| Jim Owens | |
|---|---|
 Owens in 1961 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1934-01-16)January 16, 1934 Gifford, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died: September 8, 2020(2020-09-08) (aged 86) Houston,Texas, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 19, 1955, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 20, 1967, for the Houston Astros | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 42–68 |
| Earned run average | 4.31 |
| Strikeouts | 516 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
James Philip Owens (January 16, 1934 – September 8, 2020),[1] nicknamed "Bear", was an American professionalbaseball right-handedpitcher andpitching coach, who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) between1955 and1967 for thePhiladelphia Phillies,Cincinnati Reds andHouston Colt .45s / Astros. He appeared in 286 big leaguegames. During his playing days, Owens stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall, weighing 190 pounds (86 kg).
Originally signed by thePhiladelphia Phillies in 1951 as an amateur free agent out ofBradford Area High School. Owens racked up impressivewin totals inminor league baseball, with 22, 22 and 17 victories posted in levels ranging from Class D toTriple-A from 1952 to 1954.
In 1955, he made the Phillies' Opening Day roster andstarted two April games. In his debut April 19 against the eventual1955 world championBrooklyn Dodgers, Owens was effective for his first fiveinnings pitched, allowing only tworuns to the powerful Dodgers. But in the sixth, after a 36-minuterain delay, Owens surrenderedhome runs toCarl Furillo andRoy Campanella and was chased from the mound with the Phillies trailing, 5–0.[2] Five days later, starting against 1955's cellar-dwellers, thePittsburgh Pirates, he lasted only 12⁄3 innings before, struggling with hiscontrol, he was removed from the game. Philadelphia lost the game 6–1 and Owens absorbed his second straight loss.[3] Owens was sent back to the Triple-ASyracuse Chiefs, where he had another banner year, winning 15 games before his recall in September 1955.
The 1956 season began in similar fashion, as Owens was treated harshly in two early-season starts (against the Pirates and theCincinnati Redlegs). He worked in ten MLB games that year (five inrelief), and got into 15 games at Triple-A. He was winless in fourdecisions for the1956 Phillies, and his record in his first two years in theNational League was poor: 0–6, with anearned run average of 7.51.
Owens then spent all of 1957, and all but one game in 1958, in military service. In his onegame pitched in 1958, on September 23 against the pennant-boundMilwaukee Braves, he hurled seven strong innings for the win, allowing twoearned runs.
His best season was 1959: to complement a solid ERA of 3.21, Owens went 12–12 for a last-place team, with 11complete games and 135strikeouts in 2211⁄3 innings of work. But in 1960, he went 4–14 (5.04) and in 1961 his record was 5–10 (4.47). The Phillies finished in the NL basement each season, and Owens received notoriety for his off-field carousing as a member (with fellow pitchersTurk Farrell,Jack Meyer andSeth Morehead) of the "Dalton Gang,"[4] a group of hard-drinking players in frequent conflict with the Phillies' management. After Owens' poor 1962 season—a 2–4 record with a 6.33 ERA—the Phillies traded him to Cincinnati forsecond basemanCookie Rojas.
He was used almost entirely as a reliever in a partial season with the 1963 Reds. On April 21 of that year, he set a National League record bybalking three times in one inning. (Bob Shaw broke that record less than a month later when he balked five times in a game.)
Overall, Owens posted an ERA of 5.31 in 19 games that year, including three starting assignments. He was sent toTriple-A San Diego, where he appeared in eight games. Then, in December, the Astros (then nicknamed theColt .45s) took him in the 1963Rule 5 draft.
Owens spent the final four seasons of his career with the Astros, reunited with Farrell until May 8, 1967, when Farrell was traded. Owens was used almost entirely as a reliever for Houston, pitching in a total of 148 games and starting only 11 (all in 1964). Owens led the team in relief appearances in 1965 with 50. He played his final big league game on June 20, 1967.
Eighteen days later, on July 8, Owens retired from the field to become the Astros'pitching coach, succeeding the firedGordon Jones. He held that job through the end of the 1972 season, working with hurlers such asMike Cuellar,Larry Dierker andDon Wilson.
Overall, Owens' pitching record was 42–68 with a 4.31 ERA. Of the 286 games he appeared in, he started 103 of them, completing 21 of the starts and tossing one shutout. In 8851⁄3 innings, he gave up 84 home runs, walked 340 batters and struck out 516.
In 218 at-bats, Owens collected only 22 hits for a .101 batting average and struck out 102 times. He had a .954fielding percentage.
| Preceded by | Houston Astrospitching coach 1967–1972 | Succeeded by |