Steve Howe’s Complicated Life and Tragic End
1st May 2006
When Steven Roy Howe’s life came to a tragic end this past Friday — the result of an early morning rollover accident in his pickup — it left a sense of, not so much shock, but rather of numbing head shaking. It was a tragic end to a life marred by controversy and complication.
Howe will be remembered more for his battles with substance abuse than for his pitching. Cocaine and alcohol were the drugs of choice — a combination that fuels many addicts. One always seems to go with the other — a twisted case of a drug abuse ying and yang.
The left-handed, hard throwing, reliever Howe was the 1980 Rookie of the Year with the Dodgers after notching 17 Saves that season, along with 7 wins and a 2.56 ERA.
He continued to pitch well for the Dodgers over the next two seasons, posting a 2.50 ERA in ‘81 with 8 saves in 54 IP, and 2.08 ERA with 13 Saves over 99.3 IP in ‘82.
In 1982, however, troubles quickly began.
- He checks into rehab at the end of the season.
- On June 29, 1983, he is fined one month’s salary ($53,867) for admitting to a cocaine addiction.
- Less than a month later (July 15th) he reports late for game and suspended two days by the Dodgers.
- He misses a team flight to Atlanta on September 23rd and is suspended indefinitely by the Dodgers for what the team says is cocaine dependency.
- He checked himself into rehab on May 29, 1983, but only in the loosest sense. He leaves the rehab center 3 times during his stay. He had tried the winter before to address the issue, but had relapsed then, as well.
As former Dodger GM and VP Fred Claire recounts in his article this past Saturday:
Rather amazingly, less than a month later — on June 24 — Howe checked out of the center and came directly to Dodger Stadium. I still can see Howe walking into my office at Dodger Stadium and thinking how crazy this picture seemed to be. The Players Association wanted Howe back in action, and he literally went from the care unit to my office, to a press conference near the clubhouse and then to the bullpen.
On Dec. 15, 1983, Commissioner Kuhn suspends Howe and 3 others (Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens and Jerry Martin, all with the Royals during the ‘83 season). As Kuhn is reported in the NY Times the following day:
Howe has undergone repeated treatment for drug abuse over the last 13 months and has been placed on various after-care and probationary programs. Notwithstanding these efforts, Howe has repeatedly violated the terms of his probation and has continued his involvement with illegal drugs. For instance, on three separate occasions in November, weekly drug tests administered to Howe returned positive results for cocaine.
Howe was suspended without pay, although an arbitrator shortened the length of the suspension and Howe got reinstated in May the following year, he wound up missing all of the ‘84 season as part of the grievance settlement.
He returned in ‘85 for the Dodgers going 19 games with a 4.91 ERA over 22 innings before being released in July. The straw that seems to break the camels back is when he was placed on the restricted list by the National League for three days at the Dodgers’ request after missing a game against Atlanta. He is released two days after the incident.
He was picked up by the Twins a month later, but was ineffective posting a 6.16 ERA over 13 games and was eventually released by the Twins in September after missing three days from what the Twins report as a relapse.
At this point, Howe seems to fall off the beaten path… He jumps between a couple of Independent League teams (San Jose of the California League and Oklahoma City of the AAA American Association), does a stint with the Rangers for 24 games in ‘87 (released by the Rangers for violating aftercare program by using alcohol), goes back to independent leagues (signs with Salinas of the California League in April of 1990, and then with Columbus of the International League), before the Yankees pick up his contract and sign him to a minor league deal in May of ‘91.
After signing with the Yankees, he takes a shot at cleaning up, sadly he fails when he is busted on December 19, 1991 for a gram of cocaine in Kalispell, Montana.
On June 8, 1992 he pleads guilty to the misdemeanor charge of attempting to buy a gram of cocaine in US District Court in Missoula, Montana. Sixteen days later, Commissioner Vincent bans Howe from MLB for life, not because of his pleading guilty to the cocaine charges, but for violating the MLB drug policy.
The MLBPA files a grievance on June 9, 1992 on behalf of Howe for unjust cause. Dick Moss, who was Marvin Miller’s assistant the formative days of the MLBPA, is now Howe’s agent and represents him, as well arguing that Howe has attention deficit disorder. As Moss recounted in Murray Chass’ column this past weekend, “He was misdiagnosed,” Moss said in a telephone interview. “He was sent to programs that had nothing to do with his disease.”
On November 11, 1992, Howe is reinstated by arbitrator George Nicolau agreeing with Moss’s argument on attention deficit disorder, finding that “an underlying psychiatric disorder” had contributed to Howe’s cocaine addiction, and overturned the suspension, reducing it to time served. As Moss added in Chass’ column, “One of the proudest moments in my professional life was being able to get him back into baseball, seeing what his disease was and having him treated.”
He goes to work out of the bullpen for the Yankees in regular fashion in ‘93 over 51 games. In 1994 he shows the brilliance of his past by going 3-0 with 15 Saves and posting a 1.80 ERA. It will be his last hurrah. He is eventually released by the Yankees in 1996, never to return to the Majors after trying to make a comeback with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the independent Northern League, but retires from baseball after an arm injury.
In August of 1997, he is critically injured in a motorcycle crash and later charged with drunken driving. Charges later dropped after prosecutors decided his blood test was improperly obtained.
And finally, he dies on April 28 of this year at the age of 48 in the rollover accident.
I asked Fred Claire and Fay Vincent to comment about Howe. Both gave brief responses.
From Claire… “Steve was a good man who fought to overcome a substance abuse problem he couldn’t seem to distance himself from despite his efforts.”
From Vincent… “He was a sad figure. I am sorry he had such demons and paid so big a price for those addictions. I am not surprised he died so young. I have thought of him often and somehow was sure he was still in some serious battles to find peace. His wife and son have my sincere sympathy.”
In closing… Drug addiction has no boundaries. It crosses all social/economic boundaries. As someone that was addicted to music on a professional level in the ’80s before I was addicted to baseball, I have seen what it can do to destroy lives… many people I’ve known with great talent lost most everything due to run ins with cocaine and alcohol, and I was lucky to slip out of that time pretty much unscathed.
This is why I found looking back on Howe’s life particularly saddening… great promise and hope destroyed by a disease.