Mickey Owen biography

Owen played for the Cardinals 1937–1940, then played for the Brooklyn Dodgers 1941–1945. While playing for the Dodgers, Owen was named to the National League All-Star team four times, 1941–1944.

Owen next played for the Chicago Cubs 1950-–1951, then joined the Boston Red Sox in 1954. He played his last professional game Sept. 11, 1954.

According to Ken Rizzo, president of Mickey Owen Baseball School, Owen started the baseball camp in 1959 with a couple of investors on 450 acres of land that included springs, oak trees and a sawmill.

“They actually felled some of the oak trees on the property to build this camp,” Rizzo said.

Campers don’t see much of him these days, but Rizzo said Owen used to come out to visit them.

“He would come out just to say ‘Hi’ and just because he loved the game,” Rizzo said. “He was the main impetus behind what we have here today, and many of his tenets and philosophies live on here.”