Results tagged ‘ Spike Owen ’
Spike Owen & Harold Reynolds
As the title of our blog suggests, our blog is about one thing: our family’s baseball adventures. I don’t write about trades or trade rumors, MVP debates, player values, or Hall of Fame elections. I have strong feelings about all of those things. But I’m not a sportswriter. It’s not my job to tell people what I think they should think about the current happenings in our great sport. There are hordes of paid sportswriters for that. I’m here to document my family’s personal baseball history, and that’s about it.
This makes the offseason pretty quiet around here.
But there is baseball and baseball stuff going on in the Cook household year round. I recently wrote about Tim’s first winter clinic for his little league. There will be another clinic in a couple weeks, and we’re eagerly looking forward to it.
In my downtime, I’m still working away updating our Baseball Logs (which I get behind on during the season) and our online Baseball Museum, and planning our 2013 season (fyi, be on the lookout for three generations of Cook boys in the Lone Star state in 2013). But lately, there are two additional baseball items taking up some of my time and, since they fall in line with the concept of documenting our personal baseball history, I thought I’d do a short update about them.
They’re not so much “items” as they are people — two of my favorite former-Mariners: Spike Owen & Harold Reynolds:
Spike Owen was my original all-time favorite baseball player. I have two distinct “where was I when” memories about Spike. I was standing right here…
…at my elementary school (there used to be a baseball field there) when my assistant baseball coach explained that Spike Owen played short stop for the Mariners (fyi, I played short stop for the Sherwood Eagles!) and he wore number 7 (fyi, I also wore number 7!). From that very moment, Spike was instantly my favorite player. Several years later (1986), I was in the basement of my family home (sitting on a cabinet/desk thingy to be exact), when my buddy, Dan Mosely, called to tell me the unthinkable: Spike Owen was traded to the Boston Red Sox! By this time, I was already a huge Mariners fan, but had never paid any attention to the postseason. As a result of Spike’s traded to the Red Sox, I watched the World Series for the first time ever and REALLLLLY wanted Boston to win.
After 1986 (with no internet), it became pretty hard to follow Spike Owen, particularly during his years in Montreal. Basically, all I could do was read box scores in the newpaper (people used to do that in the 1980s).
While Spike became my absentee-favorite ballplayer, over the next several years, I never officially announced a new favorite Mariner. In retrospect, it was clearly Harold Reynolds. That is, it was Harold Reynolds until 1989, when Ken Griffey, Jr. showed up on the scene. Since 1989, Griff has held the title of my all-time favorite player and, unless Tim and/or Kellen make the pros, I assume he always will be my favorite baseball player.
So, why am I spending time thinking about Spike and Harold all of these years later? Let’s start with Spike.
I have been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) for a number of years now (4 or 5 years, I guess). But I’ve never been an active participant in SABR. However, recently I have been chatting with another local SABR member who is active in the SABR BioProject. Through the BioProject, SABR is trying to have its members write 1,500+ word biographies of EVERY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER EVER!!! (plus, managers, umpires, owners, etc., etc.) They have a loooooooooooooong way to go to reach that goal. So, I decided to get involved.
When I first considered getting involved, I quickly realized that the only way it would interest me is if I could have my participation in the BioProject compliment my efforts to document our family’s personal baseball history. My first assignment of choice became clear: I would volunteer to write the BioProject biography of the man who played a foundational role in my life-long love of baseball and the Mariners, Spike Owen.
Shortly after putting in the request, I was officially assigned the Spike Owen biography by the BioProject Committee. Lately, I have been researching Spike’s career (and life) via the internet and I have learned a whole lot of stuff I never knew about Spike. I thought I would share a few interesting things I have uncovered. My favorite old article I have found (from shortly before Spike’s call up to the Mariners) highlights the relationship between Spike and his minor league roommate and double play partner, Harold Reynolds:
Two other interesting notes, (i) Spike was the short stop for the Expos during Dennis “El Presidente” Martinez’s perfect game in 1991 and (ii) Spike was the Captain of the 1982 Texas Longhorns baseball team where his teammates included his future 1986 Red Sox teammates, Roger Clemens and Calvin Schiraldi.
