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Art Howe

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2604:2000:e010:1100:ad1a:7b3c:a212:24b (talk) at 21:10, 3 July 2018 (→Playing career: add). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the football player, see Art Howe (American football).

Art Howe
in 1985 at Busch Memorial Stadium.
Infielder / Manager
Born: (1946-12-15) December 15, 1946 (age 77)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 10, 1974, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
April 19, 1985, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Batting average.260
Home runs43
Runs batted in293
Managerial record1,129–1,137
Winning %.498
Teams
As player

As manager

As coach

Arthur Henry Howe Jr. (born December 15, 1946) is a former Major League Baseball infielder, coach, scout and manager. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1974–1975), Houston Astros (1976–1982), and St. Louis Cardinals (1984–1985). Howe managed the Astros (1989–93), Oakland Athletics (1996–2002), and New York Mets (2003–04), compiling a career record of 1,129 wins and 1,137 losses.

Playing career

Howe was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Wyoming on a college football scholarship, but played baseball after injuries ended his football career.[1] and signed his first playing contract at age 24, with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971. He came to the major leagues as a part-time player with Pittsburgh in 1974–75, before a trade to the Astros for infielder Tommy Helms on January 6, 1976. He played all four infield positions, mostly as a third baseman and second baseman, for Houston from 1976–82. In only playing in 125 games in 1977 and alternating between 2B, SS and 3B, Howe only committed 8 errors. On May 7, 1980, he suffered a fractured jaw when hit by a pitch from Expos pitcher Scott Sanderson.[2]

In May 1981 he won the Player of the Month Award, the only Astros third baseman to win it until it was also won by Alex Bregman in June 2018.[3] After missing the entire 1983 season with an injury, he finished his playing career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1984–85). The right-handed hitter appeared in 891 games over all or parts of 11 seasons, compiling a lifetime batting average of .260 with 43 home runs.

As a coach and manager

Howe along with Ron Washington while with the Texas Rangers in 2007.

In 1986, Howe began his coaching career as an aide to Bobby Valentine with the Texas Rangers. After three seasons, he was hired by his old team, the Astros, as manager for 1989, succeeding Hal Lanier. Howe enjoyed a successful first season in Houston, but the team was rebuilding with young players such as Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, and suffered losing years in 1990–91. In 1992 and 1993 the Astros improved to .500 and then a winning record, but Howe was fired in favor of Terry Collins at the close of the '93 campaign. During the 1994–95 Dominican Winter League season, Howe led the Azucareros del Este to their first championship.

After a year as a Major League scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and spending 1995 as bench coach for the Colorado Rockies, Howe was selected to replace the high-profile Tony La Russa as manager of the Athletics for 1996.[4] The A's suffered through three losing seasons under Howe before, in 1999, they returned to contention. In 2000, 2001 and 2002, the A's won 91, 102 and 103 games respectively and made the American League playoffs in each season. But they did not win a playoff series, and Howe and general manager Billy Beane grew estranged. At the end of 2002, despite a seven-year mark of 600–533 (.530), Howe was released from his Oakland contract to become the highly paid manager of the New York Mets.

Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman portrayed Howe in the film Moneyball, which dramatized Billy Beane's tactics of using sabermetrics to select players. Howe stated that he was unhappy with his portrayal in both the film and the Michael Lewis book it was based on, in which Howe was portrayed as a stubborn traditionalist who refused to follow Beane's plans and a figurehead who acquiesced while Beane ran the A's from the clubhouse.[5] He said it was unfortunate that Beane's lack of regard for him was that obvious.

Howe in 2014

Howe's two years in New York proved highly unsuccessful. The Mets won only 42 percent of their games, the front office went through three general managers, and attendance at Shea Stadium fell. In September 2004, word of Howe's impending firing was leaked to the media two weeks before the season ended, but he was allowed to finish the year.[6] Ultimately, the general manager of the club, Omar Minaya, replaced Howe with Willie Randolph, bench coach for the New York Yankees.

On October 16, 2006, Howe was hired as the third base coach and an infield instructor by the Philadelphia Phillies. After the Texas Rangers hired Ron Washington – a former coach under Howe in Oakland – as their new manager, the Phillies gave Howe permission to speak with the Rangers about any openings in the organization. On November 7, 2006, Howe was hired by the Rangers as Washington's bench coach. He served two years in that role (2007–08) but his contract was not renewed at the end of the Rangers' disappointing 2008 season.

Managerial record

As of September 18, 2015
Team From To Regular season record Post–season record Ref.
W L Win % W L Win %
Houston Astros 1989 1993 392 418 .484 — [7]
Oakland Athletics 1996 2002 600 533 .530 6 9 .400 [7]
New York Mets 2003 2004 137 186 .424 — [7]
Total 1129 1137 .498 6 9 .400 —

Personal life

Howe is married to his high school sweetheart, Betty.[8] They have three children and five grandchildren.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kindred, Dave (October 7, 1980). "The Howe And Why of Success". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  2. ^ Ray Ratto, Examiner Columnist (November 17, 1995). "Nobody will ever call him Neon Art Howe". SFGate. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ "BASEBALL ROUNDUP : A's Reportedly Pick Art Howe as Manager - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. November 16, 1995. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  5. ^ foxsports (September 27, 2011). "Howe upset with 'Moneyball' portrayal". FOX Sports. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  6. ^ DAVE CALDWELL (September 16, 2004). "Howe Agrees to Go Quietly as Mets' Wilpon Speaks Up - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c "Art Howe". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  8. ^ "The clairvoyant Betty Howe". SFGate. November 18, 1995. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
Sporting positions
Preceded by National League Player of the Month
May 1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Houston Astros Longest Hitting Streak
1981–2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Texas Rangers batting coach
1985–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Texas Rangers batting coach
1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Texas Rangers bench coach
2007–2008 		Succeeded by
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