| Dixie Howell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born:(1920-04-24)April 24, 1920 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | |
| Died: October 5, 1990(1990-10-05) (aged 70) Binghamton, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 6, 1947, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 8, 1956, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .246 |
| Home runs | 12 |
| Runs batted in | 93 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Homer Elliot "Dixie" Howell (April 24, 1920 – October 5, 1990) was an American professionalbaseballcatcher. He appeared in eight seasons inMajor League Baseball (MLB) between 1947 and 1956 for thePittsburgh Pirates,Cincinnati Reds andBrooklyn Dodgers.[1]
Howell was born inLouisville, Kentucky. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg). His professional career began in 1938 after his graduation fromLouisville Male High School. By 1941, he had been acquired by the Dodgers and was playing for their top affiliate, theMontreal Royals of theInternational League. With the outbreak of World War II, he served in theUnited States Army in theEuropean Theater of Operations[2] and missed the 1944–45 seasons. In1946 he returned to Montreal and split catching duties for the Royals with left-handed-battingHerman Franks. The 1946 Royals, led bysecond basemanJackie Robinson, won the league championship and theJunior World Series, but are famous as the firstracially integrated team in "organized baseball" since the 1880s. Howell witnessed Robinson's constant battle against intimidation—especially in the form ofbrushback pitches.
"I was with Jackie on Montreal", Howell toldRoger Kahn in 1953. "The way he was thrown at that year was unbelievable. Unbelievable and disgraceful."[3]
"You never saw anything like it", Howell said in aLos Angeles Times interview published eight months before his 1990 death. "Every time he came up, he'd go down!"[4]
According to Robinson biographerArnold Rampersad, Howell was one of twoSouthern-born Montreal players (withMarv Rackley) who personally wished Robinson well on his promotion to the parent Dodgers in April 1947,[5] breaking thebaseball color line.
Howell also made his major league debut in 1947, but not for the Dodgers. On May 3, he was traded to the Pirates in a multi-player transaction headlined by former Brooklynstarting pitcherKirby Higbe, and played his first game three days later, goinghitless in threeat bats against theBoston Braves' ace right-hander,Johnny Sain.[6] Howell andClyde Kluttz served as the Bucs' two primary catchers in1947 and Howellbatted an MLB-career-high .276, but at the end of the season he was traded to theTriple-ASan Francisco Seals, and spent1948 in thePacific Coast League.
Selected by Cincinnati in the 1948Rule 5 draft, Howell spent the next four seasons (1949–52) in the big leagues with the Reds, serving as their most-used catcher in both1950 and1951. But in1952, the Reds traded for veteran receiverAndy Seminick and Howell appeared in only 17 games. In October, the Dodgers reacquired him for pitcherClyde King. He played mostly at Triple-A in 1953 and 1954 (when he returned to theMontreal Royals), but spent the entire1955 season on Brooklyn'sNational Leagueroster. Playing behindRoy Campanella andRube Walker, Howell got into only 16 games (13 in the field and nine as a starting catcher). But he batted .262, and participated in another memorable season that saw Brooklyn win its only world championship, a seven-game triumph over theNew York Yankees in the1955 World Series. Howell did not appear in the World Series.
Howell was sent back to the Royals for most of the1956 campaign, but was recalled by the pennant-bound Dodgers in August for his final seven games of major league service. He collected three hits and started in four games, but did not participate in the1956 World Series, a rematch between the Dodgers and Yankees won by the Bombers in seven games. Howell's career then continued in theminor leagues in 1957–58 before his retirement. As a big leaguer, in 340 games over eight seasons he collected 224 hits in 910 at-bats, scoring 98 runs, with 39doubles, fourtriples, 12 home runs and 93 RBI. Defensively, he recorded a .984fielding percentage as a catcher.[1]
He is one of threeDixie Howells to have played professional baseball, and his big-league career coincided with that of pitcherMillard "Dixie" Howell, also a native Kentuckian. Both Dixie Howells were teammates on the1949 Cincinnati Reds.
· Baseball Almanac