Dodger Stadium’s ‘Peanut Man’ Back to His Old Pitch

When the throwing of peanut bags was banned at Dodger Stadium two weeks ago, vendor Roger Owens embarked on his own training regimen to stay sharp.

“I practiced throwing bags in my backyard,” said Owens, who is known to fans as the “Peanut Man.”

His dedication paid off because on Thursday night Arthur Food Services, the stadium concessionaire, announced that the “tossing, throwing and casting of bags of peanuts” had been reinstituted.

Throws a Strike

And at 6:35 p.m. Owens spotted “an attorney friend of mine named Larry in Aisle 157”--about 15 rows away. The Peanut Man’s aim was perfect on this, his first official throw since Aug. 14, the day the peanut-tossers were restricted to hand-deliveries.

As Owens, 42, went up and down the aisles exhibiting his new “knuckle-bag” pitch, spectators broke into applause.

“It was like a family reunion,” Owens said Friday. “I could hear people cheering and saying, ‘Hey, he’s throwing again!’ It brought tears to my eyes.”

Tom Arthur, president of Arthur Food Services, had halted the practice in order to “study the insurance aspects” of a recently passed city ordinance that forbade the throwing of objects in the stands. City Atty. James Hahn had assured the Dodgers that vendors would not be affected by the law.

Coliseum Ban Still On

(Volume Services, the Coliseum concessionaire, also instructed peanut vendors at Raiders games to stop airborne deliveries two weeks ago. Regional manager Mel Clemen could not be reached Friday on whether he would lift the ban there.)

While satisfied that the ordinance did not alter the company’s liability status, Arthur added a cautionary note: “We’re going to tell them to be careful. We’ve got 13 peanut vendors and the aim of the others isn’t always as good as Roger’s. His isn’t always the best, either. He says he has a knuckler but, you know, the guy (trying to catch the bag) doesn’t have a catcher’s glove.”

Owens says he cannot recall ever beaning an innocent bystander (or bysitter) with a peanut bag.

“I’m as accurate throwing behind my back to someone 15 or 20 yards away as other vendors are throwing two feet normally,” the Peanut Man said.

‘Let Roger Throw’

The day after the ban went into effect, an Orange County executive hung up a banner that said “Let Roger Throw” at Dodger Stadium. Fans began chanting the message.

“It was chilling,” recalled the Peanut Man, who has performed on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” as well as at numerous dinners, fund-raisers and in a Japanese television special. “I’ve been praying every night since then that this tragedy in my life would come to an end. Now that it has, I’m the happiest peanut man in the world.”