Can healthy Owens reclaim his star? He's taking nothing for granted
Funny how things work out sometimes.
Jerry Owens is not exactly doubling over in laughter, but he managed to force a smile while rehashing his situation from last spring.
Entering training camp as the favorite to start in center field for the White Sox while batting leadoff, Owens strained his groin in the first intrasquad game and never regained his spot.
Had Owens stayed healthy, Carlos Quentin was likely ticketed for the minor leagues. Instead, Nick Swisher took over in center and Quentin had a monster season in left field despite spending the final month on the disabled list with a fractured wrist.
As for Owens, he battled injuries for most of the year, most which he spent at Class AAA Charlotte.
"I'm very happy for Carlos," Owens said at SoxFest late last month. "He deserves it and he's a great player. At the same time, everything happens for a reason. For whatever reason, the Lord didn't think I was ready to play in the big leagues last year and he kept me in Triple-A.
"Now I feel like I'm ready, and Lord willing, it will happen this year. I'm just excited to get going. It's been a long time since I've been a regular up there and I'm looking forward to getting the chance again."
This time around, Owens is competing with two other players - Brian Anderson and Dewayne Wise - for the starting job.
The 28-year-old outfielder again appears to have the edge, but Owens has learned to take nothing for granted.
"I'm very appreciative," he said. "Just for them not to hold the injury against me, I'm very thankful for that because injuries are out of our control. Hopefully, it'll be a good spring and hopefully, on Opening Day I'm the guy. If not, I'm not, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity of making it happen."
Owens got a chance to play in 2007, taking over the leadoff spot for the Sox after Scott Podsednik and Darin Erstad both went down with injuries.
In 93 games, the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder stole 32 bases while batting .267. Owens' average and on-base percentage (.324) weren't great for a top of the order hitter, but he said there's more to the job than raw statistics.
"Sometimes, people might put emphasis on certain things that don't really matter as far as a leadoff guy goes," he said. "It's about making things happen, in my opinion. It's about being exciting. It's about changing the game, whether it's with a bunt, a stolen base or a diving catch. Just changing the nature of the game, because baseball can kind of lull people to sleep sometimes.
"I wouldn't necessarily look at numbers as I would the atmosphere of the game and how a guy can change it."
In an attempt to change his run of bad luck with injuries, Owens spent the off-season back home in Southern California working out with Sherri Howard, a gold medal sprinter in the 1984 Olympics.
"She had me on a good program, lifting, running," Owens said. "I told her I don't want to get hurt again, so do what you have to do to prevent that."
If he does stay healthy, Owens feels he can be the kind of impact player the White Sox have been looking for out of the leadoff spot.
"I'm very thankful to get another chance," Owens said. "I've always done it. In my opinion, it's what I l know how to do."