George Washington Carver, the brilliant argricultural chemist, and also known as the original “Peanut Man” and the “Wizard of Tuskegee,” had left behind a legacy of finding hundreds of ways to use the sweet potato and the peanut when Carver himself passed away about a month before Roger was born that same year - in 1943.

When Roger was invited to former Pres. Jimmy Carter’s Inaugural parties in 1977, the Washington Star newspaper noted with an appropriate headline the following day, “Two Peanut Men in Town, Carter Who Grows ‘Em, and Owens Who Throws ‘Em.”

However, Roger wasn’t allowed to toss the bags of peanuts directly at the president at one party in particular. A secret serviceman grabbed hold of Roger’s arm in mid-toss and said,”Roger, we know who you are, and we know why you are here, but have those peanut bags been x-rayed?” to which Roger replied that no they weren’t, obviously. So the secret serviceman didn’t allow the peanuts to be tossed to Pres. Carter, citing that they “cannot allow any missiles to be thrown at the President.” Carter never noticed Roger at all that night but finally got that presidential peanut pitch nearly 20 years later when the Dodgers donated food and drinks to Carter’s Habitat For Humanity, allowing Roger to meet Carter for the first time, and finally having the “ok” to toss him the peanuts.