Catcher, New York Yankees
Age: 34
9th season
with Yankees
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’2” Weight: 196
Prior to 1963:
A native of St.
Louis, Howard played catcher for a team in that city’s Tandy League (an amateur
circuit for players of color). A multi-sport star at Vashon High School as
well, he drew the interest of major colleges. Howard signed with the Kansas
City Monarchs of the Negro American League in 1948 for $500 per month. He
initially played left field and first base for the Monarchs. He stayed until
1950 when he was sold to the Yankees for $25,000. Assigned to Muskegon of the
Class A Central League, Howard hit 9 home runs and batted .283 in 54 games.
Drafted into the Army in the offseason, he missed the 1951 and ’52 seasons
while playing service baseball. Following his military commitment, he was assigned
to the Kansas City Blues of the Class AAA American Association in 1953 where he
split time between the outfield and catching and batted .286 with 10 home runs
and 70 RBIs. He spent 1954 with Toronto in the Class AAA International League
where he received league MVP honors by hitting .330 with 22 home runs and 109 RBIs
while primarily appearing at catcher. With the Yankees under pressure to
integrate, Howard became their first black player in 1955. Utilized primarily
in the outfield and as a pinch-hitter, in addition to some appearances at
catcher, where he backed up Yogi Berra, Howard performed well and batted .290
with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs while accumulating 305 plate appearances. Seeing
more action behind the plate in 1956, he hit .262 with 5 home runs and 34 RBIs.
Berra still saw most of the action at catcher in 1957, but Howard saw enough
playing time in left field to accumulate 381 plate appearances and he was an
All-Star selection for the first time on his way to batting .253 with 8 home
runs and 44 RBIs. Howard appeared in 67 games as a catcher in 1958, but still
was used in the outfield. He hit .314 with 11 home runs and 66 RBIs and made
key plays in the come-from-behind World Series triumph over the Milwaukee
Braves, both at bat and defensively in the outfield. The versatile Howard saw
significant action at first base in 1959 due to an injury to starter Bill
Skowron. He was limited to 44 games behind the plate and batted .273 with 18
home runs and 73 RBIs in what was a down year for the Yankees. In 1960 he finally
saw more action at catcher than the aging Berra, who was increasingly used in
the outfield. The “Bronx Bombers” returned to the pinnacle of the American
League and Howard hit .245 with 6 home runs and 39 RBIs. He went down with a
hand injury during the World Series. Adjusting his stance to better hit to all
fields in 1961, he upped his batting average to .348 while slugging 21 home
runs and accumulating 77 RBIs while appearing in 111 games at catcher and 129
overall. A solid, quiet, and dignified player, Howard received a raise in pay
to $42,500 in 1962 and hit .279 with 21 home runs and 91 RBIs. By 1963 he was
no longer a platoon player and was established as New York’s regular backstop.
1963 Season Summary
Appeared in 135
games
C – 132, PH – 6
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 531
At Bats – 487
Runs – 75 [19,
tied with Jerry Lumpe & Rich Rollins]
Hits – 140
Doubles – 21
Triples – 6
[10, tied with seven others]
Home Runs – 28
[5]
RBI – 85 [8]
Bases on Balls
– 35
Int. BB – 4
Strikeouts – 68
Stolen Bases – 0
Caught Stealing
– 0
Average - .287
[8, tied with Jim Fregosi]
OBP - .342 [17,
tied with Jim Hall]
Slugging Pct. -
.528 [3]
Total Bases – 257
[11]
GDP – 17 [7,
tied with Lou Clinton & Jerry Adair]
Hit by Pitches
– 6 [13, tied with four others]
Sac Hits – 1
Sac Flies – 2
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 16, RBI – 40, AVG - 257, SLG – .498
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 4 AB) at Chi. White Sox 8/18
Longest hitting
streak – 10 games
HR at home – 10
HR on road – 18
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 4 AB) at Minnesota 5/4, (in 3 AB) vs. Chi. White Sox 8/25
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 3 on seven occasions
Pinch-hitting –
1 of 5 (.200) with 1 BB
Fielding
Chances – 842
Put Outs – 786
Assists – 51
Errors – 5
Passed Balls –
8
DP – 8
Pct. - .994
Postseason
Batting: 4 G (World Series vs. LA Dodgers)
PA – 15, AB – 15,
R – 0, H – 5, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 1, BB – 0, IBB – 0, SO – 3, SB – 0,
CS – 0, AVG - .333, OBP - .333, SLG - .333, TB – 5, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0,
SF – 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
Gold Glove
All-Star
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Elston Howard,
NYY.: 248 pts. - 15 of 20 first place votes, 89% share
Al Kaline, Det.:
148 pts. – 1 first place vote, 53% share
Whitey Ford,
NYY.: 125 pts. – 3 first place votes, 45% share
Harmon
Killebrew, Min.: 85 pts. – 30% share
Dick Radatz,
Bos.: 84 pts. – 30% share
(1 first place
vote for Tom Tresh, NYY, who ranked eleventh)
---
Yankees went 104-57
to win the AL pennant by 10.5 games over the Chicago White Sox. Despite
injuries that sidelined outfield sluggers Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris for
significant intervals, the Yankees, buoyed by Howard’s performance and an
infusion of youth, cruised to a fourth straight pennant. They lost the World
Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 games to 0.
Aftermath of ‘63:
Howard, who
received a raise to $60,000, followed up in 1964 by batting .313 with 27
doubles, 15 home runs, and 84 RBIs, ranking third in league MVP balloting. In
1965 he was hindered by an elbow injury that required surgery and was limited
to 110 games in which he hit .233 with 9 home runs and 45 RBIs. Still ailing in
1966, he finished at .256 with 6 home runs and 35 RBIs over the course of 126
games. With his hitting bothered by a hand injury in 1967, Howard was dealt to
the Boston Red Sox in August. With the Red Sox in a four-team battle for the
pennant, the 38-year-old catcher brought his savvy to handling the pitching
staff and a veteran presence to the clubhouse. He never got on track at bat and
finished with a .178 combined average. Still, he placed seventeenth in league
MVP voting for his contributions to the Red Sox in their pennant-winning
effort. Howard spent one final season with Boston in 1968, dealing with chronic
injuries and hitting just .241 while playing in 71 games. Overall, for his
major league career, Howard batted .274 with 1471 hits that included 218
doubles, 50 triples, and 167 home runs. He scored 619 runs and compiled 762
RBIs. With the Yankees his totals were .279 with 1405 hits, 211 doubles, 50
triples, 161 home runs, 733 RBIs, and 588 runs scored. In 54 postseason games
he batted .246 with 5 home runs and 19 RBIs. Howard was a 12-time All-Star and
received two Gold Gloves for his defensive prowess behind the plate. He became
a coach for the Yankees upon his retirement as a player and remained with the
organization until his death in 1980 at age 51 due to heart disease. His
managerial aspirations went unfulfilled, but the Yankees retired his #32.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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