Spike’s relationship with Harold Reynolds extended beyond the minors. Spike was called up to the Mariners before Harold. Spike played about 60 games for the Mariners in 1983 before Harold was called up and played his first game on September 2, 1983. Interestingly, Harold made his Major League debut as a pinch runner for Ken Phelps following an at-bat when Phelps pinch hit for Spike. Three days later, Harold started his first game for the Mariners. Spike hit lead off with Harold in the nine-hole, meaning that Spike was on deck when Harold had his first career at-bat in the Major Leagues. Twelve years later, Harold played his final game in the Major Leagues as the starting second basemen for the California Angels. His teammate and starting third basemen for the Angels that day: Spike Owen.
Let’s talk some Harold Reynolds.
Harold played almost his entire career for the Mariners. He was awesome. People in Seattle loved him (at least that was my perception at the time, I certainly loved the guy). He collected over 1,000 career hits for the Mariners, he was a 2-time All-Star and 3-time Gold Glove winner for the M’s. Plus, he won the 1991 Roberto Clemente Award for his charitable efforts.
It has never made sense to me that Harold has never been inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame. He is an obvious choice to me.
So, last year, I created a Twitter account called @HR4MarinersHOF with the intent of posting pro-Harold tidbits as a sort of grassroots campaign to get Harold enshrined in the Mariners Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, almost immediately after I created the account and started posting a few Harold factoids, the Mariners announced that Randy Johnson and Dan Wilson (both great choices, as well) would be enshrined as new Marines Hall of Famers during the summer of 2012. So, I decided to put @HR4MarinersHOF on hold until the 2013 Major League campaign.
Now is the time. If you’re a Mariners fan and appreciate what Harold did for the Mariners, please give @HR4MarinersHOF a follow, a tweet, a retweet, or whatever you want to do to voice your feelings about Harold Reynolds and the Mariners Hall of Fame.
Happy New Year and we’ll see you in 2013!
Speed Pitch & Blue Jays vs. Mariners (5/4/1985)
We just received a package of Christmas gifts in the mail from my folks. Tucked in the bottom of the box, my folks had stashed a little surprise from the past:
Yes, an “Official Speed Pitch Certificate” from the Kingdome.
Clicking on the picture will enlarge the certificate and display this explanatory note:
“The pitch was clocked by a Radar Gun, an instrument used to measure Major League pitchers. This speed-measuring equipment has been verified to be accurate within one percent.”
So, that’s right, as a nine year old phenom, I lit up that official “Radar Gun” at a blazing 46 miles per hour (or at least within one percent of 46 miles per hour).
I remember the old Kingdome speed pitch. It was just inside the Dome’s northern gate — just off to the right in this picture. I couldn’t heat up the gun then, and I can’t heat it up now. But its always been fun trying.
As you can see at the top of the certificate, there are a bunch of holes from where I tacked this “Official” certificate to the wall of my boyhood bedroom. You will also notice that I did my best to obliterate one of the speed pitch sponsors. I was a coca-cola drinking kid, and I didn’t want this “new generation” inspired soft drink logo muckin’ up my bedroom walls (FYI, I still prefer coke products).
Its cool to get back this little momento of past feats. But what is even cooler is getting confirmation of a random date of a game I attended in the first few years of my Mariners fandom: May 4, 1985.
With the help of Baseball-Reference.com, I was able to review a detailed description of this game – and it was a great one for a young Mariners fan.
The higlights:
- The Mariners won the game by a score of 8-1 over the Blue Jays.
- My favorite Mariner, Spike Owen, hit a 2-run homerun — his first of the season and sixth of his career.
