Mickey Owen was a very good defensive catcher. In his best season, 1941, he made four errors. Three during the regular season and one in the World Series that labeled him a GOAT for the rest of his days. Mickey Owen was born Arnold Malcolm Owen on April 4, 1916, in Nixa, Missouri. Mickey’s parents divorced when he was seven. Because of that, his mom moved to Southern California. While there, Mickey, as a teenager, played ball with future USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux and future Red Sox great Bobby Doerr.
He returned home briefly to Southwest Missouri after he graduated from high school in 1934. He played 16 games in the Class-D Arkansas State League. The next year he signed as an amateur free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals and entered their fabled but penurious farm system. In his first season, he was at Springfield, about 15 miles from his home. He had a solid season, showing excellent defense, and he hit .310. His skills quickly drew the attention of the parent club, and he was called up to the Cardinals in 1937. The team still featured some members of the 1934 Gas House Gang.
His bat did not play as well in the majors, and he finished his first season with a .231 BA and no homers. He got married in December to his hometown sweetheart, Gloria, age 15. They would remain married until she passed away in 1993. Their son, Charlie, was born in 1941. Owen was never a power hitter, nor did he hit for a high average. His defense was his best asset. Over his four years with the Cardinals, he batted an average of .257. He had seven homers as a Redbird. In Brooklyn for five years, he only hit two long balls and averaged .258. But he was at league average or better in defense.
Owen became expendable in St. Louis with the emergence of Walker Cooper, a catcher with a much better bat. He was traded to Brooklyn for Gus Mancuso, a catcher, a minor leaguer, Johnny Pintar, and $65,000 dollars. Larry McPhail was remaking the team, including bringing in Leo Durocher to manage. Nobody could argue with the result, as the Dodgers beat out the Cardinals for the pennant, the first in 21 years.
Throughout his tenure with St. Louis and Brooklyn, Branch Rickey referred to Owen as Arnold. In the minors, his nickname had been “Preacher,” perhaps a reference to his being from the “Bible Belt.” In Columbus, Burt Shotton took to calling him Mickey as a comparison to Mickey Cochrane. That nickname stuck. Anything to not be called Arnold Malcolm. Owen’s value to a team came from his defense. Bill James ranked him among the top 10 catchers whose value comes from defense.
Owen had one of the worst seasons of his career offensively in 1941. But he did have 15 sacrifice hits. But defensively, his work was stellar. All of that goodwill would go down the drain after the 9th inning of game 4 of the 1941 series. He would thereafter be mentioned in the same breath as Fred Merkel and Fred Snodgrass. The situation was this; The Yanks were leading the series, two games to 1. They had a 3-0 lead, but the Dodgers came back and scored 4 to lead 4-2 going into the 9th.
Dodger reliever, Hugh Casey, induced two groundouts to start the inning and then faced Yankee RF Tommy Henrich. He worked the count to 3-2. Casey’s next pitch broke sharply, and Henrich swung and missed. Umpire Larry Goetz called strike three, but the ball eluded Owen’s glove and rolled away. Henrich made it to first. Then, the obviously rattled Casey allowed the next four hitters to reach base, and the score stood 7-4 before the third out was recorded.
There was debate whether the error was a passed ball by Owen or a wild pitch by Casey. But for maybe the first time in his career, Leo Durocher was speechless. The Yankees won 5-1 the next day, and the series was over. Owen would later say he should have gone out to the mound and calmed Casey down. Durocher said the same.
Owen went into the Navy in the middle of 1945. Rickey said that he might trade him while he was stationed in upstate New York. But in early 1946, Jorge Pasqual announced he had signed Owen to a five-year deal as player-manager for the Vera Cruz Blues. Pasqual and his brothers were using their shipping empire to lure MLB players to the Mexican League. He had already lured some Negro League stars to his team with great results. New York writers estimated that Owen would make $15,000 a year there. That was much more than he would earn in major league baseball. They lured some other MLB players to the league, among them Max Lanier and Sal Maglie. Eventually, though, the homesickness of his wife and son and the fact that he did not feel that Pasqual had been forthcoming. He had signed with Torrens but was sent to Vera Cruz and ordered to play first base. He went home to Nixa and applied for reinstatement in the MLB.
Commissioner, Happy Chandler, wanted a lifetime ban for the 18 who jumped but instead gave them five years. Brooklyn writer, Joe Williams, blamed the whole thing on Branch Rickey, who was known for his frugality. When Owen and Luis Olmo, got tired of being turned down for raises, they went south. In 1949, Danny Gardella, had sued for reinstatement, and when the federal court of appeals ruled that his suit should be heard, Chandler dropped the suspensions, and all the players were reinstated. Days later the Cubs grabbed Owen off of waivers. He would play in the MLB for four more years. 1949-1951 with the Cubs and 1954 with the Red Sox.
