League and won the provincial title in 1940. Lowe then went to British Columbia and played several seasons with the semi-pro Victoria Machinery Depot team. He won league batting titles in 1944 and in 1945 when he hit .433. In 1946 he turned pro with the Victoria Athletics of the class B Western Professional Baseball League. After playing for a semi-pro team in Edmonton in 1947, his baseball odyssey brought him home to Manitoba.
From 1948 to 1951 Lowe was the playing manager for the Brandon Greys. In his first season, Greys won the Manitoba Senior League title and he was the all-star third baseman. In 1949, he led Greys to what Hal G. Duncan in his book, Baseball in Manitoba, described as “the greatest season a team ever had in the city’s baseball history.” With Lowe hitting .338, Brandon went 87-18-3 and retained the league title. Greys played in the semi-pro ManDak League the next two seasons. Lowe hit .319 and was the all-star third baseman in 1950 when the Greys lost in the final. The team won the crown in his final season as a player, and The Minot News voted Lowe “Mr. ManDak” in 1951. Ian Lowe, who combined strong defensive play with powerful hitting, was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.
b. October 24, 1917
d. July 19, 1977
