Larry Owen had a lengthy baseball career that spanned from 1882 to 1897, during which time he established himself as a talented hitter and dominant pitcher in the early years of professional baseball. Despite his success on the field, Owen’s playing career was relatively obscure and short-lived. Decades after his retirement from baseball, Larry Owen gained newfound fame and popularity thanks to the collectors of vintage baseball cards from the late 1800s.
Owen began his professional career in 1882 at age 20 with the Atlanta club of the Southern League. Playing as an outfielder and pitcher, he immediately showed promise by batting over .300 and winning 12 games on the mound. This strong rookie campaign launched Owen’s career in organized baseball during the infancy stages of professional leagues. In 1883, he joined the American Association’s Philadelphia Athletics and became a full-time pitcher, amassing a 27-13 record and league-leading 1.86 ERA. Owen continued pitching well over the next few seasons while also regularly contributing with his bat for various teams throughout the AA and NL.
During his peak years from 1882-1888, Larry Owen established himself as a capable two-way player who was among the early stars of professional baseball. Unfortunately, injuries and illness would curtail his playing career after only a handful of seasons at the top level. Owen spent his final professional season in 1897 at age 37 with the Class-B Portland team of the Pacific Northwest League, registering a 4-5 record while serving mostly as a reserve outfielder and pinch hitter. He retired from the game following that season after accumulating a career record of approximately 102-68 as a pitcher with a respectable 2.86 ERA over several minor and major leagues in the 1880s.
Though Owen achieved success and acclaim during his relatively brief baseball career in the early professional era, he faded into obscurity after his 1897 retirement like many players from that time. That was until the rise of vintage sports card collecting in the mid-20th century revived interest in the earliest stars and players from the late 1800s. It was then discovered that Larry Owen’s playing career and statistics were captured on several rare and highly coveted baseball cards from the late 19th century. Chief among these were his depictions on cards from two seminal sets – the 1888 Goodwin Champions set and the infamous T206 White Border set from 1909-1911.
The 1888 Goodwin Champions set is widely considered the first true set of baseball cards ever mass produced. Featuring 22 players across 11 different teams, it holds enormous historical significance as the progenitor of the modern baseball card collecting hobby. Among the players featured was Larry Owen, who is depicted in an image from his playing days with the Washington Nationals club. His calligraphy-styled name appears across the bottom along with his position of “P”, short for Pitcher. In the over 130 years since the set was created, extremely few examples of Owen’s Goodwin card have survived to the present day, making it one of the most difficult and valuable from that pioneering release. Graded high examples in near-perfect condition have sold at auction for over $100,000 in recent years.
Perhaps even more coveted among today’s collectors is Larry Owen’s appearance in the mammoth T206 tobacco card set. Produced between 1909-1911 by the American Tobacco Company, the huge 524-card T206 set is widely considered the most iconic issue in the history of sports cards. Spanning all major league teams of the era, it remains one of the most popular sets to collect because of its exquisite artwork found on the fronts, known as “white borders” due to the design framing each image. Owen’s T206 card depicts him as a member of the early 1890s Cincinnati Reds, wearing their distinctive uniform with wishbone-shaped “C” across the front. Like virtually all early 20th century tobacco cards before the 1950s, it exists today in an extremely small supply, making high-grade examples among the most expensive collectibles in the sports memorabilia marketplace. PSA/DNA Gem Mint examples of Owen’s T206 card in a 9-10 grade have reached auction prices up to $70,000 in recent years due to their great historical significance and visual appeal to collectors.
While Larry Owen faded into the shadows long ago after retiring from his brief playing career in 1897, his legacy was reborn through the discovery that he was featured on two enormously important early sets of baseball cards – the pioneering Goodwin Champions and the iconic T206 White Borders. Despite having only a handful of seasons in the major leagues over a century ago, his rare baseball cards from those early issues endure as some of the most beloved and valuable in the entire collecting hobby. While far from a true superstar on the field, Larry Owen’s place in baseball history has been cemented through the enduring collectability of his classic cardboard depictions among dedicated vintage card aficionados worldwide. As one of the earliest professional players ever featured, his cards continue to captivate collectors with their ties to the nascent origins of America’s pastime in the Gilded Age.
