On the blog today, we have a 1975 "not so missing" card for Art Howe, his third such card created for the blog over the years:
Howe
made his Big League debut in 1974, with 29 games for the Pittsburgh
Pirates that saw him hit .243 with 18 hits over 74 at-bats, with a homer
and five runs batted in.
The future Major League manager actually played in 63 games for the
Pirates in 1975, gathering 162 plate appearances, so really he should
have had a card.
He hit .171 for the year, with nine doubles and a homer along with 10 runs batted in and 13 runs scored.
His 11-year career as a player would really hit it's stride after
joining the Houston Astros, as he'd play pretty much full-time between
1977 and 1982 before a couple of part-time years in St. Louis in 1984
and 1985 (he didn't play Major League ball in
1983).
As you all know, he'd really find his niche on the Major League
level as a manager, guiding the Astros, Oakland A's and New York Mets
between 1989 and 2004.
His real success was leading the young studs in Oakland in the
late-90's/early-00's, winning 100-games in two seasons (2001 and 2002),
but never being able to get past the N.Y. Yankees (remember the
now-famous "Jeter-Flip"?).
All told, Howe would win 1129 games as a manager in the Big
Leagues, finishing 2nd in "Manager of the Year" voting four years in a
row from 1999-2002.
