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Steve Howe (baseball Player)




Steven Roy Howe ( March 10 1958April 28 2006 ) was an American left-handed Relief Pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees .

Born in Pontiac , Michigan , Howe would eventually become the National League Rookie Of The Year in 1980 , the second in a string of four Dodger rookies of the year ( Rick Sutcliffe , Fernando Valenzuela , and Steve Sax were the others). That year he Saved 17 games, establishing a new rookie record. The following year, Howe helped the Dodgers win the World Series against the New York Yankees . A hard-throwing left-hander, Howe's career was plagued by Alcohol and Cocaine abuse; he first checked himself into a Substance Abuse clinic in 1983 , but a relapse resulted in him being suspended for the entire 1984 season. Over the course of his 17-year career, Howe would be suspended seven times.

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 suspension 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 retired at age 38 with a career record of 47 wins, 41 losses, 91 saves, and a 3.03 ERA in 497 games.

He died at age 48 when his Pickup Truck rolled over in Coachella, California . There have been no official Toxicology statements at this time.


TIMELINE



  • 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.


  • September 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.



  • 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.


  • August 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.





  • November 1987 — Agreed to two-year, $ 1.2 million contract with Texas.


  • January 19 , 1988 — Released by Texas after violating aftercare program by using alcohol.


  • April 4 , 1990 — Signs contract with Salinas of the California League.




  • November 5 , 1991 — Signs one-year contract with the New York Yankees.





  • August 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.






  • August 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.





REFERENCE

  • Steve Howe with Jim Greenfield. ''Between the Lines: One Athlete's Struggle to Escape the Nightmare of Addiction''. Grand Rapids, MI: Masters Press, 1989.



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