Upon his release from the Red Sox, he stayed with them for a couple of years as a coach. He then did some managing in the minors and also scouted some. He had run impromptu clinics for kids in his area for years during his career. In 1959 he purchased 595 acres off of US Route 66 in Lawrence County, Missouri, to open a baseball camp for teenage boys. The Mickey Owens School of Baseball. The camp attracted all the best talent, and they were easily beating most of the local teams they faced. Mickey gave every camper a book, The Boys Book of Baseball. His camp was attended by a few boys who went on to great careers both in and out of baseball, Joe Girardi, Michael Jordan, and yep, actor Charlie Sheen, who obviously used that talent to land the role of Rick Wild Thing Vaughn in the Major League movies. Owen would sell the school in 1964 when he ran for Sheriff of Greene County. He defeated the incumbent, Glenn Hendrix, who was running for his 5th term.
When not farming, the Owen clan worked in law enforcement. Three of his relatives had been Green County Sheriffs. Mickey’s four terms as Sheriff could be viewed as another addition to the Midwest family dynasty, not merely a former MLB player cashing in on his notoriety. He also knew when parents asked him to speak, it would be 5 minutes on juvenile delinquency and 55 minutes on how to hit a curveball.
He was sued by inmates in 1971 for inhumane treatment. He sold much of his memorabilia to pay for his legal fees. The buyers would then return those items to him. Eventually, the suit was thrown out. His success gave him the confidence to run for Lieutenant Governor in 1980. To bolster his image, he took to running across the state in the summer heat. He finished third in the primary.
After his defeat, he retired to Springfield, where he and his wife enjoyed their three grandchildren and one great-grandson. A few years after Gloria died in 1993, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. For better health, he moved to the Veterans home in Mt. Vernon, Missouri. Mickey passed away on July 13, 2005. He is buried next to his wife near their farm in Nixa.
The error in the 1941 series gained a life of its own. Chesty Puller’s Marines used the 4-1 Yankee win to confirm identities on Guadalcanal. Writers called it the sports freak of the year. Giants’ backup catcher, Herman Franks, used Owen’s anguish following game four as a reason to participate in the Giants sign-stealing system in 1951. Only in 1986, when Bill Buckner let Mookie Wilson’s ball go through his wickets, was the error overshadowed. Even then, though, Owens would not let himself off of the hook. Ah, the long, long memories of fans. Owen was luckier than Buckner. His blunder had been seen by millions of fans. The abuse he received over the years was brutal.
Future Dodgers Down on the Farm
- OKC beat Round Rock 20-3
- Mike Busch was 5-6 with 6 RBI, including his 24th HR. He has 78 RBIs.
- Jason Martin hit his 25th HR and accumulated his 84th RBI.
- Miguel Vargas was 1-4 with 2 BB and an RBI. He scored 3 runs
- Dustin May started and went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 run. He walked 1 and truck out 10. As he heds back to the show this week, his ERA sits at 1.71 with a 0.95 WHIP. He pitched 21 innings and struck out 36. I pronounce him “ready.”
- Pedro Baez went 1 inning allowed 2 hits and 1 ER.
- Tulsa beat Midland 7-0
- Bobby Miller is knocking on Dave Roberts door, as he wet 7.1 innings, allowing 4 hits and NO Runs. 2 walked 2 and struck out 9. He pitched 56 innings last year. I’d give him another start or two at Tulsa and have him finish the season in LA’s bullpen.
- Jordon Leasure closed out the final 1.2 innings allow no hits.
- Leonal Valera was 3-5 with 4 RBI. HIs BA is .300 and his OPS is .861. He also has 22 SBs and has not been caught. In my mind, he has passed Leonard and Vivas for the SuperUtility Spot. He plays SS and 2B, but I am sure he can play OF or 3B if needed. Watch Him! He’s not a start, but he’s a complementary piece.
- Great Lakes beat Peoria 1-0
- The Loons only had 3 hits but two were by Imanol Vargas who was 2-3 with a BB and he drove in the lone run.
- Emmett Sheehan started and went 6 innings, allowing 4 hit and NO Run while striking out 6 and walking ZERO. HIs ERA now sits at 2.80!
- Ben Casparius went 2 innings and allowed no hits of walks. He struck out 3.
