Remembering Paul Owens

Paul Owens, the architect of the Philadelphia Phillies’ playoff teams of the 1970s and their World Series winner in 1980, would be celebrating his 100th birthday today if he were still with us.

Owens, who passes away the day after Christmas in 2003, spends more than 40 years with the Phillies as a minor league player, minor league manager, scout, general manager and major league manager.

His trades for closer Tug McGraw, center fielder Garry Maddox, relief pitcher Ron Reed, right fielder Bake McBride, starting pitcher Dick Ruthven and second baseman Manny Trillo are among the key acquisitions in turning the Phillies from a horrid team in the early 1970s into a National League playoff team by 1976 and finally a powerhouse by the time they beat Kansas City in the 1980 World Series.

As general manager in 1983, Owens fires manager Pat Corrales while the underachieving Phillies are in first place, but with an uninspiring record of 43-42.

Owens names himself manager and leads Philadelphia to 47 victories in their final 77 regular season games en route to taking the Phillies to the World Series, where they lose in five games to the Baltimore Orioles.