Marv Owen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marvin James Owen (March 22, 1906 – June 22, 1991) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played nine seasons in the American League with the Detroit Tigers (1931; 1933-37), Chicago White Sox (1938-39), and Boston Red Sox (1940).

Owen was born in Agnew, California and played college baseball for the Santa Clara Broncos. After he joined the Tigers in 1931, Owen played a full season in the minor leagues before rejoining the team in 1933. His return at third base solidified the Tigers' infield, which featured Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, and Billy Rogell. In 1934, Owen was among seven players to lead the league in games played (154) as the Tigers won the American League pennant.

In Game 7 of the 1934 World Series at Navin Field, Joe Medwick tripled in the 6th inning with the score 7-0. [1] On the play, Owen was knocked down by a hard slide at third and both players fought. The incident and subsequent fan reaction toward Medwick forced Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to remove Medwick from the game. Owen batted just .069 (2-29) in the Series and would again bat a lowly .050 (1-20) in the 1935 World Series, in which the Tigers defeated the Chicago Cubs in six games. He managed to set a post-season record of most consecutive plate appearances between hits (31).

In 1936, Owen batted .295 with 105 RBI. He was traded to the White Sox before the 1938 season and finished his playing career with the Red Sox in 1940. During his career, he batted .275 in 1,011 games with 1,040 hits and 31 home runs.

Owen died at age 85 in Mountain View, California, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease. [2]