- Lefty Ben Harris went the final 2 innings and was credited with the win as he allowed no hits and struck out 2. You want to watch this kid – he has 91 Ks in 46 IP to go with a 0.98 ERA at Great Lakes. He was a 2021 Draftee and was promoted from RC where he had a 5.53 ERA. If he gets his control under control… look out!
- Rancho Cucamonga lost 9-7.
- Chris Alleyne hit his 1st HR (585th Pick in the 2022 Draft)
- Dalton Rushing continues to mash. He was 3-3 with his 2nd HR.
- Yunior Garcia was 2-5.
- CF’er Nick Biddison was also 2-5
Dodger News & Notes
- Well, the runs ended – now we are headed for a losing streak. Hopefully it’s just one game, but it could be more!
- Tyler Anderson did not have his best stuff, but he deserved better… I’d like to see Julio get his 13th win tonight.
- I am not going to tell the Dodgers how to run their farm system, but OK, I will anyway: Move Dalton Rushing to Great Lakes and Diego Cartaya to Tulsa. They both need to move up!
- I am going to try and get to a Brewers game this week… maybe Thursday (It’s a 3-1/2 hour drive), but we are soooo dang busy with the Cannabis Show next week, moving into our new manufacturing facility and my son getting married on the 27th. BTW, I am the Officiant. I sent away and got my license after he asked me to do the marrying. Maybe next year, I will slow down, buy a motorhome and hit all the games?
Discussion (31)
Disagree, not disagreeable
With Buhler out, poof goes the fantasy of him taking on the closer’s role in October.
This Dodgers team has plenty to win it all, but Kimbrel remains the weak link. Treinen should help, given his experience. Graterol is still short of his potential. Phillips looks like he could do it. Dustin May is a serious possibility–but we want him as a starter, right? Especially if Kersh comes back only to getshurt again.
Given his recent performances, could the solution be Bobby Miller?
Probably not.
The Dodgers may have too much depth for a super-talented minor leaguer to get the call. It would require a leap of faith.
At any rate, the news from the farm is encouraging. Right after Muncy goes 4 for 5 with an HR, Busch one ups him, going 5-6 with a HR. Busch is often compared to Muncy as a bat-first talent with an uncertain position. Outman and Vargas have had a taste of the show. When is it Busch’s turn? And every time I see a highlight of Amaya it’s obvious he has a major league glove. If Trea leaves, he might be Lux’s biggest competition
And what does Martin have to do to get called up?
How many of these guys in OKC and Tulsa would be on ML rosters of mediocre-and-worse teams?
The talent gap between the haves like the Dodgers and the have-nots is very wide.
Too wide, really. The players and fans would benefit from more competitive balance.
Lux goes deep against lefty. Let the kid play every day!
It’s happening…
Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone are headed to OKC, and Nick Nastrini is headed to Tulsa.
More moves to come.
I am telling you that Miller and Stone might be part of the playoff team.
So glad May is back. He was great as a rookie, well I guess he still has rookie status or would that be next season? At any rate I have faith he’ll be in ace fashion. ‘
On high heat Christopher Russo was saying Mets pitching is better than Dodgers, I think differently especially looking top to bottom clearing Dodgers are better. When will they get over that east coast mentality. Respect is one thing that they’re gonna learn and soon.
The surgery will be on August 23rd and performed by the best: Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
Like B & P said, Frasso got a new-fangled type of Tommy John that attaches the damaged ligament using a brace instead of the rip and replace procedure, and the recovery time is a lot quicker, but it’s a risk, and if Buehler needs TJ for a second time, I have no clue what that will mean. This is potentially career-ending. We have to realize that and hope for the best.
Godspeed Walker!
From the last update on Buehler, that he was on schedule and checking all the boxes, I thought it was reasonable that he would have a good shot pitching again this year. When one door closes another opens. This morning, when Mark was talking about Miller or Stone pitching getting a call, I thought it was very unlikely. Now, I think the chances are growing, but it probably won’t happen unless there’s another injury. The Dodgers still have Gonso, Urias, Kershaw, Anderson, Heaney, May and Pepiot as options for the rotation. But, those options are getting thinner by the day.
Walker didn’t look right this season. His velocity was down a little as was his spin rate. It’s easy to jump to conclusions and say it’s an injury. But, Urias had similar symptoms early on. Now, he’s regularly hitting 95 and sometimes 96 after struggling to break 92-93 early on. No injury there and he’s turning in yet another stellar season.
