Name: Paul Owens 
Born: February 7th, 1924 in Salamanca, N.Y. 
Died: December 26th, 2003 in Woodbury, N.J.

Paul Francis Owens was born on February 7th, 1924.  The Phillies, the team for which Owens worked 
during his career, have had seven National League champions since their founding in 1883, and Owens 
was general manager of two of them, including the first Phillies team ever to win a World Series, the 1980 
edition.  He was general manager of the Phillies from early June 1972 through the end of 1984, and twice 
(1972; 1983-84) added the title of field manager to his job description.  In 1983 he took the managerial 
reins of the Phillies in midyear and led them to their fourth pennant, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles in 
the 1983 World Series.

Nicknamed "The Pope," Owens was born in Salamanca, New York, and attended St. Bonaventure University. 
Owens' professional playing career began in 1951 at the relatively advanced age of 27.  It was spent entirely at
the minor league level, and largely centered in his native upstate New York.  A first baseman who batted and 
threw right-handed, he twice (1951, 1957) batted .407 with the Olean Oilers of the Class D PONY League
(now the NY-Penn League) and set a league record by hitting safely in 38 consecutive games in 1951.  During 
his relatively brief playing career, Owens compiled a lifetime average of .374.

In 1955, Owens was named Olean's playing manager; the following year, the Oilers became a Phillies' affiliate 
and Owens moved into their organization.  In 1958-59, he managed Class C Bakersfield of the California League. 
He then became a scout, and, eventually, director of the entire Philadelphia farm system.  On June 3rd, 1972, he 
replaced John Quinn as the Phillies' general manager.  Then, five weeks later, on July 10th, Owens fired manager 
Frank Lucchesi and then assumed that job as well, to get a closer look at the last-place Phillies' struggles.  He 
then returned to the front office and proceeded to turn the Phillies into pennant contenders within three seasons. 
His farm system, one of the most productive in the game at the time, bore fruit, yielding players such as Mike 
Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Bob Boone, Larry Bowa, and Dick Ruthven.  In addition, Owens aggressively swung 
trades to add missing pieces such as relief pitcher Tug McGraw and outfielders Garry Maddox and Bake McBride. 
The Phillies won the NL East in 1976, 1977, and 1978, each time falling short in the National League Championship 
Series.

Owens thought he added the final piece in 1979 when he signed free agent Pete Rose, but the Phils stumbled and 
finished fourth. Finally, in 1980, under manager Dallas Green, the Phillies beat Houston in an intense NLCS and 
then defeated the Kansas City Royals for the team's first world championship.

In 1983, Owens again decided to don a uniform and run the Phillies from the dugout as well as from the front office. 
He fired manager Pat Corrales, even though Philadelphia was in first place at the time, albeit just one game over .500,
and led the club to 47 wins in 77 games.  They then defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games in the NLCS to 
win the Phillies' fourth pennant. During the World Series, the Phils lost to Baltimore in five games.  Owens returned to 
managing in 1984, but the results were disappointing.  The Phillies played only .500 ball and finished fourth, 15½ games 
behind the division champ Chicago Cubs.


Paul Owens relinquished both his GM and managing jobs during the off-season, but remained with the Phillies as a senior 
advisor and special scout until his death, in 2003, at age 79 in Woodbury, New Jersey.  His career managing record was 
161-158 (.505).

Each year, the Phillies present the "Paul Owens Award" to the top pitcher and the top position player in their minor-league
system.