- Matt Young pitched a 1-run complete game for his second win of the young season.
Hey, what more can you ask for in a night at the Kingdome. Good times.
Camera Day & Other Old Mariners Stuff
I’ve been looking through some old photo albums lately and found a bunch of old Mariners photos I figured I would share. Most of the following photos are from “Camera Day” (the best promotional night ever) at the Kingdome. The first set are from 1986, the second is from 1987, and the third is from 1990 or 1991 (my hunch is its 1991).
The picture quality of these photos is pretty shabby because I literally just took digital photos of actual printed photographs (my scanner is out of order right now).
During the 1986 season, I was ten years old and I was a huge Mariners fan. And in this pre-Griffey era, there was no Mariner (an no ballplayer period) more important to me than the Mariners sure-handed short stop, Spike Owen. This is the only picture I ever got with Spike.
Later this season, I was dealt a major blow when the Mariners dealt my all-time favorite player to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox then moved on to the World Series and, for the first time ever, I watched the World Series and was pulling hard for Spike to win a championship. Spike had a great post-season in ’86. He hit .429 in the ALCS and .300 even in the World Series.
After 1986, Spike went on to have a solid career. He wasn’t an all-star and he won’t be in the Hall of Fame, or even any team’s Hall of Fame, but he had a career of which he should be proud. He had over 1,200 hits and was recognized as a quality short stop (although he never won a gold glove).
Interestingly, in the final at bat of his career, Spike hit a fly ball that Ken Griffey, Jr. caught for the first out of the ninth inning of the Mariners 1-game playoff against the Angels in 1995. Two outs later, Spike’s career was finished and the Mariners had won their first A.L. West Championship and made the playoffs for the first time in team history.
How about some more 1986 Mariners. Here I am with Al Cowens:
Of course, we had Phil Bradley and “Stormin” Gorman Thomas.
Phil Bradley was a quality Mariner. Over five seasons, he hit .301 and was an all-star in 1985. In ’86, Bradley hit .310.
Who remembers Steve Yeager and Ken Phelps?
I never realized this until right this second, but Yeager is apparently the reason that Spike Owen changed his number from 7 to 1 in 1986. I became a big Spike Owen fan initially because we both played short stop and we both wore number 7. I can tell you that M’s jersey I’m wearing in these pictures has a big number 7 on the back, and it was for Spike Owen, not Steve Yeager.
Of course, Ken Phelps is famous in Mariners history for two things he did involving other teams. First, Phelps was famously traded to the Bronx for future Mariners Hall of Famer, Jay Buhner. Second, as an Oakland Athletic, Phelps hit a homerun with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to break up Brian Holman’s bid for a perfect game.
Next up, Edwin Nunez and Dave “Hendu” Henderson:
Hendu was traded to the Red Sox along with Spike Owen. While he only had one hit and batted .111 in the ALCS against the Angels, Dave’s only hit was huge. With the Red Sox down to their potential final out of the series in the ninth inning of game five, Hendu delivered a two-run homerun off of Donnie Moore. The game when into extra innings, in the 11th inning, Hendu delivered the game winning RBI with a sac fly (also off of Donnie Moore). The Red Sox won the game, and then won games 6-7 to advance to the World Series. In the series, Hendu hit .400 (10 for 25) with 2 homeruns.
Hendu can be heard from time-to-time broadcasting Mariners games and seems to be a great guy.
Next up, Billy Swift and Karl Best:
Our catcher in 1986 was the one and only, Bob Kearney.
