End to the sad Steve Howe saga

[cj]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2425900
(http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Arqd0DrftauevDcxLeGrB.8RvLYF?slug=ap-obit-howe&prov=ap&type=lgns)

[JustRalph]

what a waste.......he was one hell of a pitcher at one time.

[Hosshead]

what a waste.......he was one hell of a pitcher at one time.
Yes, I was pulling for him to "shake off the demons", but seemed like (no matter how many chances),
he never could.
I wonder if he died that way: Driving Under the Infiuence of Something...... R.I.P.

[PaceAdvantage]

I wonder if he died that way: Driving Under the Infiuence of Something...... R.I.P.

Even if he was sober at the end, it really doesn't matter. Most folks are going to think he died the way he lived.....

[freeneasy]

and his family when i heard the news. but it was also good to hear that he had cleaned up, straighten out and was coaching high school baseball.
to remember him as an addict is unfair tho for some it might be what he is most remembered for. a kid who had a great future but threw it away because during his baseball carreer he had a problem that he was unable to overcome.
when steve was with the dodgers i thought he was one of those extra speacial talents that you only see come along once in a while. this kid was so good, so natural that i thought he had an excellent chance to go down in baseball history as one of the greatest relief picthers to have ever come into the game. the kid was that good.
i dont know what his records were but i do know that his
avg base on balls per inning,
avg strikeouts per inning,
avg strikeouts with runners on,
avg strikeouts with runners in scoring position,
avg strikeouts when coming into a game with runners already on,
avg strikeouts when coming into a game with runners already in scoring position,
avg hits per inning,
avg hits per inning with runners on,
avg hits per inning with runners in scoring position
avg hits per inning when coming to the mound
avg hits per inning when coming to the mound with runners on
avg hits per inning when coming to the mound with runners already in scoring position,
avg runs allowed per inning
avg runs allowed per inning when coming to the mound with runners already on,
avg runs allowed per inning when coming to the mound with runners already in scoring position,
avg home runs allowed per innings pitched,
avg home runs allowed when coming into a game with runners already on
records were among the best of the best.
stevie-stevie had every picthing talent that any pitcher could ever ask for and i'll betcha anything that tommy lasorda loved the man so much that he probably had him over for pasta, italian saugage and pepper dinners ten hundred thousand times, this kid had all the tigers by the tail.
and hitters? when steve howe came into the game, well lets just say they knew exactly who he was and with that clean cut teenage looking face of his would strike you out in a heartbeat. you can bet your footlong dodger dog on that
Steve Howe was one of the best relievers that baseball has ever had to offer. yep
thanks stevie, your one of the reasons why i love the game of baseball as much as i do
see ya pal

[kingfin66]

What always amazed me was how his wife stuck with him. When I was umpiring professional baseball (low minors), Howe was on the comeback that resulted in him signing with the Yankees. The guy was making about $800/mo playing for the Salinas Spurs and his wife would sell his autobiography outside the stadiums where he was playing. It sounds like the stuck with him to the end...

Let me tell, you that guy could flat out pitch. His ball had a ton of movement to it, but what was really unfair was when he would drop down to sidearm against a lefty bat. They couldn't touch it.

RIP Steve Howe.

[freeneasy]

ive been wanting to get back to this but delays, delays what can you do
well all i can say is is wow. that must have been beautiful, up close and personal like that right on top of the plate calling steve howe. man what i wouldnt give to have been in your shoes. how many times did you call him king? when steve was coming back up did he stay as a reliever or was he getting some starts? i mean i dont know how many times youd see a batter linger around the plate for a few seconds after a called strike three and kinda wondering about where his help is going to come from :lol: you know the look king that kinda 2-3 second stationary magical mystery tour look expressly continplating the fact that they have no idea of what it was that just went by em :lol:
ahh, that was a good laugh
oh, he was wicked alright, i know, but boy i bet it was a lot of fun to call one of steves games.
hey kinfin did it ever drive you a little nuts i mean did you ever find it a little difficult to measure some of his pitches?. i mean his accuracy was so good and some of his pitches were ment to be so fine lined between a ball and a strike that you had to give him a strike cause you couldn't call the pitch a ball? :D thats funny
ya know, i dont know how describe it but every time the kid came in to pitch he always always came to the mound in this cool, calm, quiet, energized zone. mesmerizing. like something took over and he's not steve howe but he is steve howe, like he's there but he's not there. like he's really not aware of the fact that he's in a zone but he is. ya know
you didnt know what he was thinking, you couldnt get a read on him. and if you did get a read on him it wasn't a concern with him because you didn't intimidate him and batters knew they didn't intimidate him. he was never hesitent to pitch to you or anybody else and his zone kinda like just put him there almost like there was no need for effort, i dont know but yeah he was someting to see.

[kingfin66]

That's quite a reply free! He was only briefly in the California League in 1990. I had the plate with him pitching only 1 time. He was always a reliever. He actually had to have minor surgery that year for some kind of wierd problem with his lung or some such thing and missed a lot of time. He went to Florida that winter for a tryout with NY and got signed. Yes, he had excellent control to the extent that if you gave him a pitch on the corner, he would put the next an inch or two further outside to see if you would give that one too. Major league pitchers often come to the low minors for 1 inning or so rehab starts and they are all like that. That is what separates them from everybody else. Velocity is nice to have, but it is not what makes pitchers great.