Steve Howe came out of nowhere. At age 21 he was pitching in AA San Antonio and was a starting pitcher there. He made the Dodger roster out of spring training in 1980 and went on to win the ROY that year. The second of 4 LA Rookies of the Year in a row. Rick Sutcliffe won in 1979. He would be followed by Fernando and Steve Sax. Howe was born on March 10th, 1958, in Pontiac Michigan. His father was an auto worker. By all accounts, he had a pretty rough childhood. But he was blessed with an electric arm and a devastating sinker. That pitch got him a baseball scholarship to the University of Michigan.
Howe was taken in the first round of the amateur draft in the summer of 1979. He went to San Antonio and pitched in 13 games, starting all 13. He had a 6-2 record with 5 complete games, 1 shutout, and a 3.13 ERA in 95 innings.
He was a non-roster invitee to spring training in 1980 and made the team. But with the Dodgers, he was used exclusively in relief. He appeared in 59 games and had a 7-9 record and 17 saves. His ERA was 2.66. Those stats earned him the Rookie of the Year award. He helped the Dodgers tie the Astros for the division lead, but they lost a one-game playoff.
In 1981, Howe appeared in 41 games getting 8 saves and a 5-3 record with a 2.50 ERA. He finished 25 games. He pitched in 4 games in the two NL Championship Series against the Astros and the Expos. Then he pitched in 3 games against the Yankees in the World Series notching a win and a save. His 3.2 innings at the end of game six clinched a 9-2 Dodger win.
But he had some serious addiction problems that the fans knew nothing about. He was heavy into cocaine, and he was also drinking. He would later admit that he was using it during games, after games, before games, and even once on a day he pitched.
During the 82-83 off-season, he checked himself into a treatment facility. It would not be a one-and-done for the young lefty.
Howe completed the program and began the 83-season pitching as effectively as he ever had. But on May 29, he relapsed and had to re-enter the program. The Dodgers fined him, and Commissioner Kuhn placed him on probation upon his return in late June. In July the Dodgers suspended him when he showed up late for a game, but quickly reinstated him. He pitched fantastically through July, August, and into September. But on September 19th, he missed a flight to Atlanta and refused to take a drug test, which was a condition of his probation. The Dodgers suspended him indefinitely. In December, MLB suspended him for the 1984 season. Even with all his problems, he had a minuscule ERA of 1.44 and recorded 18 saves. It would be his career-high.
For Howe, it was probably the best thing. His support system felt being away from the stress of a pennant race would give him more time with family and time to get his head straight. But when he came back in 1985, he was ineffective through 19 games with the Dodgers. He did record 3 saves, but on July 3rd, the Dodgers released him.
Howe stated he was happy to be out of Los Angeles. He felt there were too many temptations in the city for him. Another problem was the lack of a support system for the Dodgers. Teammate, Dave Stewart would later admit to covering for Howe when he was using during games. Stewart said, ” I couldn’t see where there was a problem, it wasn’t affecting his performance.” Another member of the bullpen, Tom Neidenfuer said of Howes’s drug use, ” you don’t have any responsibility but to yourself… My idea is to do my job, keep my mouth shut and worry about yourself. It’s a tough business, and that’s what it is, a business.” In his 5 years in a Dodger uni, he was 24-25 with a 2.35 ERA and 59 saves. The Twins signed him about a month after his release, but he was ineffective for them also.
At the time, cocaine was front page news. And Howes name was brought up frequently. About a month after the Twins signed him, he appeared on Nightline with Ted Koppel. He told Koppel that cocaine was not a problem in his life, it was his life. That he used the past tense was misleading. After the show, he disappeared for the next 72 hours, when he returned, he told the Twins he had relapsed and he was released.
For the next 5 years, he would basically drift. He had a short stint with the Rangers in 1987 over the objections of the Commissioner, Peter Uberroth. He would pitch for the San Jose Bees, but no MLB team would touch him. Uberroth had staked his reputation on cleaning up the game. Overall, Howe would be suspended 7 times during his career. He also hurt his shoulder during his hiatus and began having some other medical problems. Finally, in 1990, Commissioner Fay Vincent reinstated him, but only to play affiliated minor league baseball.
