Friday, July 15, 2016

TTM Success: Spike Owen

1993 was the year I think I really started to pay attention to baseball. I was nine years old, and while I was always really good at naming players and who they played for, I'm sure my knowledge was limited by my age and watching the Yankees and Mets on local RSNs.

But in '93, I was old enough to start reading the daily sports section and checking out box scores. I had started little league too, so there was a lot of baseball talk, especially about the Yankees, who were just starting to get good again. Wade Boggs and Paul O'Neill had joined the team, Bernie Williams was getting good, Danny Tartabull was mashing homers, Mattingly was healthy, and Jimmy Key was an ace. There was a lot to talk about!

One of those newer guys was Spike Owen. He only played for the Yanks in 1993, but I'm pretty sure we all thought his name was pretty awesome. And it was. Spike!
Mr. Owen was kind enough to sign three cards for me in care of the Texas Rangers, where he is currently coaching. Thanks, Spike!

2 comments:

  1. I always liked that he wore his fielding hat under his batting helmet. I think Juan Pierre might have been the last player who did that, but there were a bunch of them in the 1980s and early 1990s.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good call! I used to do that when I played...not to look cool, but because the helmets never fit me and I didn't like it when it was too wiggly.

      Delete