Henry Jay Owens (born April 23, 1979 in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. A

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, Owens played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in 2006 and the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

in 2007. He bats and throws

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

Amateur career

Owens graduated from

G. Holmes Braddock High School G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School is a secondary school located in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The school is named after a former 38-year member of the school board, who, as chairperson from 1969 to 1970, led ...

in Miami and attended

Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is within the territory of the Archdiocese of Miami ...

. He played

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

as an amateur. He planned to attend medical school but

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

noticed his exceptional throwing skills and encouraged him to take up pitching.

Professional career

Owens was signed by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in June . In , an elbow injury hampered his performance. As a result, the Pirates left him unprotected and he was selected by the

in the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

phase of the Rule 5 Draft. In , after four years in the Single-A leagues, Owens was promoted to the Double-A

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mira ...

where he was outstanding as a closer. He compiled 51

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s while allowing only eight

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in 25

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

before his promotion to the major leagues. He made his major league debut on July 7, , for the New York Mets. He pitched a perfect ninth inning in a 7-3 Mets loss to the Florida Marlins. On November 20, 2006, the Mets traded Owens, along with

Matt Lindstrom Matthew Raymond Lindstrom (born February 11, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks and ...

to the Florida Marlins for lefties

Jason Vargas Jason Matthew Vargas (born February 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, New York Mets and Ph ...

and Adam Bostick.

2007 season

Owens started the season as a late-inning reliever, but was looked at as a closing option during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. Owens made it clear that he coveted the closer job very early on. After newly acquired reliever

Jorge Julio Jorge Dandys Julio Tapia (born March 3, 1979) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball relief pitcher. He previously played for the Baltimore Orioles from 2001 to 2005, New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006, and the Florida Marlins ...

proved to be ineffective as the club's closer, Owens became a candidate for the closer role. On May 11, Owens was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with right shoulder rotator cuff tendinitis. Later in the season, Owens was shut down, and ultimately underwent shoulder surgery.

References

External links

Winter Wonders
by Chris Kline, Baseball America, January 5, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, Henry 1979 births Living people Baseball players from Miami Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players Florida Marlins players Gulf Coast Pirates players Williamsport Crosscutters players Hickory Crawdads players Lynchburg Hillcats players St. Lucie Mets players Jupiter Hammerheads players Barry Buccaneers baseball players Baseball players suspended for drug offenses American sportspeople in doping cases Jacksonville Suns players Binghamton Mets players