From Cucumber-some to Picklestein
The Owen Picklestein Story
by Kidror
Season 14 marked the end of Boston Flowers’ Season 1 veteran Owen Picklestein’s story, as Owen took fellow Flowers veteran Castillo Turner’s place in the shadows.
Owen Picklestein is not a name known to many Blaseball fans outside of the Boston Flowers, and with their retirement now is the best time for everyone to hear the story of Owen Picklestein and how they went from Cucumber-some to Picklestein.
Cucumber-some
Owen’s first game was on Day 3 of Season 1, where they pitched opposite future all-star PolkaDot Patterson of the Breath Mints, leading the Flowers to a 16-5 victory and completing the Flowers first ever clean sweep.
Owen would take to the mound for the final time on Day 102 of Season 14, but Owen wasn’t new to pitching the last game of a season. Owen was also responsible for the Flowers final games in both Season 1 and Season 8, those matches were also Postseason losses that ended Boston’s season.
The Boston Flowers have reached the Postseason a total of 7 times, that means that Owen is responsible for nearly half of their Postseason exits, ouch!
Their Time to Brine!
Their terrible win record turned into a boon helping Boston make an early entry into #Partytime, gaining Owen the title of “Tank Commander”, referring to the process of a team deliberately losing matches also known as “tanking” to obtain an advantage that comes from placing low on the standings
Picklestein’s ability to lose was what ultimately turned them into a fan favourite. The advent of Enhanced Party Time meant if your team couldn’t win the Championship the next best thing was to lose it as fast as possible.
In Season 7 Owen held an 0-17 record before they finally won a game, leaving them just short of earning the nickname of “Owen Twenty” for achieving a 0-20 record that season.
Even still the continuous losses allowed the Boston Flowers to take the Party Time speedrun record by entering the party by Day 76. This record would survive until Season 9 where the Hawai’i Fridays beat their record, entering Enhanced Party Time on Day 73.
Out of a Pickle
Keen-eyed fans who paid attention to the struggling player noticed something incredible, that while Owen Picklestein lost a lot they had a tendency to come up big when it mattered.
It’s well known that in Season 6 the Flowers made a massive comeback on Day 99 to secure themselves the top position in the Wild Low division, but before that could happen they had to win Day 98. On Day 98 Owen held the Jazz Hands to a mere two runs the entire game, with Boston’s offence not scoring until the bottom of the 8th inning where Boston managed to jump all the way from 0 to 8 runs to take the lead and the win.
In Owen’s final season they were responsible for two of Boston’s most important wins as well. Owen won on Day 33 to secure a series sweep after Boston had been swept in the first of two back-to-back series against the Hades Tigers. Owen saved the day again on Day 87 when they prevented a sweep by the Wild Wings and gave hope back to despairing Flowers fans, who felt their Postseason dreams fading away after all-star Nagomi McDaniel allowed a single run on Day 86, costing them the second match of the series.
Owen’s Gotta Rest
Being the worst pitcher left on the Flowers going into Season 14 meant Owens’ time as an active player in the Flowers rotation was coming to an end.
As Season 14 moved into the Midseason the push to exchange Picklestein for Castillo Turner grew stronger each time they lost a match, with fans declaring that “Owens gotta grow”. But the longer the season went on the more that sentiment began to change, and by the time the Postseason began fans no longer wanted Picklestein gone because of their poor performance, but instead they felt that after 14 long seasons of active play Owen deserved to rest.
The pinnacle of this sentiment came at the very end of the Boston Flowers Postseason run, where on Day 101 Owen Picklestein was attacked by a Consumer while they were set to pitch in the next game.
Despite the Consumer attack Owen took the mound and made a valiant last stand against the Tokyo Lift in an attempt to allow their team to push forward. Owen Picklestein held the Tokyo Lift to two runs until the top of the 8th where on the back of two home runs the Tokyo Lift extended their lead, guaranteeing their victory and sending the Flowers back to the garden.
The election following Season 14 marked Owen Picklesteins retirement to the shadows, allowing Castillo Turner to take their place on Boston’s pitching rotation for the first time.
In the end Owen Picklestein had turned from a Zero into a Hero for the Boston Flowers not once but twice. They ended their career a worse player than they began it, and were loved all the more for it. Owen Picklestein has left a massive legacy behind them that any player to grace a Blaseball field should be proud of.
Owen Picklestein was, and always will be, a Flower.
That’s all folks!
The siesta is almost over so make sure to check out the various Season Recaps before Season 15 revs up!
I’ll be back next with the Season 15 Recap for the Boston Flowers so make sure to check it out.
For now, it’s time for me to grow! Have an exciting Season 15!
Additional Credits:
Danteshepherd and Ed for insight into the history of Owen
“Owen Picklestein takes the mound” art is courtesy of discord member Cold Ay