I’m sure we’ll hear all about AF not trading for a starter, and trading away White now that Buehler went down. I’m not sure Buehler’s injury changed anything. He knew all along that there was risk associated with Buehler and there’s still up to 9 starting pitchers available to the team. Andrew is more of a risk manager than a general manager. You can’t eliminate all risk, the best you can do is manage it.
Walker originally went down with a Grade 2 strain of one of the flexor muscles in his right forearm and underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow since he was going to be out anyways. Was this all BS? Why is another surgery needed? If you’re in there for the bone spur, wouldn’t you notice a damaged ligament?
Maybe the ligament showed some signs at it was thought that it would heal when he was down. Maybe the ligament is an issue, but it isn’t completely damaged. Could it be that they’ll try the Nick Frasso procedure on Walker? Nick’s ligament was put in a brace in place, instead of being removed. The recovery time was just about a year.
“Frasso’s procedure wasn’t quite traditional Tommy John, but a UCL repair with an internal brace, coming with a slightly shorter recovery time than standard TJ. The 2021 injury, though, still meant he had to watch his first full year of pro ball from a rehab room and see his draft class pass him by.”
Another year of waiting for one of our young aces to come back. How depressing. But, the phrase “Tommy John” hasn’t been uttered in regard to Walker just yet, so there’s some hope.
Reinforcements are on the way (sort of).
Miller and Stone to OKC.
Nastrini to Tulsa.
I’m not sure if I ever heard of that before. Elbow surgery but not Tommy John , or not for sure Tommy John. The MRI told them something, but I guess not enough?????
They also haven’t said what kind of surgery… Is it Tommy John?
This might change the Dodgers POV on Miller and/or Stone.
Well, my concerns with Buehler were well founded, the team just announced that he will have elbow surgery later this month.
I was worried that a boy with such a young age, with few innings and accumulated pitches in his career, would have a decrease in speed, something was not right and today it is confirmed, he will have surgery.
The positive is that he will return as good as new and that Buehler who was throwing 97-99 and touching 100 MPH will return.
Season ending elbow surgery for Walker Buehler. About what I expected.
Next man up!
Walker is done. Season ending surgery.
That was a good trade.
DODGERS REINSTATE AUSTIN BARNES
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers reinstated catcher Austin Barnes and designated catcher Tony Wolters for assignment.
Barnes, 32, returns after missing three games on the family emergency list. On the season, he has appeared in 42 games for the Dodgers, hitting .171 with four doubles, four homers and 15 RBI. He has been with the Dodgers the last eight seasons and he has slashed .221/.331/.680 with 28 homers and 127 RBI. He owns a .993 fielding percentage with 77 assists in 317 games at catcher. He was originally traded to the Dodgers on December 11, 2014 from the Miami Marlins along with left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney, right-handed pitcher Chris Hatcher and infielder Kiké Hernández in exchange for infielders Dee Gordon-Strange and Miguel Rojas and right-handed pitcher Dan Haren.
Wolters, 30, appeared in two games for the Dodgers, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. With Triple-A Oklahoma City, he batted .216 with seven doubles, one triple and 24 RBI in 50 games. He has been in the Major Leagues parts of six seasons with the Colorado (2016-2020), Chicago (2021) and Los Angeles (2022), batting .235 (259-for-1103) with seven homers and 123 RBI in 407 games.
8:10 PM ET
Dodgers (79-34)
Brewers (61-52)
SP Julio Urias L
12-6 2.49 ERA 122.2IP 117K 24BB
SP Freddy Peralta R
4-2 4.37 ERA 47.1IP 57K 15BB
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
DH Max Muncy L
3B J. Turner R
2B Gavin Lux L
LF Chris Taylor R
CF C. Bellinger L
Dome
In Domed Stadium
No Minor League games scheduled tonight.
Granted, a small sample size, but these are Max Muncy’s MLB rankings since Aug 1st:
1.418 OPS (1st)
5 HR (2nd)
.543 ISO (1st)
62.5% Hard Hit % (1st)
284 wRC+ (1st)
So Seager signed with Rangers to reunite with Chris Woodward. Now he is fired
Started with the game on the laptop and Miller’s Crossing on the TV.
Wasn’t long before I was just watching TV.
Didn’t miss much.
Sal the Barber. Thuggin’ out. Been awhile since I’ve seen anything new on his career. Off-field what was he like?
