Art Howe

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

Art Howe
Howe with the Cardinals in 1985
Infielder / Manager
Born: (1946-12-15) December 15, 1946 (age 77)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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)[1] is an American former professional baseball infielder, coach, scout, and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1974–1975), Houston Astros (1976–1982), and St. Louis Cardinals (1984–1985). Howe managed the Astros (1989–1993), Oakland Athletics (1996–2002), and New York Mets (2003–2004), compiling a career managerial record of 1,129 wins and 1,137 losses.[2]

Playing career[edit]

Howe was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Shaler Area High School. After graduating he attended the University of Wyoming on a college football scholarship, but played baseball after injuries ended his football career.[3] He signed his first playing contract, aged 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 to 1982. While playing in only 125 games in 1977, and alternating among 2B, SS, and 3B, Howe committed just eight errors. On May 7, 1980, he suffered a fractured jaw when hit by a pitch from Expos pitcher Scott Sanderson.[4] In the 1980 National League West tie-breaker game, he hit a home run in the third inning to increase the lead of the Astros to 4-0 against the Dodgers. He later hit a two-run single in the fourth to make it 7-0. Five innings later, the Astros won 7-1 to clinch their first division title in franchise history.

In May 1981 he won the Player of the Month Award, the only Astros third baseman to win it until Alex Bregman in June 2018.[5] 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.[6]

As a coach and manager[edit]

Howe and Ron Washington 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 to a winning record, but Howe was fired in favor of Terry Collins at the close of the '93 campaign.[7] 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.[8] 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, losing each time in the Division Series in five games. This included losing Game 5 at home in 2000 and 2002 and blowing a 2–0 lead in the 2001 series. Gradually, 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 the final year of his Oakland contract to become the manager of the New York Mets, signing a four-year contract worth $9.4 million.[9]

Philip Seymour Hoffman portrayed Howe in the film Moneyball, which dramatized Billy Beane's tactics of using sabermetrics to select players. Howe said he was unhappy with his portrayal in both the film and the Michael Lewis book it was based on, as a stubborn traditionalist who refused to follow Beane's plans and a figurehead who submitted while Beane ran the A's from the clubhouse. Howe described himself as a team player despite his lingering doubts about Beane's methods. Howe was described in the press as a "good company man."[10][11]

Howe in 2014

Howe's two years in New York were unsuccessful. The Mets won only 42 percent of their games, the front office went through three general managers, and attendance at Shea Stadium fell. Howe won his 1,000th game as manager on April 20, 2003, in a 7–4 victory against the Florida Marlins.[12] 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.[13] Ultimately, the general manager of the club, Omar Minaya, replaced Howe with Willie Randolph, bench coach for the New York Yankees.[14]

On October 16, 2006, Howe was hired as the third base coach and an infield instructor by the Philadelphia Phillies.[15] After the Texas Rangers hired Ron Washington – a former coach under Howe in Oakland – as their 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.[16]

Managerial record[edit]

As of 18 September 2015
Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
HOU 1989 162 86 76 .531 3rd in NL West – – –
HOU 1990 162 75 87 .463 4th in NL West – – –
HOU 1991 162 65 97 .401 6th in NL West – – –
HOU 1992 162 81 81 .500 4th in NL West – – –
HOU 1993 162 85 77 .525 3rd in NL West – – –
HOU total 810 392 418 .484 0 0 –
OAK 1996 162 78 84 .481 3rd in AL West – – –
OAK 1997 162 65 97 .401 4th in AL West – – –
OAK 1998 162 74 88 .457 4th in AL West – – –
OAK 1999 162 87 75 .537 2nd in AL West – – –
OAK 2000 161 91 70 .565 1st in AL West 2 3 .400 Lost ALDS (NYY)
OAK 2001 162 102 60 .630 2nd in AL West 2 3 .400 Lost ALDS (NYY)
OAK 2002 162 103 59 .636 1st in AL West 2 3 .400 Lost ALDS (MIN)
OAK total 1,133 600 533 .530 6 9 .400
NYM 2003 161 66 95 .410 5th in NL East – – –
NYM 2004 162 71 91 .438 4th in NL East – – –
NYM total 323 137 186 .424 0 0 –
Total[17] 2,266 1,129 1,137 .498 6 9 .400

Personal life[edit]

Howe is married to his high school sweetheart, Betty.[18] They have three children and six grandchildren.[citation needed] On May 14, 2020, Howe confirmed that he was in an ICU suffering from Covid-19.[19] On May 17, 2020, he was released from the hospital, and sent home, reportedly "weak, but on the mend."[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Art Howe Managerial Record". baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  2. ^ "Art Howe Managerial Record". baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  3. ^ Kindred, Dave (October 7, 1980). "The Howe And Why of Success". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  4. ^ Ray Ratto, Examiner Columnist (November 17, 1995). "Nobody will ever call him Neon Art Howe". SFGate. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  5. ^ "Astros 3B Alex Bregman earns AL Player of Month honors for June". 12newsnow.com.
  6. ^ "Art Howe Stats". baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  7. ^ "Collins Named Astro Manager". Los Angeles Times. November 18, 1993. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  8. ^ "BASEBALL ROUNDUP : A's Reportedly Pick Art Howe as Manager". Los Angeles Times. November 16, 1995. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  9. ^ Bock, Hal (October 28, 2002). "N.Y. Mets Introduce Howe As Manager". theintelligencer.com. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  10. ^ foxsports (September 27, 2011). "Howe upset with 'Moneyball' portrayal". FOX Sports. Archived from the original on December 26, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  11. ^ "Oakland Athletics: In Defense of Former Manager Art Howe".
  12. ^ "Marlins vs. Mets - Game Preview - April 20, 2003 - ESPN". ESPN.
  13. ^ DAVE CALDWELL (September 16, 2004). "Howe Agrees to Go Quietly as Mets' Wilpon Speaks Up". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  14. ^ Field, Marshall. "Willie Randolph Was Named Mets' Manager 14 Years Ago Today". metsmerizedonline.com. Metsmerized Online. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  15. ^ Miller, Stephen. "Phillies open the ex-files for staff ** Former managers Williams, Howe, Lopes hired as Manuel's 2007 coaches". mcall.com. Tribune Interactive. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  16. ^ "Report: Former Rangers coach Art Howe in ICU with coronavirus". dallasnews.com. The Dallas Morning News. May 15, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  17. ^ "Art Howe". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  18. ^ "The clairvoyant Betty Howe". SFGate. November 18, 1995. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  19. ^ Associated Press. "Former Big League Manager, Player Howe in ICU With Virus". The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  20. ^ "Updated with Quotes: Art Howe Has Rounded Third and is Back at Home in Houston". www.si.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Art Howe.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by National League Player of the Month
May 1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Houston Astros longest hitting streak
1981—2000
(with Luis Gonzalez, 1997—2000) 		Succeeded by
Sporting positions
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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