Spike Dee Owen (born April 19, 1961) is an American former

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

(1983–86),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1986–88),

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

(1989–92),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

(1993) and California Angels (1994–95). He made his major league debut on June 25, 1983. In his 13 seasons in the majors, he hit for a .246 batting average with 46 home runs and 439 RBIs in 1544 games.

Career

Playing career

A switch-hitter, Owen attended the University of Texas and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Texas Longhorns. He was the All-Tournament Team

in the 1982 College World Series. He was selected by the

in the first round (sixth overall) of the 1982 amateur draft. Owen started out in Double-A with the Lynn Sailors of the Eastern League; the following year he was in Triple-A with the Salt Lake City Gulls of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). In his major league debut in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

on Saturday, June 25, Owen led off the bottom of the first inning in the Kingdome with a single off of Jim Gott of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

; Seattle won 5–2 to snap an eight-game losing streak. On July 13, he hit his first big league home run against

reliever Doug Bird at Fenway Park, a solo shot to right in the ninth inning and the final run scored in a 6–3 win. In 1986, he was named team captain of the Mariners. On August 19, Owen and center fielder Dave Henderson were traded to the Red Sox for Rey Quiñones, Mike Trujillo, Mike Brown, and a player to be named later. In his third game with the Red Sox, he tied a major league record with six runs scored in a game. In the American League Championship Series, he hit .429 as the BoSox upended the California Angels in seven games. In the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

, he hit .300 as Boston lost to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

in seven games. On December 8, 1988, the Red Sox traded Owen to the

for pitcher John Dopson and shortstop Luís Rivera. In 1990, he set a National League record with 63 consecutive errorless games at shortstop. Despite hitting only .234, he showed some decent power with 24 doubles, 5 triples and 5 home runs among his 106 hits. Patience at the plate was the secret of his success with 70 walks (12 intentional), for a respectable .333 on-base percentage. Owen's most productive season was

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, with career highs in average (.269), home runs (7), stolen bases (7) and slugging percentage (.381). In addition, he had a healthy .348 on-base percentage and hit well in the clutch at .319 in 91 at-bats with runners in scoring position. He also led the NL in fielding percentage twice. A hard-nosed competitor, he quickly established himself as a leader in the Montreal clubhouse and helped rookie Delino DeShields transition to second base. After the 1992 season, Owen was supplanted as Montreal shortstop by the emergence of

Wil Cordero Wilfredo Cordero Nieva (born October 3, 1971) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left fielder, shortstop, and first baseman during 1992–2005 for seven different teams: the ...

and became a free agent. On December 4, 1992, he signed a three-year contract with the

, aspiring to anchor their infield and provide team leadership. However, in 1993, he led AL middle infielders in one category—salary. The Yankees traded him after the 1993 season to the California Angels for a minor leaguer. In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, he hit a career-high .310 in 82 games for the Angels as an infield backup and eventually as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

. In 1996, he was demoted to the Texas Rangers' Triple A affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers, and in April, Owen announced his retirement.

Coaching career

Owen was a coach of the Round Rock Express from 2002 to 2006 (as a

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

affiliate) and again from 2011 to 2014 (as a Texas Rangers affiliate). He was the manager of the High Desert Mavericks,

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

affiliate of the Texas Rangers in 2015, where he guided the team to a 78-62 record and a second-half South Division title in the California League. After the 2015 season, Owen was named to manage the Hickory Crawdads, a Class A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, however he was called up to the Rangers in February 2016 to serve as interim third base coach while third base coach Tony Beasley underwent chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Owen managed Hickory again in 2017. He managed the Down East Wood Ducks in 2018. The Rangers did not retain Owen after the 2018 season.

Personal life

Owen's older brother Dave played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in 1984 and 1985.

References

External links

*
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Spike 1961 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from Texas Baseball players from Johnson County, Texas Boston Red Sox players California Angels players Lake Elsinore Storm players Lynn Sailors players Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third base coaches Minor league baseball coaches Minor league baseball managers Montreal Expos players New York Yankees players Oklahoma City 89ers players Sportspeople from Cleburne, Texas Salt Lake City Gulls players Seattle Mariners players Texas Longhorns baseball players Texas Rangers coaches World Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1981 World Games 20th-century American sportsmen