Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

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 (-), Oakland Athletics (-), and New York Mets (-), 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 , 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 and 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 as bench coach for the Colorado Rockies, Howe was selected to replace the high-profile Tony La Russa as manager of the Athletics for . The A’s suffered through three losing seasons under Howe before, in , they returned to contention. In , and , 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 season.

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

Managerial Statistics

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
Team	Year	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
Houston Astros	1989	162	86	76	.531	3^rd in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1990	162	75	87	.463	5^th in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1991	162	65	97	.401	6^th in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1992	162	81	81	.500	4^th in NL West	-	-	-	-
	1993	162	85	77	.525	3^rd in NL West	-	-	-	-
Houston Astros Total		810	392	418	.484		-	-	-	-
Oakland Athletics	1996	162	78	84	.481	3^rd in AL West	-	-	-	-
	1997	162	65	97	.401	4^th in AL West	-	-	-	-
	1998	162	74	88	.457	4^th in AL West	-	-	-	-
	1999	162	87	75	.537	2^nd in AL West	-	-	-	-
	2000	161	91	70	.565	1^st in AL West	2	3	.400	Lost to New York Yankees
	2001	162	102	60	.630	2^nd in AL West	2	3	.400	Lost to New York Yankees
	2002	162	103	59	.636	1^st in AL West	2	3	.400	Lost to Minnesota Twins
Oakland Athletics Total		1,133	600	534	.530	2 Division Championships 1 Wild Card	6	9	.400	3 Playoff Appearances
New York Mets	2003	161	66	95	.410	5^th in NL East	-	-	-	-
New York Mets	2004	162	71	91	.438	4^th in NL East	-	-	-	-
New York Mets Total		323	137	186	.424		-	-	-	-
Total		2,266	1,129	1,137	.498		6	9	.400	3 Playoff Appearances