In the Pipeline: Hometown kid shines in baseball’s big leagues

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, my family was a fixture over at the Robinwood Little League fields. I was a coach, my wife was a team mom and our son played in the league for several years. We must have just missed the tall left-hander named Henry Owens, who played a year ahead of our son.

There is no missing that kid today. The 6-foot-7 southpaw who went on to star at Edison High School (and was named the Cal Hi Sports Player of the Year in 2011, having gone 12-1 with a 1.15 ERA) was a first-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox four years ago.

Last week, the 23-year-old cracked through and got his first shot in the majors, starting at a sold-out Yankee Stadium. He pitched impressively into the sixth inning and, even though he didn’t get the win, he made his mark. The reviews were swift and positive.

I spoke with Owens a few days later and asked him what it was like for the lanky surfer from Huntington Beach to make his first official major league appearance on one of baseball’s grandest stages.

“It was pretty surreal,” he said with a chuckle. “I mean, of all places to make a debut, Yankee Stadium. There’s not much more I could’ve asked for, and it was something my whole family got to enjoy. My mom and dad and sister came out from California. I had two uncles there, family friends. I think it was a special experience for everybody.”

Owens told me that he’d gotten to know the guys on the roster during spring training, so there wasn’t a huge adjustment to be made once he got called up. But still, there’s a big difference between the major leagues and the minors, and Owens said he is happy to make the adjustments.

“You don’t have as much time obviously and there’s a lot more travel,” he said. “But this is what you work for. This is everything you work for, and so far, even just after a week or so, it’s been awesome.”

When we spoke on the phone, the Red Sox had just arrived in Detroit, and a couple of days later, Owens was set to take the mound for his second start, this time against Tiger Star Justin Verlander. Owens said he was feeling good about the start and was taking things one day to time.

Two days later, the kid from Huntington Beach earned his first victory at Comerica Park in Detroit, this time posting five strong innings.

Of course Boston, like New York and Chicago, is one of the last true dyed-in-the-wool baseball towns. Part of that well-oiled legacy has to do with where they play, my absolute favorite venue in the majors, Fenway Park. And within the next few days, it looks like Owens will be making his first home start on the same field where Ruth, Williams and so many other baseball ghosts seem to linger in the sweet, charged, mythical New England air.

I drove past the Robinwood fields just before writing this column, and it was hard not to imagine all of the time, space and distance between those diamonds and the vaunted one in Boston.

Owens is currently engaged in the dream that every kid out on that field has lodged in heart and mind. Hey, many of us adults still dream about it too. My son and I still have a catch at least every couple of days, and with every toss I think about how it must feel to play the big league ballpark.

Whether you’re a baseball fan or not, I hope you take the time to follow this young man’s journey. Huntington Beach’s own Henry Owens has a wonderful story, full of drama, tension and all the other qualities that seem to click in when a strong lefty takes the mound.

I’ll post updates from time to time here in my column, but in the meantime, congratulations to a talented, hard-working former local Little Leaguer who has just begun what hopefully will be long and fruitful career as a major leaguer. Go get ‘em, Henry.

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 25 books, including “Legendary Locals of Huntington Beach.” You can follow him on Twitter @chrisepting or at facebook.com/hbindependent.