Owen Friend

The longtime president of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame (1978 to 2007), Owen Friend was a former coach, player and manager.

Friend was raised in the St. Louis suburb of Granite City, Illinois.  As a teenager he practiced with the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman’s Park.  In 1944, the Browns signed Friend to a contract.  In 1949, he made his major league debut and was the Browns’ regular second baseman in 1950.

Following the 1950 season, Friend was drafted into the U.S. Army and would serve three years as a Private First Class.  Friend was stationed at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, which fielded a baseball team.

The Army team “loaned” Friend to the Sentin (TX) Plymouth Oilers for the NBC World Series in 1951.  The Oilers won the NBC World Series and Friend would make Wichita his home for the next 50+ years.

In 1953, Friend was discharged from the Army, traded to Detroit and subsequently to Cleveland.  In 1954, Friend joined the Boston Red Sox and in and 1956 the Chicago Cubs.  All told, he played five major league seasons.

In 1960, Friend began a career as a minor league coach, manager and scout in the Cardinals, Astros, Senators, Orioles, Royals and Mets organization.  In 1969, Friend was on the original coaching major league coaching staff of the Kansas City Royals, wearing the number 5 later worn by Hall of Famer George Brett.

Friend retired from baseball in 1976.  He died in Wichita in 2007 at the age of 80.

For more, read Owen Friend’s Society for American Baseball Research bio.