He spent the majority of his career as a writer for The New York Times, covering the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team.
During that time he also made contributions to The Chicago Tribune and gained the notice of Joseph M. Patterson, who had founded the New York Daily News in 1919.
[4][5] Because McGowen's primary assignment was the Dodgers, he wrote columns for many of the team's most notable moments, including Mickey Owen's dropped third strike in Game 4 of the 1941 World Series,[6] Jackie Robinson's major league debut,[7] Cookie Lavagetto's hit that broke up Bill Bevens' near no-hitter in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series,[8] no-hitters by Tex Carleton,[9] Carl Erskine,[10] and Sal Maglie,[11] and the team's only World Series championship.
[12] McGowen served as official scorer for several major league All-Star and World Series games.
He was known for his dignified manner, appearance, speech, and basso-profundo singing, and could recite passages of Shakespeare at length.