MILLER, MO – Mickey Owen was a former all-star MLB catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, playing from 1937 to 1954.

In 1959, the Mickey Owen Baseball School came to fruition.

“If it wasn’t for Mickey Owen, I don’t know what I would have done,” alumni player and coach Roger Swofford explains.

“That was baseball at its purest form back in the Mickey Owen days in the early 60’s 70’s 80’s and 90’s. Kids came here for one goal and that was to get better and that was our job to make sure that they did get better,” alumni player and coach Joe Ketchum adds.

Since 2023 a new tradition has been created in Owen’s honor; The Mickey Owen Baseball School Home Run Derby.

“When we got the opportunity to take it over, we wanted to bring it back to its original form after it shut down for a while,” former Colorado Rockie and co-founder Bobby Johnson says. “The oldest guy we got out here today is 75 so it’s cool to see those guys still involved in the game.”

“This school just gave kids a place to play. There wasn’t any travel ball back then. We had Michael Jordan here on these fields when he was 12 years old. That’s how you get a passion for baseball,” Swofford adds.

With so much history behind the story of the veteran baseball player, the home run derby has seen a ton of growth in only one year.

“Last year I think we had about 20 alumni and so far I think we’ve got about 40 people come today,” co-founder Lynna Hillhouse says. “We didn’t have like any of these new dug outs, didn’t have the roof on some of these buildings, the concession stand wasn’t done. There’s just been so much support from everyone and it’s truly been awesome.”

Over 300 people in attendance, along with raffle prizes and memorabilia to go around, the day was a huge success and the community of Miller looks to carry on this tradition for many years to come.

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