Portrait of the most iconic Franco-American player of the past decade. At 33, he hangs up his cleats with impressive stats as a pitcher that will surely stand out in the future French ‘Hall of Fame’. He opens up to Baseball TV France:
BTVF: Can you introduce us to Owen before he arrived in France?
O.O: I’ve been playing since I was 5 years old in the U.S. I played in Little League until the end of college in Vermont in the northeast. I was more of a shortstop than a pitcher; it was only in my senior year of high school that I really started pitching. That year went very well; we were state champions in Vermont, and then I was scouted by the University of Vermont, which was in NCAA Division I, and that’s where I continued before coming to France.
BTVF: In 2011, Rouen recruited you from the USA to play at the highest level in France. How do you remember that period?
O.O: I remember being contacted by Boris Rothermundt and Xavier Rolland. Actually, the French national team, through the Federation, wanted me to come in 2010 for the European Championships, but at the time I couldn’t free myself up, so it was only in 2011 that I arrived in Rouen, just before the European Club Cup. In my first start with the Huskies, we won 1-0 against Tenerife, and then we won the French Challenge and the final against Montpellier. It was a great start for me.
BTVF: Then you strung together victories with the club, followed by your first call-ups to the national team. How would you rate your personal level of play compared to French baseball at that time?
O.O: In my first year in France, I saw that I had a place in the Rouen club and the French national team. It was really that winter when I went to Australia and accessed the highest level of Australian baseball that I truly felt confident for my return to France. That’s when I decided that I wanted to keep playing baseball for a while and that baseball could be something great in my life. It could bring me a lot of joy, great moments, and success too.
BTVF: Twelve years at the highest European level, how have you seen baseball evolve in France, and what do you consider the greatest achievements of its evolution?
O.O: It was 8 seasons in Rouen, 2 in Parma, and 2 in Montpellier. I think baseball in France keeps evolving; pitchers are becoming more dominant, the level of French players has really improved, and there are more and more promising talents growing in France. Above all, foreign players are getting stronger. Before, it was North American players coming from college, but now foreign players are mostly ex-pros, often from Latin America, who have a very high level.
BTVF: Pitching is your specialty. It’s a topic that French baseball fans often address as a weakness. How have you seen your career as a pitcher evolve, and what do you think needs to be done to improve French pitchers?
O.O: I no longer see the pitcher position as a weakness in France; I think it’s become a strength. Looking at recent scores for the French national team, whether in Tenerife or Bulgaria, pitchers are doing great work. I think French pitchers are now adopting the same training techniques that have existed in the U.S. for about a decade. That is, weighted ball throwing programs, etc. This lag in training methods explained why, for a while, pitchers were seen as the weak point, but now that we train the same way as others, we throw harder and ultimately achieve good results too.
BTVF: During your time in Italy, you suffered a rare but serious baseball injury. You went through the gray paths of recovery. How does a high-level athlete cope with such moments?
O.O: When I got injured, it was really very difficult mentally as well as physically, at least for a while. Then, I told myself that everything happens for a reason—that if this great opportunity ended earlier than I wanted, it was because there was something else. So, another door opened here in Montpellier, and I’m happy with my 2 years in Parma and also with this opportunity here in Montpellier. Maybe if I had never been injured, I wouldn’t have come here to the Pole Espoir near Jean-Michel Mayeur. In the end, it might not be a bad thing.
BTVF: At 33, after confirming that coaching would be your future, you retire from Division 1 at the end of the season. It’s a decision every high-level athlete must make one day. How did you prepare for your departure?
O.O: Regarding coaching and training, I think I’ve been preparing for this departure since always. It’s the experience in baseball as a player that has prepared me to be a coach and pitching coach. I’ve already been working as a coach for almost 10 years at the Normandy Academy near Keno Perez and now here for the Montpellier Pole Espoir near Jean-Michel Mayeur. So, in the end, I’ve been preparing for this day for a while.
BTVF: There are still adventures with the French national team before the end of this year. Will you be available, or do you now want to focus solely on coaching and training?
O.O: For the French national team in September, I will be available; I want that: to finish in a tournament like the World Baseball Classic and help France win, and then it will be time for coaching only.
BTVF: Will we one day see an Ozanich coaching a Division 1 team in France or Europe? Is that a path you want to take?
O.O: For now, I’m happy at the Pole Espoir as a pitching coach and maybe also with the Barracudas as a pitching coach. That’s my project; I prefer to focus on pitching for now. Maybe one day become a coach of a Division 1 team, but for now, I’m happy with Jean-Michel Mayeur, Olivier Brossier, and Guillaume Felices, who are already doing great work.
BTVF: What can we wish for you?
O.O: We can hope for France’s qualification for the World Baseball Classic for a beautiful final outing.
Interview by Didier CANNIOUX
Photo credits: Glenn Gervot, Armand Lenoir, Huskies, and others
