Jerry Owens

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Jerry L. Owens (born on February 16, 1981 in Hollywood, California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder currently with the Chicago White Sox. He played most of the 2006 season with the AAA Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox affiliation) of the International League, but was called up and made his Major League debut as a pinch runner on September 11, 2006. His first start came on September 27, 2006, a game in which he collected both his first hit and stole his first base as a Major Leaguer.

Owens originally attended the University of California, Los Angeles as a Wide Receiver, but later transferred to The Master's College in California after several injuries and a revelation. In high school, Jerry was named to numerous All-America teams and was an elite recruit. At the Master's College, he was named the Small College All-American Outfielder for 2003, before being selected by the Montreal Expos in the 2nd Round (57th overall) of the 2003 amateur entry draft.

Owens graduated from Hart High School in California, where he played wide receiver on the championship football team with NFL quarterback Kyle Boller of the Baltimore Ravens.

[edit] Minor league career

Owens first was sent to play Single-A baseball with the Vermont Expos of the New York-Penn League in 2003. However, he only played 2 games with the team. In 2004, Owens went to play Single-A baseball with the Savannah Sand Gnats of the South Atlantic League. Owens burst onto the scouting scene by posting some impressive numbers such as a .292 batting average 30 stolen bases.

During the off-season, when the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals, Owens was traded for Alex Escobar, a prospect from the Chicago White Sox. It was no surprise that in 2005, Owens was promoted to Double-A ball with the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League. Owens had a sensational season, being named Southern League All-Star outfielder and he also led the league in batting average.

In spring training for the White Sox in 2006, Owens had to compete with Brian N. Anderson for the job of center fielder, but manager Ozzie Guillen stated that Owens would probably not get the job because he had a shoulder injury a few years before.^[1]

Owens was put on the Chicago White Sox's extended 40-man roster, and was optioned back to the International League with the Charlotte Knights. Mid-way through the season, Owens has shown development in his base-stealing, already having stolen 27 bases and being caught only 9 times through July 4, 2006.

Minor League Career Stats (through July 4, 2006):

Year	Team	Games	At bats	Runs	Hits	Doubles	Triples	Home Runs	RBI's	Walks	Strikeouts	Stolen Bases	On base percentage	Slugging percentage	Average
2003	A-Vermont Expos	2	8	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.125	.125	.125
2004	A-Savannah Sand Gnats	108	418	69	122	17	2	1	37	46	59	30	.365	.349	.292
2005	AA-Birmingham	130	522	99	173	21	6	2	52	72	38	.393	.406	.331
2006	AAA-Charlotte	76	304	53	76	10	0	4	40	28	46	27	.313	.322	.250