Richard Dalton Howser (May 14, 1936 – June 17, 1987) was an American Major League Baseballshortstop, coach, and manager who was best known as the manager of the Kansas City Royals during the 1980s and for guiding them to the franchise's first World Series title in 1985.
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]
Managerial career
Immediately following his playing career, he was the third 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.
New York Yankees (1978, 1980)
He made his debut in 1978, managing one game with the Yankees between Billy Martin's and Bob Lemon's first tours as skipper in the Bronx. In 1980, he returned from Florida State to become a full-time manager of the Yankees, taking them to the AL Eastern Division championship with a 103–59 record but losing three consecutive games to the Kansas City Royals in the playoffs; 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 owner George 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, which Reggie 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, in Tommy John's opinion.[3]
In Game 2 of the 1980 American League Championship Series, Yankee third base coach Mike Ferraro waved Willie Randolph home on a double by Bob 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 by George Brett, prompting Steinbrenner to jump out of his seat and shout what appeared to be profanities 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 a 100 win season (incidentally, Steinbrenner had fired Howser's predecessor Billy Martin in the middle of the 1978 season after he had led the Yankees to a 100-win season the year before).
Howser (to left of podium) presents President Ronald Reagan with a Royals jacket, hat, and bat at the White House after their World Series victory.
The next year, Kansas City—his postseason rival on multiple occasions in previous seasons—hired Howser to manage the last 33 games of the strike-shortened 1981 season. Under Howser, the Royals finished second in 1982 and 1983. Prior to the 1984 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 the ALCS.
The following year, Howser guided the Royals to their first World Series title. The Royals reached the World Series by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays, four games to three, in the American League Championship Series, which was Toronto's first postseason appearance. The Royals then went on to defeat the heavily favored St. 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.
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 from 1963 through 1985.
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 a brain tumor and underwent surgery.
Howser was survived by his wife Nancy and twin daughters from a previous marriage.
Tributes
Howser's managerial number 10 was retired by the Royals alongside George Brett and Frank White.
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 the Dick Howser Trophy, college baseball's equivalent of college football's Heisman Trophy, in Howser's honor.
The Royals also commissioned a new bronze statue for their Outfield Experience to cap off the end of Kauffman Stadium renovations in 2009. The statue was revealed in a dedication ceremony on Opening Day, April 10, 2009.
