Marv Owen

Marvin James Owen (March 22, 1906 – June 22, 1991) was an American baseball player, manager, coach and scout.

A native of northern California, Owen played both baseball and football at Santa Clara University.

Owen began his professional baseball career in 1930 with the Seattle Indians of the Pacific Coast League.

He appeared in 138 games and compiled a .300 batting average with 24 doubles and seven triples.

He made his Major League Baseball debut in 1931, but spent the 1932 season in the International League where he was named the league's Most Valuable Player.

Prior to the 1931 season, Owen was purchased by the Detroit Tigers from the Seattle Indians.

Tigers manager Bucky Harris rated Owen as "the greatest prospect the American League has seen in many years."

During the 1931 season, Owen appeared in 105 games, 37 as the team's starting shortstop, 34 as the third baseman, and 21 as the second baseman.

After batting only .223 with the Tigers in 1931, Owen returned to the minors.

He split the 1932 season in the International League with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Newark Bears.

In October 1932, he hit a home run to clinch the Little World Series championship for Newark.

He was named the Most Valuable Player in the International League for the 1932 season.

He returned to the Tigers in 1933, became part of Detroit's "Battalion of Death" infield, and remained the team's starting third baseman from 1933 to 1937.

In 1933, Owen returned to the Tigers and became the team's starting third baseman.

He was part of an infield that became known as the "Battalion of Death" consisting of Hank Greenberg at first, Charlie Gehringer at second, Billy Rogell at shortstop, and Owen at third.

The Battalion of Death remained intact from 1933 to 1935 (until injury sidelined Greenberg in 1936) and was considered one of the best infield combinations in baseball history.

Owen appeared in 138 games in 1933, 134 of them as the Tigers' starting third baseman, compiled a .262 batting average, and collected 64 RBIs.

He had his best season in 1934 when he compiled a .317 batting average with 98 RBIs.

He was involved in a fight with Joe Medwick during the final game of the 1934 World Series that led to a near riot and Medwick's ejection from the game.

In 1934, the Tigers' Battalion of Death infield collected 769 hits (214 by Gehringer, 201 by Greenberg, 179 by Owen and 175 by Rogell), 462 RBIs (139 by Greenberg, 127 by Gehringer, 100 by Rogell, and 96 by Owen), and 179 doubles (63 by Greenberg, 50 by Gehringer, 34 by Owen and 32 by Rogell).

Three members of the 1934 Tigers infield (Gehringer, Owen and Rogell) played in all 154 games, and the fourth (Greenberg) played in 153.

Three members of the 1934 infield finished in the top ten in voting for the American League Most Valuable Player award – Gehringer second, Greenberg sixth and Owen ninth.

Owen also stood out on defense in 1934, turning a career high 33 double plays at third base.

He also led the American League's third baseman with 202 putouts.

Since 1934, only two major league third basemen (Willie Jones and Eddie Yost) have had more putouts than Owen's 1934 tally.

Owen's hands were so large that he was reportedly able to hold and secure seven baseballs in each hand.

He was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not! with the claim that he "can hold 7 baseballs in one hand."

The 1934 Tigers won the American League pennant with a 101–53 record but lost the 1934 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

In Game 7 of the World Series at Navin Field, Joe Medwick of the Cardinals tripled in the sixth inning and knocked Owen down with a hard slide at third.

Owen stepped on Medwick, and Medwick, as he lay on the ground, "suddenly began lashing out at Owen's legs with his spiked feet."

The two players fought, and, when Medwick returned to left field in the bottom of the inning, the Detroit spectators began pelting him with fruit, bottles, and other debris.

In December 1937, Owen was traded to the Chicago White Sox where he played in 1938 and 1939 and compiled a career-high 305 assists in 1938.

In December 1939, he was sold to the Boston Red Sox where he concluded his major league career during the 1940 season.

During his nine-year career in Major League Baseball, Owen compiled a .275 batting average and .339 on-base percentage, appeared in 1,011 games, and totaled 1,388 total bases, 1,040 hits, 499 RBIs, 474 runs scored, 338 bases on balls, and 242 extra base hits.

Owen later served as a minor league manager for 11 years for the Portland Beavers (1944–1946), San Jose Red Sox (1947–1951), Davenport Tigers (1952), Durham Bulls (1953), and Valdosta Tigers (1954).

He was also a scout for the Detroit Tigers until retiring in the 1970s.

Owen was born in Agnew, California (now part of Santa Clara), and attended Bellarmine College Preparatory.

He then attended Santa Clara University where he played for the Broncos baseball and football teams.

In his senior year at Santa Clara, he was declared ineligible to play baseball as he had signed an optional contract to play professional baseball for the Seattle Indians.

Instead, he served as the coach of the Santa Clara baseball team during his senior year.