In 1987, I wasn’t about to miss Camera Day. Again, we were along the third base line. This season, I decided to sport my green and gold Sno-King Youth Club baseball uniform. Here I am with “Mr. Mariner,” Alvin Davis:
With Spike Owen gone, someone had to play short stop in 1987. And the job was split between Rey Quinones and this guy, Domingo Ramos:
I don’t even remember the next guy, Bill Wilkinson:
We got some more Bob Kearney:
The 1987 Mariners catcher of the future, Dave Valle:
We weren’t the best team in 1987, but we did have a (future) Hall of Famer at the helm: Dick Williams:
Ken Phelps was still hanging around in 1987:
I got my picture with a couple Mikes: Mike Kingery (RF) and Mike Moore (P):
Next up, in the only picture of me holding a bat on a big league field, I posed with Mariners coach, Phil Roof:
Coming off of the bench, we had Rich Renteria:
Who could forget Scott Bankhead?
Once again, Phil Bradley put together a nice season hitting .297:
Our primary catcher in 1987 was this man: Scott Bradley:
Another guy I don’t remember was Steve Sheilds:
Here I am with Mariners coach Ozzie Virgil:
And finally, it was Hendu’s replacement: John “Johnny Moe” Moses:
That’s it for picture day in the 1980s. But we still have some more pictures to share.
Here I am in the Mariners dugout during a Spring Training game in 1991 — I was the batboy for the game:
Here I am retrieving a bat (possibly Ken Griffey, Jr.‘s) as Jay Buhner strides to the plate:
By the way, Griffey went 3-3 with 3 singles, Randy Johnson got the win, and Cubs 2B Ryne Sandberg a solo homerun.
This experience was one of the coolest I’ve ever had in baseball. Griffey was incredibly cool to me. He was easily the most chatty with me in the dugout. Harold Reynolds warmed up before the game using my first basemens glove. Randy Johnson pitched at had to use Edgar Martinez’s bat. At one point, The Big Unit bunted a pop up to the Cubs pitcher and never left the batters box. The Cubs pitcher totally booted the ball and it rolled into foul territory over by the Cubs dugout. But Randy was still in the batters box and was thrown out at first. Finally, I went from really disliking M’s first baseman Pete O’Brien (I’m not sure why I had not liked him previously) to really liking him (because he was incredibly cool to me in the dugout).
After this game, I got my first and only picture with Ken Griffey, Jr.
Our last Camera Day was in 1990 or 1991. We just took pictures of players as they stopped by to shake hands. I’m not in any of the pictures. I’m not sure if it was because it was too packed or if I felt like I was too old (I was 14 or 15) or if the players were just shaking hands and not posing for pictures. Who knows?
Anyway, here are some of the pictures, starting with Alvin Davis and Ken Griffey, Sr.:
There was Harold Reynolds and Greg Briley:
In a couple years, I was never able to get a good picture of (or with) Harold Reynolds, which is really unfortunate because I regard him as one of the top players in Mariners history. A great player and a great guy.
Ken Griffey, Jr. stopped by, but we got a really terrible picture that isn’t even worth posting.
But we got decent shots of two future Mariners Hall of Famers: Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez (with Jay Buhner):
Finally, we got this shot of Dave Valle:
Next stop is Pittsburgh in 2004. Colleen and I headed to Pittsburgh for the weekend to see the Mariners in their first and only appearance at PNC Park. Colleen and I had been together almost five years at this point and were engaged, but because I had been in law school for three of those years and hours away from any Major League team with no son to travel around with she didn’t really fully know me as a baseball fan yet. Primarily, she knew me as a guy who watched a ton of Mariners games on TV and occassionally took her to a game in Philadelphia or Baltimore. This was her first real baseball roadtrip.
Here are some shots from Pittsburgh of the first and third winningest pitchers in Mariners history: Jamie Moyer (first at 145 wins) and Freddy Garcia (third at 76 wins):
Here is another (poor quality but) interesting picture from our Pittsburgh trip: Ichiro wearing (i) a brown glove and (ii) long pant legs:
Finally, this last picture of the entry is from Safeco Field. I’m not sure what year it is from — probably 2003-04 — but it also shows Ichiro sporting long pants:
And there you go, some of my old, pre-Tim, mostly pre-digital Mariners pictures.
Cook & Son Bats
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