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Owens' wild personality a perfect fit in Astros' clubhouse

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Owens' wild personality a perfect fit in Astros' clubhouse

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The thickening beard and messy, long hair are dead giveaways.

The tattoos - including a cactus, for his beloved home state of Arizona - are clear signs. The straight-faced, tongue-in-cheek hilarious one-liners are unavoidable hints.

But the tiger T-shirts seal it.

Lefthander Rudy Owens is the Astros' wild man. A strong-armed, 25-year-old starting pitcher during baseball hours. An all-in, give-'em-hell straight-shooter off the diamond.

"I'm just a redneck. It speaks for itself," Owens said. "I don't really care what people think about me. So, I just do what I got to do. If people don't like it, they can talk (mess). But I kind of, whatever, brush it off."

And he buys tiger T-shirts. Cheap shirts dominated by large imprints of tiger faces and bodies. Owens' loose, wild side captured by a cheap, gas station souvenir.

More Information

Rudy Owens file

Position: Starting pitcher.

Bats/throws: L/L.

Vitals: 6-3, 230 pounds.

Age: 25.

Born: Mesa, Ariz.

Draft: 28th round in 2006 by Pittsburgh.

Acquired: July 25, 2012, Wandy Rodriguez trade.

2012 stats: 10-8, 3.48 ERA, 85 K's, 25 BB, 1.16 WHIP Spring training: 2 G, 21⁄3 IP, 3.38 ERA, 1 K, 3 BB.

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"You find a sweet shirt and you've just got to get it," Owens said. "Whether it's 30 bucks or it's 10 bucks, it's not the money. You have to have it."

Some of Owens' tiger shirts are missing sleeves. Why?

"Those just fall off when I start working out," Owens said. "I don't know what happens, I don't know how it happens. It's kind of weird."

Before Owens finishes the sentence, select members of the pitching crew crack up. Soon, starter John Ely, 23, proudly presents a T-shirt that's entire existence is devoted to a cute, smudgy-faced pug.

"Beast mode," said Ely, holding up his prize.

The hurlers own half of the team's clubhouse. Bud Norris, Lucas Harrell and a tight-but-loose collection of low-priced arms, whose bond is strengthening while baseball analysts predict 100-plus loss ruin for their club.

Norris is a sincere Owens admirer. When the Astros acquired the career minor leaguer July 25 from Pittsburgh as part of the Wandy Rodriguez trade, Norris' first thought captured everything about the team's freest spirit.

"Who is this guy?" said Norris, after viewing Owens up close.

Now, Norris calls Owens "The Hibernator." And the two have become spring training golf buddies, challenging teammates to money games, while occasionally reminding prospect Jarred Cosart he has a few things to learn about the high life.

"We go take people's money," Owens said. "We make sure Cosart's there, because he's not afraid to hand it out. I spend a lot of time hunting, so I can't take much of Cosart's money anymore."

While other Astros swerve through packed Kissimmee traffic on the way to dinner, Owens can often be found in the Orlando-area woods, bow in hand, hunting.

The native of Mesa, Ariz., fell hard for the outdoors during his youth. Deer is his preferred game away from the game.

But in Florida, it's all about the pork. Owens unleashes on a site owned by a man the pitcher barely knows; the man and the land were recommended by Astros pitching coach Doug Brocail.

"He lets me run out there any time I have free time and go … shoot some pigs and stuff like that," Owens said. "Try to keep the population low."

Owens is wildest in his natural, preferred environment. The irony of Owens' clubhouse persona is he's often calm and quiet once he puts on a uniform.

Young, high-energy teams such as Oakland, Tampa Bay and Washington have thrived off everything from biblical-style beards, tattoos and internet dance crazes to college-like, locker-room rituals during recent years, laughing in the face of the corporate side of baseball that underlines the modern game.

The Astros want to embrace their wildness. But few players have legitimate major league service time and many are young enough to understand they must professionally respect the game until they earn real clubhouse credentials under the lights.

"I have no time in the Show," Owens said. "You can't get too comfortable. That rubs people the wrong way. You've got to respect the people around you and just do your work."

So Owens keeps his animal in a cage. For now.

"Wow, that's holding it in? … I actually encourage it," said 34-year-old Astros designated hitter Carlos Pena, a 12-year veteran and five-year member of the Rays.