In January of 1991, GM Gene Michael of the Yankees was impressed enough to invite Howe to Spring training as a nonroster invitee. “There is always a need for left-handed pitchers,” he said. He was sent to AAA after spring training but was quickly called up. He tossed 50 innings and had a 1.68 ERA before an elbow injury knocked him out in August. That winter he and the Yanks agreed to an incentive-laden 600,000-dollar contract.
But in December, Howe was in trouble again. He was arrested for felony cocaine possession. Later that offseason, Howe struck a light pole with his car and fled the scene, resulting in a fine. Unlike his previous teams, the Yankees stuck by him. He pitched effectively early in the season while his legal cases were pending. But Howe was high on MLB’s agenda. He was allowed to plead his possession charge down to a misdemeanor in May. In June though, Vincent gave him baseball’s version of the death penalty as he was banned for life.
He became only the second player banned for drug offenses. The first was Ferguson Jenkins, but an arbitrator overturned that decision. Howe’s 92 season was over, but in November, an arbitrator overturned his ban too. One condition was that he had to take a drug test every other day. That seemed to work, at least until his baseball career was over.
Howe would show flashes of brilliance over the next few years. But the toll of the drugs and playing baseball began to impact his body and he would suffer through some injuries. He lost his closer’s job to John Wetteland in 1995. He struggled as a middle reliever. Finally, on the 24th of June, 1996, he was released by the Yankees.
Two days after his release, he was arrested at JFK airport for carrying a handgun. He would plead guilty to gun possession and would be placed on three years’ probation. He tried another independent league comeback in 97, but it went nowhere so he retired. Later that summer he was involved in a motorcycle accident which left him with collapsed lungs, and a ruptured trachea. He was charged with drunk driving.
He had his own framing business in Lake Havasu City but maintained his home in Valencia. On April 28th, near Coachella, his truck left the road and flipped several times. Howe was not wearing a seatbelt and he was traveling about 70 miles an hour. Steve Howe was 48 years old when he died.
When you are a fan, you tend to look past a player’s vices no matter what they might be. I had no clue about Howe’s addiction, the same way I knew nothing about Bob Welch’s battle with alcohol. Like most fans, I was more concerned with how he performed on the field. But when I look at the three most publicized cases the Dodgers have dealt with over the years, Howe, Welch, and Darryl Strawberry, it makes you understand that these guys are just people. They aren’t supermen. They can have problems that none of us understand.
I wonder now though, if Howe had the kind of support when he pitched, as the Dodgers are providing Andrew Toles right now, if his life might have turned out differently. We will never know, but it does give us something to think about. How we treat our fellowmen should be part of our everyday thinking every day.
Discussion (22)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Bases loaded nobody out. And that’s what Black Hole Gang members do. Pop up, pop up, and K. If they won’t get rid of Muncy and/or Bellinger at least we shouldn’t have to watch Alberto flail away any longer. Give him a cheerleaders outfit and give his glove to Vargas! And there’s no defending Price any longer! OK Eric, he’s all yours!
1. Another fart.
2. Blown fuse.
3. Short circuit.
4. Diarrhea.
Sorry, I’m really upset right now.
OK I asked a question earlier but then deleted it because it didn’t matter. But I’m gonna ask another question why would you put the worst pitcher on your staff in the game in the 8th inning when you are only down one run?
Does it have to do with the fact that we are up on the Padres big I believe eight games?
Oh man, these are the Doc moves that really make no sense at all. You got your hottest hitter on the bench and you bring your worse.
You did to me 2 days ago. If you ask a question, common sense is answering you. But don’t bother, relax, no harm, just…
Asking.
Ok, Eric, can you enlighten us why you are deleting your posts?
Saving the pen. white doesn’t have it today, and Doc trusts his offense to get him back in the game. Cards ERA is 9th in the league.
