Art Howe

Arthur Henry Howe Jr. (born December 15, 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a former infielder, coach, scout and manager in Major League Baseball. He is an alumnus of the University of Wyoming. He served as manager of three clubs: the Houston Astros (mlby|1989-mlby|1993), Oakland Athletics (mlby|1996-mlby|2002), and New York Mets (mlby|2003-mlby|2004), compiling a career record of 1,129 wins against 1,137 defeats (.498).

Playing career

Howe was a relatively old 24 years of age when he signed his first playing contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971. He came to the Majors as a part-time player with Pittsburgh in 1974-75, before a trade to the Astros afforded him greater playing time. He played all four infield positions, mostly as a third baseman and second baseman, for Houston from 1976-82. 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

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 by|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 by|1992 and by|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 only championship.

After a year as a Major League scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and spending by|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 by|1996. The A’s suffered through three losing seasons under Howe before, in by|1999, they returned to contention. In by|2000, by|2001 and by|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.

His 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. 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, he 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 by|2008 season.

Howe is married to his high school sweetheart, Betty. They have three children and three grandchildren.

Managerial Statistics

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/howear01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] - career managing record and playing statistics

References

* "The Baseball Encyclopedia"