I am somewhat amazed how getting shutout has taken me back to previous seasons where the Dodgers went into extended losing streaks. Those streaks didn’t make any sense either as they had always followed some of the best winning streaks in baseball. It’s almost like it’s an LA thing. I know better than to fret and I think this team will put any fear to rest as no team can win 162 games. But it became easy to get spoiled. I say Dodgers win the Brewer series and that’s where my money is but after seeing they’re human I don’t see a sweep and I don’t see a split. Can’t wait to get these cataracts removed at the end of this month. Maybe my view of life won’t be so kaleidoscopic. Good excuse, eh?
Games against brewers are the most boring of the whole season… I think I’ll skip this series so I don’t fall asleep in front of the tv!
Thompson has done his job and then some. Gallo is an upgrade over Lamb and is Edwin Rios power with more MLB experience. The top 4 in the lineup are excellent. Lux is hanging around .800 OPS and that is good enough, but I’m waiting for the power. Muncy has turned it on. The offense is great and number 1 in OPS by a lot.
The starting pitching is great and number 1 in team starting pitching ERA. Kershaw on the IL and looks like May is going to be stepping up.
Treinen on a rehab assignment and Ferguson emerging as a legit bullpen piece. Phillips has been great all year long, along with Almonte (hope he’s alright and be back soon). I hope Doc rides these guys big time in the playoffs. 5 spots left in the bullpen in the playoffs for Doc to screw something up. Hope other bullpen pieces step up by the time playoff time comes.
This is the best Dodgers team I’ve seen in recent years. Comparable or even better than the 2020 team. Just waiting to see how the bullpen fills out at playoff time.
* Brady Singer, who I labeled an underachiever yesterday, looked like the 1st rounder the Royals expected when they drafted him in 2018. He had us eating our of his hand. Nice KC pitching.
* Tim Neverett offered up some interesting info on ABS System from AAA. Apparently it’s being calibrated to a batter who’s standing up and not in a batting stance. That seems odd. Aaron Judge’s strike zone would be very tall. That certainly keeps the high strike in the game. Max Muncy said it misses pitches too, like the real thing.
And the umpire crews rotate around both AAA leagues to get experience using ABS and experience still calling balls and strikes in the other league. Seems like a good idea I guess but I want ABS as soon as possible.
* Tim Neverett also sort of trash talked the pitch clock talking about it being too much of a change when some players are rehabbing in AAA. He said Baez would have trouble. Boo hoo. Just pick up the pace boys. It’s better for everybody.
* ESPN, on the regular Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of the Yankees – Red Sox, showed a slice from the other broadcast with Michael Kaye, A-Rod and guests. It showed Michael Kaye, Derek Jeter and A Rod sitting on a set.
A-Rod talked the whole time. Jeter never said a word. Gee, I wonder why I don’t watch that?
Instead of Joey Gallo, Jason Martin should be platooning in LF
Wow, what an honor to officiate your boy’s wedding. Congratulations on both accounts!
We were bound to lose sooner or later. All time Dodgers win streak stands at 13?
You might have missed it with all those K’s from Dustin May, but Brusdar Graterol pitched in his second rehab assignment game yesterday. He finished his inning with a K, 0 R on 11 pitches. He’s ready, just bring him up.
Dalton Rushing has 11 hits in 23 AB’s so far for Low A. A mismatch, or just a hot streak? Let’s give him a few more games, eh? Does Cartaya become trade bait now? He seems to be David Ross all over again. He’s been HBP 24 times this year between college (20) and Pro Ball (4). I have a feeling he’s going to be my favorite player one day.
The Dodgers managed just two hits yesterday. It seems like they had a really hard time seeing the ball. Belli took some of the most ridiculous looking swings I’ve seen this year.
Craig Kimbrel gave up a homer last night and many lost their minds. It was his second HR allowed, Jansen has given up 5 of them. Hader, 7. It was not a save situation and it had no bearing on the outcome of the game.
Joey Gallo’s slash line with the Dodgers .263/.364/.632/.996
Trayce Thompson’s .291/.387/.544/.931
It seems that the Dodger’s lineup is so deep that it prevents them from fielding the best lineup on any given night having to make room for CT3 and Hanser to get their AB’s. Take into account that most of Trayce’s damage has occurred against righties, there’s little justification to platoon him.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/world-series-says-hit-fernando-tatis-jr-every-single-time-following-ped-suspension
My son and I plan on going to the Brewers game on Wednesday. Brewers have great pitching and are fighting for a playoff spot so I think this will be a tough series. Dodgers have so many weapons and May returning should allow the starting staff a little more rest. Graterol also pitched a clean inning last night.
It will be nice to see May back on the mound again. I am sure they are going to monitor his pitch count closely. Streak is over, start a new one. Singer made them look silly.
Excellent performances by Miller, May and Sheehan.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!