Where have all the heroes gone? Our basketball players are in court, our movie stars are not known for their squeaky-clean images and even our politicians tend to bend the truth on occasion.

Truth is, there aren't many role models in this day and age – at least not the kind who achieve their status in what is now known as the “old-fashioned way;” quietly and with a lot of hard work, honesty and determination rather than big talking and corner-cutting.

This is what makes the story of Roger Owens, the acclaimed “Peanut Man” of L.A.'s Dodger Stadium, all the more inspiring and heart-warming. Chronicling his rise from the poor streets of L.A. to acclaim in the baseball stands and even on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Perfect Pitch presents Owens, rightly so, as a true American hero for men and women – sports fan or not – of all ages.

Owens represents so much of what all Americans hope and strive to be, and his never-waning positive outlook – even in the face of hopelessness and true poverty – will remind all of us of what is admirable and important in all areas of our lives.

From L.A. Daily News: "It was only a matter of time before Roger Owens, the beloved Dodger Stadium peanut man, came out with his own tell-all book. After 45 years of pitching more than 2 million bags of goobers to the Hollywood elite, as well as the rest of the Southern California fair-weathered eccentrics, he had to have heard thousands of salty stories between racing up and down the aisles and turning change for a $20. He tells it all, all right. All about perseverance, humility and responsibility. All about the importance of being honest, resourceful, and accepting who you are. All about having a strong faith, pride and a sense of humor in times of real pain. All because it's the truth."

From Daily Breeze: "Here, after all, is a man who threw peanuts at the L.A. Olympics and at the Rose Bowl. For 12 years the Dallas Cowboys flew him out to toss at Monday Night Football games. There he set a personal one-game record with 2,400 bags expertly tossed. So he can joke a decade after I first heard it: 'I'm still working for peanuts.' Mostly, he works for the joy of it, an unabashed joy that infects the new biography written with the help of his nephew, Daniel Green..."

From Baseball Almanac: "The story of a man. His life. His work. His passion. Did we mention it's about baseball as well? Combine all these elements and you have a story so moving, well written, and wonderful that if you don't already own it you're missing one of the best books written in 2003."

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Peanuts

Roger had earned the respect and admiration of everyone who saw him on the show. In fact, winner of 21 games that same season Dodger pitcher and friend, Don Sutton summed up that respect a month later when he said," Listen, I would have trouble hitting a wall 15 feet away if I tried to throw a bag of peanuts behind my back. It's definitely easier to throw strikes with a baseball. Man, I saw Roger on the Tonight Show hitting the guy in the polka-dot shirt 35 rows away right on the button." This statement came from a major league hurler who would eventually be tied for 11^th place with Nolan Ryan on the all-time wins list with 324 victories, ahead of the likes of Tom Seaver, Lefty Grove, Early Wynn, and Roger Clemens. Sutton would also eventually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and would be ranked as number seven on the list of all-time strikeout leaders, two places higher than the great Walter Johnson. The Dodger ace knew good pitching when he saw it, even if they were just bags of goobers being thrown by a simple peanut vendor.

Two months after The Tonight Show, Roger was flown out to Philadelphia to talk with host Mike Douglas on The Mike Douglas Show. Roger's late night appearance with Carson ushered in a flood of television appearances over the next three years.

Only a week after The Mike Douglas Show, he was a guest of the ABC show, AM Los Angeles with Regis Philbin. A week later, he was featured on a national broadcast of Newsweek Broadcasting Service. A month later, on December 31^st, he was on the KHJ's Nine in the Morning with Tommy Hawkins, who later became Dodger vice president of communications.

Countless newspaper articles were written about the poor boy turned peanut man who sought to help his struggling, reunited bunch of brothers and sisters and found fame and success through hard work and love of labor. During all these shows, Roger remained grounded in his character and expressed his overwhelming joy for all the attention he had been receiving.

"Whenever I begin to get a big head, I just take a close look at a bag of peanuts. There are no delusions. That's the real reason I'm here today," Roger admitted. "I see myself as an extension of the Dodger players. I'm as close as many of these fans will ever get to the ballplayers. They can't reach out and touch or get to know personally a Dave Lopes or a Steve Garvey, so I kind of take their place."

For every bag of peanuts tossed behind his back from over fifty feet away, right into the lap of an adoring fan, he received in exchange, both the flip of a 25-cent payment and the toss of that same fan's heart. There was no doubt that Roger was a celebrity among the Dodger fans, but to many of the kids growing up during the 70's, he was larger than life.

"Most of the kids who bring their gloves to the game will never have a chance to catch a foul ball. Catching a bag of peanuts can be the next best thing. So when a kid misses one of my throws, I tell him it was my fault, that the throw was bad, and I ask him to give me another chance. Seeing the face of a little guy being applauded for a good catch by those around him is something... well, something. I don't want to give up." Even season ticket holders knew that besides grabbing any one of Roger's trademark pitches, such as the knuckle nut, fast nut, and split nut, Roger himself was quite a catch. They decided not to buy more enviable field level tickets, because, simply enough, Roger wouldn't be there in that section.

Copyright © 2003 Llumina Press.

CLICK To Order

The Perfect Pitch
The Biography of Roger Owens
The Famous Peanut Man at Dodger Stadium

Written by: Daniel S. Green.
Pages: 340.
Published: December 2003.
Publisher: Llumina Press.

ISBN: 1-9325-6030-0.