CIRCUITOUS PATH TO THE BIG LEAGUES EX-MASTER'S STAR GETS CHANCE.

Byline: HEATHER GRIPP Staff Writer

Jerry Owens discovered a route to the major leagues that he didn't know existed, one that ended up being rather anticlimactic. Within seconds of being told he had been called up by the Chicago White Sox, Owens was informed he had been placed on the disabled list and sent to the minors for a rehab assignment, meaning he'd stay right where he was in Triple-A until that team was eliminated from its playoffs.

``It was interesting,'' Owens said of the late-August move made to make him eligible for the postseason. ``When my agent told me, I was like, `Is that legal?'''

The transaction was only fitting for Owens, whose path to the major leagues has been anything but typical.

Owens was so sure that football was his future that he'd given up baseball during his days at Hart High of Newhall, where he was a star receiver for current NFL quarterback Kyle Boller. Owens then went to UCLA on a football scholarship, but when persistent injuries prompted him to re-evaluate his plans, Owens turned to baseball, not with the Bruins, but back home in Santa Clarita in the NAIA program at The Master's College. He was switched from a pitcher to an outfielder and by the end of his second season with the Mustangs became the highest draft pick ever from The Master's, being taken in the second round by the Montreal Expos in 2003.

Owens made his big-league debut Sept. 11 as a pinch-runner against the Angels and has been used several times since as a late-inning replacement. He made his first start Wednesday and got his first two major-league hits.

Owens is believed to be the first player drafted out of The Master's to reach the majors (Kansas City Royals pitcher Mark Redman spent his freshman year at The Master's but transferred to Oklahoma).

``If you would have asked me where I'd be in five years five years ago, I probably would have said, `I hope in the NFL,''' Owens said. ``But I'm glad I'm where I'm at and went through everything I went through at UCLA and the whole football thing. It made me the person I am today, so I don't regret one bit of that.''

Owens, traded to the White Sox in February 2005, went to spring training this year as a candidate for the vacant center-field job after having won last year's Double-A Southern League batting title and following that up with an impressive .356 average in the Venezuelan winter league. A rough start this spring left Owens with a career-low .262 average this season at Triple-A Charlotte -- an experience Owens calls a valuable character builder -- but the White Sox say he remains a prospect for next year's major-league lineup.

``He wouldn't be here right now if I didn't feel that way,'' White Sox general manager Ken Williams said. ``He's got a chance to be a high average hitter. ... We are extremely high on him.''

Those at The Master's remember being high on Owens for different reasons.

His work ethic, coachability and religious devotion made him a favorite at the Christian school where he still keeps in touch with coaches and returns for offseason alumni games. However, his lengthy time away from the diamond was evident, and recovery from a broken ankle only slowed the progress.

``I don't have any second thoughts about my decision,'' Owens said. ``I'm really happy where I'm at.''

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