BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | October 2, 2008

Every now and then you hear about some superior athlete. Usually they dominate their respective sports in historic fashions: think Michael Phelps and Jim Brown. Aside from those who acquire tremendous accolades for their terrific ability to perform their position better than everyone else, there are some athletes who show a mastery of the game. Consider that in his entire four-year career Twins Catcher Joe Mauer struck out only once. Regardless, in my opinion, the Cincinnati Reds are the most fortunate team for having, who I believe, is the most well rounded player in the game, Micah Owings. You may not have heard of him, but this kid probably has more potential in than anyone else in the sport of baseball.

I first heard of Micah Owings my senior year of high school when he was playing at the University of Tulane. My buddy was playing a college baseball video game one day and I noticed that there was some pitcher on Tulane who was crushing home runs. No way, no pitcher does that, that’s why they pitch and hope to play American League baseball. Three years later, in a moment of nostalgia, I find myself wondering what happened to that kid? Surely a weapon that can both pitch and hit would be high on somebody’s draft board? Sure enough, over summer break this year I asked my buddy what happened to that dude in the video game, and found out that he was (then) Diamondbacks pitcher Micah Owings.

Well enough about me, let’s get to Owings. He is a big dude, standing 6’5” and weighing 225 pounds. You already know that he is a pitcher who can hit but let me break this down for you. In 2007 with the Arizona Diamondbacks (his first year in the show) he registered an 8-8 record as a pitcher striking out 107 in 29 games played. That same year he had 60 at-bats and hit .333. There are guys in the league who hit for a living and can’t even get over .300. Of Owings twenty hits that year, twelve were for extra bases and four were home runs. A pitcher who can hit like that radically changes the game plan of any team involved since it is basically like having a designated hitter in the National League. Listen to this: on Aug. 13, 2007, Owings started an away game against the Atlanta Braves (his home state). In said game he pitched 7 innings allowing 3 earned runs. Nothing special? Consider this: in that game Owings went 4-5 at the dish knocking two dingers, six RBI’s and scoring four runs. Are you kidding me? That would be a wicked good night for Papi let alone some 22-year-old kid pitcher. Still not impressed? Later that same season Owings made a fill-in start for Brandon Webb and pitched almost seven shutout innings while hitting a perfect 4-4 at the plate with three triples and three RBI’s. That is insane; it’s like a little league game where the best athlete is the pitcher and the best hitter. I would love to have Owings on my team; he is such a versatile weapon.

Want some poetic justice? Earlier this month the D-Backs dealt Owings to the Cincinnati Reds for strikeout King left fielder Adam Dunn. The very next day, Owings smacked in the game winning run against the Diamondbacks with a pinch-hit double in the tenth inning. The pinch-hit specialist on the Reds might want to start updating his resume. A kid like this is too good to keep on the bench. In fact, there was a rumor circulated that Owings might start getting some reps at first base on his off days so that he could keep his hitting skills in the lineup. Did I mention that as a pitcher he holds Georgia’s high school home run record? He does, and Georgia is not a state to take lightly in terms of baseball prospects. To me the feats that Owings has performed on the field are incredibly impressive. Though his statistical numbers are not incredibly dominant, and the Reds are probably going nowhere in a real hurry, Owings is the truth. Remember the name.

Kevin is a junior. He can be reached at kfriede1@swarthmore.edu.

« RETURN TO SPORTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »