| Dick Howser | |
|---|---|
 Howser at theWhite House in 1985 | |
| Shortstop /Manager | |
| Born:(1936-05-14)May 14, 1936 Miami,Florida, U.S. | |
| Died: June 17, 1987(1987-06-17) (aged 51) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 11, 1961, for the Kansas City Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 27, 1968, for the New York Yankees | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .248 |
| Home runs | 16 |
| Runs batted in | 165 |
| Managerial record | 507–425 |
| Winning % | .544 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Richard Dalton Howser (May 14, 1936 – June 17, 1987) was an AmericanMajor League Baseballshortstop,coach, andmanager who was best known as the manager of theKansas City Royals during the 1980s and for guiding them to the franchise's first World Series title in1985.
A native ofMiami, Florida, Howser grew up inWest Palm Beach, Florida; graduated from Palm Beach High School; and attendedFlorida State University. He was a member of theSigma Nu fraternity. At Florida State, he received honors twice as an All-American shortstop and set a school record with abatting average of .422 in 1956. He signed with theKansas City Athletics on June 13, 1958.[1] He hit .280,stole 37 bases, scored 108runs, and ledAmerican League shortstops inputouts anderrors in his rookie season. For this he was selected to the1961 All-Star team, and was namedThe Sporting News rookie of the year.
As his stats declined in the following two years, his only other season as a regular was with theCleveland Indians in1964. His major league career spanned eight seasons with three clubs –Kansas City Athletics,Cleveland Indians, andNew York Yankees.
Tommy John played with Howser in Cleveland. He described the shortstop as "an aggressive, sparkplug type who'd lead both on and off the field...you could tell even then that Dick would make a fine manager."[2]
Immediately following his playing career, he was thethird base coach with the Yankees for ten seasons (1969–1978). He then spent one year (1979) as head baseball coach at his alma mater, Florida State.
As a manager at the major league level, Howser never finished lower than second place during his seven-year managerial career.
He made his debut in1978, managing one game with the Yankees betweenBilly Martin's andBob Lemon's first tours as skipper in the Bronx. In1980, he returned from Florida State to become a full-time manager of theYankees, taking them to the AL Eastern Division championship with a 103–59 record but losing three consecutive games to theKansas City Royals in theplayoffs; he was the fourth manager to win 100 games in his first full season as a manager.
Howser was one of the few Yankee managers who refused to let ownerGeorge Steinbrenner push him around. When Steinbrenner would call the manager's office before or after games while Howser was meeting with coaches or reporters, Howser would pick up the phone, say "I'm busy!", and hang up.[3] Steinbrenner had a rule about facial hair, whichReggie Jackson would skirt around from time to time in 1980. Howser refused to correct Jackson because he thought Jackson's facial hair was unimportant given the year Jackson was having; however, Jackson later relented and shaved out of respect for Howser.[citation needed] For the most part, though, Howser was stricter in enforcing team rules, more so than Martin and Lemon had been, inTommy John's opinion.[3]
In Game 2 of the1980 American League Championship Series, Yankee third base coachMike Ferraro wavedWillie Randolph home on a double byBob Watson with two outs in the top of the eighth inning and the Yankees down 3–2. Randolph was thrown out at the plate on a relay throw byGeorge Brett, prompting Steinbrenner to jump out of his seat and shout what appeared to beprofanities on live national television. Steinbrenner wanted Ferraro fired on the spot after the game, but Howser refused. The Yankees lost the ALCS in three games, and Howser submitted his resignation on November 21, although it is generally felt that Steinbrenner actually fired him.[4][5] Howser was the first manager to be fired/resign after leading a team to a100 win season (incidentally, Steinbrenner had fired Howser's predecessorBilly Martin in the middle of the 1978 season after he had led the Yankees to a 100-win season the year before).
In the 2007ESPN producedmini-seriesThe Bronx Is Burning, Howser was portrayed by actorMax Casella.
The next year,Kansas City—his postseason rival on multiple occasions in previous seasons—hired Howser to manage the last 33 games of thestrike-shortened1981 season. Under Howser, the Royals finished second in1982 and1983. Prior to the1984 season, with their clubhouse ravaged by drug problems, the Royals started disassembling their team and starting over.[citation needed] Kansas City expected 1984 to be a rebuilding year, but Howser guided the young team to a division title. The Royals were swept in 3 games by the eventual World ChampionDetroit Tigers in theALCS.
The following year, Howser guided theRoyals to their firstWorld Series title. The Royals reached the World Series by defeating theToronto Blue Jays, four games to three, in theAmerican League Championship Series, which was Toronto's first postseason appearance. The Royals then went on to defeat the heavily favoredSt. Louis Cardinals. In both the ALCS (the first year the League Championship Series was best-of-7) and World Series, the Royals won each series by overcoming a 3–1 deficit.
As manager of the defending AL championRoyals, Howser managed the1986 All-Star Game at theAstrodome inHouston.
The AL won 3–2, starting a 30-year stretch that has seen the junior circuit go 22–1–1 in the Mid-Summer Classic after going 2–21 from1963 through1985.
However, during the game,broadcasters on ABC noticed he was messing up signals when he changed pitchers, and Howser later admitted he felt sick before the game. It would be the last game he would manage, as he was diagnosed with abrain tumor and underwent surgery.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NYY | 1978 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | interim | – | – | – | – |
| NYY | 1980 | 162 | 103 | 59 | .636 | 1st in AL East | 0 | 3 | .000 | LostALCS (KC) |
| NYY total | 163 | 103 | 60 | .632 | 0 | 3 | .000 | |||
| KC | 1981 | 33 | 20 | 13 | .606 | 1st in AL West | 0 | 3 | .000 | LostALDS (OAK) |
| KC | 1982 | 162 | 90 | 72 | .556 | 2nd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| KC | 1983 | 162 | 79 | 83 | .488 | 2nd in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| KC | 1984 | 162 | 84 | 78 | .519 | 1st in AL West | 0 | 3 | .000 | LostALCS (DET) |
| KC | 1985 | 162 | 91 | 71 | .562 | 1st in AL West | 8 | 6 | .571 | WonWorld Series (STL) |
| KC | 1986 | 88 | 40 | 48 | .455 | retired | – | – | – | – |
| KC total | 769 | 404 | 365 | .525 | 8 | 12 | .400 | |||
| Total[6] | 932 | 507 | 425 | .544 | 8 | 15 | .348 | |||
Howser attempted a comeback duringspring training of1987 with the Royals, but he quickly found he was physically too weak and abandoned the attempt in late February whenBilly Gardner took over. Three months later, he died atSt. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City[7][8] and was buried inTallahassee, Florida. Two pitchers from his1981 Royals team later died of brain cancer:Dan Quisenberry in 1998 andKen Brett in 2003.
Howser was survived by his wife Nancy and twin daughters from a previous marriage.
On July 3, 1987, Howser's number 10 became the first number retired by the Kansas City Royals. Also that year, the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce established theDick Howser Trophy, college baseball's equivalent of college football'sHeisman Trophy, in Howser's honor.
Florida State University's baseball team plays onMike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium, named in his honor, and he is honored with a bronze bust on the stadium grounds.
The Royals also commissioned a new bronze statue for their Outfield Experience to cap off the end ofKauffman Stadium renovations in 2009. The statue was revealed in a dedication ceremony on Opening Day, April 10, 2009.
| Preceded by | New York Yankeesthird base coach 1969–1978 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
