The Pope Visits Philadelphia

Not sure what all the excitement is about, Paul "The Pope" Ownes spent close to 50 years working for the Phillies in some capacity.

2006 Toyota Wall of Fame Paul Owens

I think Owens got his nickname from having a resemblance to Pope Paul VI. I am not Catholic, but I do think of Paul VI as my Pope - he was Pope during my entire childhood. It is hard to make out a resemblance in the image of the plaque of Owens featured above, but one may see it in a card we feature below.

To me Paul Owens will always be the guy who took the reigns from Pat Corrales and led the 1983 Phillies to the NL Pennant. Two years ago we marked the 30th anniversary of that team with a series on a few of the notable players from the squad including Owens.

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2006 Toyota Wall of Fame Paul Owens (b-side)

The ghosted photo on the back of the postcard doesn't give us much help with a Pope Paul VI connection, but there is something interesting in the stats. I can't recall many cards that have a persons Win-Loss record as a GM - but there it is.

 1985 Topps #92 Paul Owens

Here we have an image of Owens from an angle similar to the one used for the WoF plaque. I suppose he looks Popish - with a baseball cap and windbreaker.

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1985 Topps #92 Paul Owens (b-side)

Two things of note on the back of the card 1) Text mentions Owens return to the GM role, 2) The 1984 Phillies fell from being an NL Pennant winner to being a .500 team. With the aging roster and general lack of young talent on that checker it is easy to understand the demise.


Phungo Paul Owens Phillies WoF Index
1984 Topps # 229 (1983 Phillies NL Chanps 2013 retrospective - 20th anniversary)

Sources and Links
Phillies Wall of Fame Index
Baseball-ref

1983 NL Champions: Paul Owens 1984 Topps #229

This AM we took at the Phillies first manager Pat Corrales, now we move on to the teams 2nd 1983 manager, The Pope - Paul Owens.

1984 Topps #229 Paul Owens

When I was a kid, Paul Owens was a fixture in the Phillies organization. He filled various roles including replacing Pat Corrales as Manager in 1983. I am sure leading the Phillies Wheeze Kids to the World Series would rank near the top of Paul Owens career highlights in Baseball. 

Paul Owens was definitely not a career manager. Prior to the '83 campaign Owens had taken over the Phillies mid-season one other time, when Frank Lucchesi was fired in 1972. Owens only remained with the Phillies through the end of the '72 season. Following 1983 Owens did return to manage the club for the 1984 season but that would be his last stint as skipper.     


Paul Owens passed away the day after Christmas in 2003 at the age of 79. He had remained with the Phillies as a scout and adviser until his death.



Sources & Links
1983 Wheeze Kids Index  
Phillies WoF Index: Paul Owens
Baseball-ref.com
wikipedia

Pretty Cool Mailing - Holliday Peavy Pujols and a newsboy

Has anybody ever received cards from an ebay seller in an envelope this cool???



I mean check it out - First off you've got baseball stamps of Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Jake Peavy and some guy on the DL - side note: the Children of Malawi are a charity of Cole Hamels and wife Heidi. There is Ethel Merman, Walt Disney, and Henry David Thoreau - The thing looks like this years Allen & Ginter checklist. But wait it gets better - check out the B-side.


Thats the Pope, Michael Jack, and Garry Maddox - all used to seal the envelope. I mean where the heck are you ever going to find a sticker of Paul Owens??? And this wasn't even for an auction of Phillies cards.