Former Philadelphia Phillies GM Paul Owens comes in as the 11th best general manager in baseball history.
(Philadelphia Phillies, 1973-83)
Paul Owens was a career minor leaguer who shifted to management when he washed out as a player, then gradually worked his way up the system. Those steps included minor league manager, scout and farm system director before being named to succeed John Quinn as the Philadelphia Phillies GM following the 1972 season.
It would have been difficult to image a less auspicious opportunity. The Phillies had won only one pennant or divisional title since 1915 and Quinn’s most notable accomplishment over the previous decade had been the 1964 final-week collapse. The Phillies had finished dead last in 1971 and 1972, and hadn’t been above .500 since 1966. In short, Owens was a nobody taking over a nothing club.
Yet he succeeded spectacularly.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Part of the reason is that he was left with some usable parts. Steve Carlton was an established ace, while both Greg Luzinski and Larry Bowa were developing fixtures. But the biggest step was Owens’ ability to recognize the talent in Mike Schmidt, a rookie third baseman. Schmidt had played briefly in 1972, batting just .206 in 40 at bats. But Owens believed. The reward was not immediate. Schmidt hit .196 in 1973, but then he took off, batting .282 with 36 home runs in 1974, the practical beginning of a Hall of Fame career.
Owens also trusted Bob Boone, who took over at catcher and became a National League stalwart. A May 1975 deal with San Francisco brought in Garry Maddox to play center, while Schmidt’s development allowed Owens to ship Don Money to Milwaukee in exchange for pitcher Jim Lonborg. Within three short seasons under Owens, the Phillies had become something new: they had become formidable.
The young and energetic lineup captured the NL East title in 1976, 77 and 78, twice coming agonizingly close to the World Series. In 1979, Owens signed free agent Pete Rose, and one season later the whole thing meshed, the Phils winning the first World Series in the franchises’s history. They returned to the post-season during the 1981 split season, and in 1983 won the NL pennant for a second time.
That gave Owens six post-season appearances in eight seasons, three times as many as all previous Phillies GMs combined. Between 1975 and 1983, the Phillies had topped .500 nine consecutive seasons. That was as many times as they had surpassed .500 in the previous quarter-century.
The result is a surprisingly strong and balanced profile. He ranks among the top 20 in both average and total short-term impact.
Owens, who had named himself manager midway through the 1983 season then rallied his troops to that pennant, relinquished his front-office title at season’s end. His +8.5 short-term impact on the 1983 pennant winning campaign should have won him the Sporting News Executive Of The Year award, but voters went instead for Hank Peters, whose Orioles defeated the Phillies in the World Series. Peters had a good season as well, although it did not rise to the level of Owens.
Owens continued as manager in 1984, but when the team slid back to .500 he retired to become a special assistant and scout. Owens died in 2003.
Paul Owens
In the first six categories, values reflect the standard deviation of the GM’s performance above or below the historical mean for that category. Category 7 awards or deducts points for seasons in which the GM’s short-term impact exceeded the margin by which his team either reached post-season or failed to do so. Category 8 represents post-season appearances; in categories 7 and 8 indicated points are based on numbers of teams and post-season berths.
1 Short-term average: +1.31
2 Short-term total: +1.06
3 Long-term average: +0.95
4 Long-term total: +0.45
5 Residual average: +0.11
6 Residual total: -0.21
7 GM’s post-season shares:
- 1977 Award +0.70. Owens aided the Phillies by +5.7 games; they qualified for post-season by 5 games. Key moves: Acquired Bake McBride, +2.3; acquired Ted Sizemore, +1.1; signed Richie Hebner, +1.1; promoted Warren Brusstar, +1.1.
- 1978 Award +0.70. Owens aided the Phillies by +1.9 games; they qualified for post-season by 1.5 games. Key moves: Acquired Dick Ruthven +1.8; re-signed Greg Luzinski +2.9; re-signed Larry Bowa +1.8; signed Ron Reed +1.4.
- 1980 Award +0.70. Owens aided the Phillies by +3.7 games; they qualified for post-season by 1 game. Key moves: Promoted Marty Bystrom +1.3; re-signed Dick Ruthven +1.0.
- 1981: Award +0.35. Owens aided the Phillies by 1.6 games; they qualified for post-season by 1.5 games. Key moves: Acquired Gary Matthews, +1.0.
- 1983 Award +0.70. Owens aided the Phillies by 8.5 games; they qualified for post-season by 6 games. Key moves: Acquired Joe Morgan +4.1; acquired Al Holland +2.4; acquired Joe Lefebvre +1.4; re-signed John Denny +3.4.
Category 7 total: +3.15
8 Credit for post-season appearances (1976, +0.70; 1977, +0.70; 1978, +0.70; 1980, +0.70; 1981, +0.35; 1983, +0.70): +3.85.
Grand total: +10.67
Next: No. 10, Buzzie Bavasi