Richard Wayne Ownbey (born October 20, 1957 in

Corona, California Corona ( Spanish for "Crown") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 157,136, up from 152,374 at the 2010 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and nor ...

) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. He played in parts of four seasons in the majors, between and , for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

and St. Louis Cardinals.

Amateur career

Ownbey attended Savanna High School in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

but, standing only and being only 16 years old as a senior, he failed to make the school's baseball team which featured players such as

Glenn Hoffman Glenn Edward Hoffman (born July 7, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop, coach, and manager. Hoffman had a nine-year playing career in the Majors, and was manager of the 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers for the last 88 games of ...

and Marty Castillo. Ownbey entered the workforce after high school and began working at a lock factory for $5 per hour while pitching in an amateur baseball league. By the time he was 20, he had grown to and had attracted the attention of the head baseball coach at Santa Ana Junior College, his former high school

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ...

teacher. Against the advice of friends and family, he quit his job at the lock factory in order to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Professional career

Mets

While pitching at Santa Ana, Ownbey drew the attention of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

, who drafted him in the fourth round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. However, he did not sign. A year later, the Mets drafted him in the thirteenth round. In his first season of professional ball, Ownbey was 9–1 with a 1.80

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

for the Lynchburg Mets and Jackson Mets. Ownbey made his major league debut on August 17, 1982, at Riverfront Stadium as the

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pitc ...

against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. He gave up five runs in five

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

and took the loss. Ownbey was a combined 2–5 over his two seasons with the Mets before being traded with Neil Allen to the St. Louis Cardinals for

Keith Hernandez Keith Hernandez (born October 20, 1953) is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman who played the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets. Hernandez was a five-time All-Star who shared the 1979 NL ...

on June 15, 1983.Hernandez traded to Mets
/ref>

Cardinals

Ownbey went 7–5 with a 3.63 ERA for the Louisville Redbirds of the American Association his first season in the Cardinals' organization. , his first season in a Cardinals uniform, Ownbey went 0–3 with a 4.74 ERA in four starts. After spending all of in the minors, Ownbey reemerged with the Cards in pitching mostly out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

, and going 1–3 with a 3.80 ERA.

Royals

After becoming a free agent at the end of the 1986 season, Ownbey signed with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

for . Plagued by injuries, he pitched only four innings for their double-A Southern League affiliate, the Memphis Chicks before calling it a career.

Career totals

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ownbey, Rick Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players St. Louis Cardinals players Lynchburg Mets players Jackson Mets players Tidewater Tides players Louisville Redbirds players Memphis Chicks players Baseball players from California People from Corona, California Santa Ana Dons baseball players Sportspeople from Riverside County, California 1957 births Living people