Looks like this game is ov….
They are not the Chicago bullpen
When Heaney came back, I guess they could use it on the same day with White, do the same thing they did with Anderson and Catman at the beginning of the season.
LHP Andrew Heaney (left shoulder inflammation)
Expected return: TBD
Heaney threw a simulated game at Busch Stadium on July 12, working his pitch count into the low 30s in two simulated innings. Manager Dave Roberts said Heaney came out of his work “well.” He’s set for a rehab outing for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on July 16, when he’ll throw three or four innings.
Roberts said it was “possible” Heaney will need only one rehab outing before rejoining the Dodgers, but two is much more likely. In an attempt to keep Heaney on the field and contributing at the Major League level, Roberts said that he “just [doesn’t] see it as realistic” that the lefty will push past the 75-pitch mark in his starts.
“I think we’re all kind of optimistic” that Heaney can avoid further injury, Roberts said. “Cautiously optimistic, but that’s why I think just to err on the side of caution, I think with Andrew, it’s the volume. … I think we’ve got to do whatever we can to keep him healthy, because if he’s on our roster and he’s pitching, I think in a lot of different ways he can be helpful.” — Jeff Jones (Last updated: July 12)
7:45 PM ET
Dodgers (56-29)
Cardinals (47-42)
SP Mitch White R
1-1 3.38 ERA 40IP 39K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
DH Will Smith R
3B J. Turner R
LF T. Thompson R
2B H. Alberto R
CF C. Bellinger L
C A. Barnes R
Clear-day
0% Rain
86° Wind 8 mph In
With me and my habits, vises, obesity, gambling etc, etc. all is catch 22. It used to be sex could cure all, but that is just a memory nowadays and it seems exorcise does more harm than good and any food that I enjoy they discover is bad for me. Like they say, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. But to me they’re both the same. Maybe I’ll be better off without a life. Then again if there is a hell…….catch 22 ugh.
Patch I think you are correct change is very difficult. But so is( your example)being overweight. It’s hard on your body and also the health care system. I think you have to choose which hard and which outcome you want. It’s hard to change but hard not to. It’s your choice.
Great article, Bear.
You should consider compiling all your articles into a book. “The comprehensive history of Dodger Baseball”.
I’d buy it.
Great article about Howe, Bear. Howe’s story is a really tragedy, albeit a common one.
And it brings up a difficult question. How much can we attribute self-destructive behaviors to actual illness, which means they are beyond the control of the individual, to behaviors we consider vices or moral weakness?
I’ve read two contrasting opinions here. Demeter singled out the MLB for what could be considered a draconian policy of punishment over treatment, and Jorge, who described the difference between the mental illness of Toles and drug addiction, which he described as a vice.
I think Demeter’s criticism is a little unfair. Baseball had a responsibility to clean up the sport and apply a uniform policy to stamp out drug use, and it’s not like Howe didn’t attend rehab on multiple occasions and wasn’t given ample opportunities to get back into baseball after each stint. In retrospect, we may have a more sympathetic view of addiction, but I don’t think, from my personal memory of the situation with Howe, that we weren’t culturally sympathetic to him at the time, nor is it clear what MLB should have done that was dramatically different from what they did.
Some people, through a not-well-understood combination of brain hardwiring at birth and early imprinting, find themselves suffering through life due to the consequences of poor behavior that is punished by a society that rewards virtuous behavior. I’m reminded of something Mark wrote here about hiring ex-felons at his company. By and large, they were never able to truly reform – in spite of perhaps their best efforts to change. There will never be a shortage of businesses that target overweight people. People know they are fat. They know they shouldn’t eat as much and exercise more, but they’re still fat. Fundamental change is very very difficult.
The tragedy of Steve Howe is that he knew he had a problem, but he just couldn’t change patterns of behavior that were hardwired.
addendum – IMO, Hunter Biden is still a person of moral disrepute.
