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The Peanut Gallery Blog | Myspace Blog | Facebook | Take Me Out To The Ballgame .. The Official Myspace of Roger Owens www.rogerowenspeanutman.com Roger Owens is the famed peanut vendor who tosses bags of peanuts under-the-leg, behind-the-back, and two at a time, all with unbelievable accuracy, and to those seated even more than 30 rows away. Roger has charmed and amazed generations of fans with his "show within a show" at Dodger Stadium for nearly 45 years. But he's worked the crowds for 50 years if you include the Coliseum years from '58 to '61. He didn't start trick-tossing peanut bags until 1962 when the Dodgers moved into Dodger Stadium, even though he started at age 15 by selling soda at the Coliseum, and moved up the vending chain to sell peanuts in 1959, His consistent hard work and showmanship throughout the 1960's not only helped increase his growing fan base who were thrilled with his amazing tosses, but also with his growing media attention in the 1970's. Although he was the focus of a number of television appearances including news stories and game shows, Roger's career as an icon of Dodger Stadium, who brings added fun and excitement to the game was launched when he was seen nationwide on "The Tonight Show" in September, 1976, on stage with Johnny Carson, as Carson's first guest for the evening. Roger's theatrics and nutty joke telling haven't been limited to Dodger Stadium over the years. In fact, he's taken his peanut pitching to countless Rams, USC, and UCLA football games at the Coliseum, Dallas Cowboys football games once a year for 12 years straight, boxing matches, hockey games, minor league baseball games, and he even has quite a following in Japan after tossing out peanut bags at the American collegiate football all-star games for a number of years at Yokohama Stadium. There is so much fascinating information, from his personal life of traumas, obstacles, happiness, and depression, to his public life of pioneering and remarkable talent, sense of humor and a natural ability to entertain, that to try to cover all of it here would be impossible and inadequate. For a complete biography, please refer to the book, "The Perfect Pitch, the Biography of Roger Owens, the Famous Peanut Man at Dodger Stadium" by Daniel S. Green. ........................ About "The Perfect Pitch" The Perfect Pitch is the biography of Roger Owens, the famous Peanut Man at Dodger Stadium. It is the true life story of the poor boy turned Peanut Man who has enchanted fans at Dodger Stadium for well over four decades. It is truly an inspiring story about Roger Owens, who grew up in an extremely poor family as the eldest of nine children and son of a Baptist minister, living on the tough inner city streets of Los Angeles. It is a remarkable human interest story with a baseball backdrop, yet it can be enjoyed by both men and women, people of all ages, and sports fans or not. It covers the amazing life of the Peanut Man, the many miracles he and his family faced, and his rise from lowly soda vendor to premier peanut man, known for his trick peanut tossing and his career launching appearance as a guest of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Starting out at the Coliseum when the Dodgers moved West, Roger found it was a great way to bring in desperately needed income for his poor family. Over the years, he has become one of baseball's most genuine heroes, not to mention a hero for every day working people. ........................ About The Author 
Daniel Scott Green graduated from California State University, Long Beach. He has a B.A. in Art and a Minor in Marketing. He works as a graphic designer and does some web design. He eventually wants to do what he is best at, illustrating and oil painting. Green also would like to draw and write children's books and write songs. His hobbies include playing guitar, traveling, and music. A native of West Los Angeles, Green currently resides in Orange County, California. Green is also the nephew of Roger Owens, and the grand nephew of Jack Owens, "The Cruising Crooner." ........................ Reviews  "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 for 2004."- BaseballAlmanac.com 
"Crossing the genres of sports biography, inspirational literature, sociology, family and relationship psychology, and self-help, The Perfect Pitch is an amazing and moving success story."- Independent Publisher Online
"…A delightful story of an underdog coming out on top…about real people persevering throughout the struggles of life. You can put yourself in Roger Owens' shoes and feel his excitement radiating from the pages. A moving tale with plenty of photographs, it is a fast paced and engaging story for all readers."- Gretchen Olson, BookReview.com "Anyone - including this site's readers, more than a few of whom probably have a "Peanut Man" memory to share, could be forgiven for thinking that even the most interesting vendor in the history of American sport could be summed up in a nice magazine article.
But Owens does have a story. Born on Valentine's Day, 1943 in Glendale, Owens was the son of a minister and the oldest of nine children who grew up in poverty that helped drive his mother to a sanatorium and the siblings to foster care for a period of years. As a member of the National Guard in 1969, a Jeep accident in which he was a passenger forced Owens into emergency brain surgery to save his life. This happened a year after Owens' father, Ross, was shot point-blank in the chest, only to have the religious tracts in his coat pocket stop the bullet. (A Times article documents the event.) These and other traumas mingle with the fun tale of Owens' peanut-throwing exploits and improbable celebrity, which brought him appearances on The Tonight Show as well as stadia around the world... ...And he's one of those quietly spellbinding figures that if he didn't already exist, you'd have been pretty proud to invent. In between the occasional soft-shoe preaching, there is a story you don't see every day: of what makes an ordinary man extraordinary. The distance between The Perfect Pitch and the mega-bestseller, Tuesdays with Morrie, is probably less than one might think." - Jon Weisman, Dodger Thoughts
I found "The Perfect Pitch" to be the kind of good-news story we really need these days, an entertainment and an inspiration.- Marshall J. Cook, Professor of Creative Writing at Univ. of Wisconsin and author of more than 20 books, including "Effective Coaching" and "Your Novel Proposal"
"The Perfect Pitch" is one of the most inspirational books I've ever read. This book is about life, not just baseball or peanuts. It's about overcoming, persevering, making the best of your talents and opportunities, and staying focused on your goals. It's a great book, well-written and fun to read, for all ages. I highly recommend it.- Dave, reader
You might be thinking to yourself...why would you want to read a book about a peanut vendor...but this isn't any ordinary peanut vendor, this is the famous Roger Owens who has thrown peanuts at Dodger games for the last 46 years and is still going strong.Roger's story is heartbreaking and uplifting. It is inspirational and engaging. He came from a very large family and spent a very tough childhood trying to find himself and help support his family who were very poor.His mother suffered from mental problems and Roger and his siblings were placed in different foster homes.Baseball and the LA Dodgers turned out to be Roger's saving grace. He began his long career at the Coliseum and moved with the Dodgers to Dodger Stadium in 1962 and he has been there ever since.Roger developed quite a following in the sports and entertainment world with his humor and special ability to throw peanuts behind his back and between his legs and hit his mark every time. Roger also experienced a life threatening jeep accident early in his career. Roger's nephew Daniel wrote this book about his uncle and it is indeed a labor of love.If you read one book about a peanut vendor make it this one.- Gary Tallman, reader ........................ Banners 
........................ Videos "The Perfect Pitch," Book Trailer Roger Owens ........................ Games Baseball .. Play Games at AddictingGames
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