The sad story of Steve Howe — 7 strikes and you’re out!
The passing of former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent brought back memories of his three- and one-half-year tenure highlighted by following through on his friend and predecessor’s (Bart Giamatti) permanent ban on Pete Rose in August of 1989. Vincent was Deputy Commissioner under Giamatti. Rose applied for re-instatement based on his settlement with MLB but was ignored by Vincent who never acted on it. Nor have any of the commissioners who followed.
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Vincent, soon after he took over due to the untimely passing of Giamatti, had to deal with the Loma Prieta earthquake which occurred during Game 3 of the 1989 World Series. The next year the owners ‘locked out’ the players delaying the start of the 1990 season. Later that same season Vincent banned Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (for life) for paying a small-time gambler to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield. Steinbrenner requested being banned for a lifetime so that he could supposedly focus on running the U.S. Olympic effort, and that could not happen were he suspended from MLB. Two years later Steinbrenner requested and was granted re-instatement.
All this may seem a little bit incredible if you’re not familiar. But it was Vincent’s dealings with left-handed relief pitcher the late Steve Howe, that were most puzzling.
If you don’t know the story of Steve Howe
Steve Howe was a very good pitcher. NL Rookie-of-the-Year in 1980, Howe saved the clincher for the Dodgers in the 1981 season vs. the Yankees. Howe was an All-Star in 1982. Everything went downhill after that. He first checked himself into a substance abuse clinic in 1983, had a relapse, and was suspended for the entire 1984 season. It was the first of what would turn out to be, seven suspensions.
From Wikipedia on Steve Howe’s late career:
After briefly pitching for the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers and being out of the major leagues for four years, Howe signed with the Yankees, where he once again pitched effectively. However, in 1992, Howe became the second player to be banned from baseball for life because of substance abuse (the first was Ferguson Jenkins, who was also reinstated). He successfully appealed the ban and re-signed with the Yankees, where he had one final great season in 1994, recording 15 saves and a 1.80 earned run average as the Yankees’ closer. He failed to repeat the performance the following year and was relegated to a setup role, and was released in June 1996 after posting an 0–1 record with a 6.35 ERA. Howe finished his career in 1997 playing with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the independent Northern League.
On June 24, 1992, Vincent permanently suspended pitcher Steve Howe for repeated drug offenses.[28] Vincent was incensed when upper Yankee management (Buck Showalter, Gene Michael, and Jack Lawn) agreed to testify on Howe’s behalf, and threatened them with expulsion from the game:
You have effectively resigned from baseball by agreeing to appear at that hearing…. you should have left your conscience and your principles outside the door.[29]
The three men testified for Howe as promised and remained active in baseball. Three months later, Vincent was removed from his job as commissioner. An arbitrator overturned Vincent’s suspension of Howe on November 11, 1992.[30]
When Howe passed away as the result of a car accident in 2006, ESPN put together the following timeline:
• June 5, 1979 — First round-draft selection of the Los Angeles
Dodgers.
• 1980 — Saved 17 games for Los Angeles and named National League Rookie of the Year.
• 1982 — Enters drug rehabilitation after the season.
• June 29, 1983 — Fined one month’s salary ($53,867) and placed on
probation by the Dodgers after admitting a drug problem.
• July 15, 1983 — Reported late for game and suspended two days by
the Dodgers.
• Sept. 23, 1983 — Missed team flight to Atlanta and suspended
indefinitely by the Dodgers for what the team says is cocaine
dependency. Goes into substance abuse rehabilitation.
• Dec. 15, 1983 — Suspended for one year by Commissioner Bowie
Kuhn for cocaine use.
• May 1984 — In a grievance settlement, agreed not to play in
1984.
• June 23, 1985 — Fined $300 by Los Angeles for arriving three
hours late for a game.
• July 1, 1985 — Placed on the restricted list by the National
League for three days at the Dodgers’ request after missing a game
against Atlanta. Released by the Dodgers two days later.
• Aug. 12, 1985 — Signed by the Minnesota Twins, but released a
month later after missing three games with what the team said was a
“temporary recurrence” of cocaine problem.
• March 20, 1986 — Signed by San Jose of the California League.
• May 15 — Suspended by the National Association of Professional
Baseball Leagues after allegedly testing positive for cocaine. The
following month he was suspended again through Dec. 31 for the same
reason; San Jose released him the day his suspension was over.
• July 11, 1987 — Signed by Oklahoma City of the Class AAA
American Association; the Texas Rangers purchased his contract the
following month.
• November 1987 — Agreed to two-year, $1.2 million contract with
Texas.
• Jan. 19, 1988 — Released by Texas after violating aftercare
program by using alcohol.
• April 4, 1990 — Signs contract with Salinas of the California
League.
• Feb. 1991 — Signs contract with Columbus of the International
League.
• May 9, 1991 — Contract purchased by the New York Yankees.
• Nov. 5, 1991 — Signs one-year contract with the New York
Yankees.
• Dec. 19, 1991 — Arrested on cocaine charges in Kalispell, Mont.
• June 8, 1992 — Suspended indefinitely after pleading guilty in
U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mont., to a misdemeanor charge of
attempting to buy a gram of cocaine.
• June 24, 1992 — Suspended permanently by Commissioner Fay
Vincent.
• Aug. 18, 1992 — Fined the minimum $1,000 and ordered him to
perform 100 hours of community service by a federal judge in
Montana and placed on probation.
• Nov. 11, 1992 — Reinstated by a baseball arbitrator.
• June 22, 1996 — Released by Yankees.
• June 24, 1996 — Arrested and charged with criminal possession of
a weapon at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York when a police officer
spots a loaded .357 Magnum pistol in his carry-on baggage.
• April 1997 — Signs with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the
independent Northern League in comeback attempt at age 39 but quits
midseason because of an arm injury.
• Aug. 19, 1997 — Critically injured in a motorcycle crash and
later charged with drunken driving. Charges later dropped after
prosecutors decided his blood test was improperly obtained.
• April 1, 1999 — Suspended as a volunteer coach for his
daughter’s softball team in Whitefish, Mont.
• April 28, 2006 — Dies in a one-vehicle car accident in
Coachella, Calif., when his pickup truck rolls over in the early
morning. Howe was 48.
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Here’s the puzzling part on Vincent’s behalf: On June 24, 1992, when Vincent permanently suspended Howe for repeated drug offenses it was if Vincent had reached his personal limit and was no longer going to let Steve Howe besmirch MLB. As if Howe were emblematic of selfish players who could not control themselves.
Substance abuse and addiction are serious and too often life-threatening. I’d like to think that today an MLB commissioner and the league would have a different approach than suspending a player seven times before permanent suspension and a callous dismissal of a man’s life. Steve Howe was his own worst enemy. He didn’t need another.
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com. Mark can be reached on x @almostcoop and almostcooperstown@gmail.com