Bear – Excellent story on Howe. I remember being so pissed when he let his team down and being unavailable for important games due to his suspensions. But that turned out to be the least of his problems in the end. Truly as sad situation.
We all lived through the cocaine 80’s. I had a bar in a major city and guys were snorting at the urinals. It was rampant. I’m sure Bear saw his share if he was playing music in clubs at that time. I saw some big name NBA players after-hours at another bar, many times, with a mountain of cocaine in front of them. I had friends who lost the wife, the condo and the Mercedes to coke addiction. The sad part is that Howe just couldn’t overcome the powerful grip of drugs and alcohol and he too until he lost everything, including his life.
I didn’t get to comment on the post yesterday. I’m on vacation in Arizona with cell service that reminds me of the mid 90s. Not that I’m complaining. I don’t need media all the time. My teenage kids, however, are shaking like a couple junkies who can’t find their dealer.
I’m with Mark. Vargas will make an impact. By 2024 I really believe Vargas/Cartaya will be the face of the Dodgers. This team is built to last.
I’ve been hearing about a trade with the Angels Ohtani for Julio, Catman, Anderson, T Turner, and May. I would do this fo Ohtani.
Either Julio or Catman, plus.
T Turner, Anderson,and a minor leaguer if Ohtani agrees to a 10 year contract extension.
Very sad story for what could have been a great player. He was awesome when he was on his game. Speaking of Darryl Strawberry, I was at the Freeway Series game at Angels stadium when he no-showed and was a late scratch. Then he just disappeared for a while. I feel really bad for those guys that got hooked.
Great job on the post OldBear!
I’m still riding pretty high after such a great homestand. Too bad Kimbrel blew that game against the Padres. It would have been a perfect 11-0.
Howe was an unbelievable, albeit troubled, talent. Great article Bear! Howe was one of my favorites during his time with the Dodgers. It’s a shame that MLB was more concerned with punishment, rather than helping those who struggled with addiction like Howe.
The 2022 MLB Draft will be held in Los Angeles during All-Star week, which the Dodgers will also host. Among the 30 major league teams, the Dodgers’ have the lowest draft bonus pool, at $4.2 million.
Signing free agent Freddie Freeman, who declined a qualifying offer from Atlanta, is the biggest culprit in the Dodgers’ bonus pool being so low, but he’s not the only reason.
As we went over back in March, the Dodgers gained a compensatory pick when Corey Seager signed with the Rangers, which was to be just after the fourth round. But signing Freeman cost the Dodgers their second- and fifth-highest draft picks, since they were a competitive balance tax payor in 2021. The fifth-highest pick was the extra pick for Seager. Being in the highest tier of competitive balance tax last year also caused the Dodgers’ first-round pick to drop ten slots, from 30 to 40. That technically drops the Dodgers’ first pick into the second round, after competitive balance round A.
Jim Callis at MLB.com has details on every slot value for the first 10 rounds of the draft.
Dodgers 2022 draft bonus pool
Round Pick Slot value
1 40 $1,950,900
3 105 $582,400
4 135 $435,000
5 165 $325,200
6 195 $253,200
7 225 $199,700
8 255 $169,000
9 285 $156,500
10 315 $149,500
Total $4,221,400
Slot values from Jim Callis at MLB.com
Bonus pools are determined by adding the slot values of every pick through the first 10 rounds. The slot values are only recommendations, but there are consequences for exceeding the bonus pool. There’s a 75-percent tax on any overage amount up to five percent over the pool. Once a team reaches five percent over, the penalties become more punitive, losing a first-round pick in the next draft. Since this system was implemented a decade ago, no MLB team has gone over five percent past the bonus pool.
The Dodgers tend to go right up to this limit, which means for their draft bonus pool of $4,221,400 this year, they actually can spend up to $4,432,469 without incurring draft penalties.
If he had been at the same time as Toles, I think it would have been the same, drugs are not easy to eliminate, Toles is different, it is a disease, not a vice.
I have experience with drug addicts, I worked for years in a rehabilitation clinic, and I know very well that it is not easy at all