Books and articles about Elston Howard

The Yankees' first black player, Howard was forced to play the outfield through much of his first five seasons because Yogi Berra was behind the plate. By 1960, Howard was the starting catcher and Berra was more often in the field. Howard was an exceptional defensive catcher; his .993 career fielding average is one of the highest ever, and he pioneered the use of a hinged catcher's mitt that led to the modern one-handed catching techniques. He was also highly regarded as a handler of pitchers. He was named to the AL All-Star team nine consecutive years.

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Howard was a strong hitter, three times topping .300, with a high of .348 in 1961. He hit from an exaggerated spread stance when he came up, which he modified later in his career. He was AL MVP in 1963, as much for his leadership as for his .287 BA, 28 homers and 85 RBI. He led the Yankees to their fourth straight pennant in a year when Maris and Mantle were often out with injuries.

After playing in nine WS with the Yankees, he was traded to Boston in August of 1967 and helped Boston to that season's pennant. In 1969 he returned to the Yankees, where he served as a coach for eleven years. Howard and Pee Wee Reese share the record for playing on the most WS losers. (GDW)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 19, 1950: The Yankees obtain their first black players, OF Elston Howard and P Frank Barnes. They purchase them from the Kansas City Monarchs and assign them to Muskegon (Central League). » November 3, 1954: The Yankees tour Japan and draw a record crowd of 64,000 when they play the first game against the All-Japan Stars in Osaka. Andy Carey slugs 13 home runs, and Elston Howard bats .468 on the 25-game tour. » April 14, 1955: Elston Howard becomes the first black to wear the Yankee uniform. He singles in his first at bat, against the Red Sox, as the Yanks win 8-4. » May 7, 1955: Backed by Elston Howard's first ML homer, and Mickey Mantle's tie breaker to dead CF in the 8th, the visiting Yanks overpower the Red Sox, 9–6. The Yanks spot Boston a 5–0 lead before roaring back with three in the 9th. » May 11, 1958: Washington P Truman "Tex" Clevenger gets both the assist and the putout in retiring Yankee batter Elston Howard. Clevenger is hit by a line drive and the ball bounces off his leg into foul territory near 1B. Tex then covers 1B to receive the toss from 1B Norm Zauchin. » June 20, 1958: At Detroit, Jim Bunning fans 14 Yankees to win 7–1, Detroit's 6th win in a row over the Bombers. Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard each fan three times. » May 12, 1959: At Yankee Stadium, Yogi Berra's errorless streak of 148 games comes to an end when he makes an error on his 34th birthday today. Berra also homers, as do Elston Howard and Mickey Mantle, but New York loses 7–6 to the first-place Indians. » October 5, 1960: In a portent of things to come, Bill Mazeroski's 2-run 5th-inning home run off Jim Coates is the difference as Pittsburgh beats New York 6–4 in its first World Series win since 1925. Roy Face survives a 2-run 9th-inning Elston Howard home run to preserve Vern Law's victory. » June 17, 1961: With two out and two on in the 9th, Mickey Mantle homers off Paul Foytack into the RF upper deck. Elston Howard follows with a home run, but Detroit hangs on to win 12–10 over the 3rd-place Yanks. » September 1, 1961: The American League's biggest crowd of the year, 65,566, sees Whitey Ford and Don Mossi duel at Yankee Stadium as a weekend battle for first place begins. Two-out, 9th-inning hits by Elston Howard, Yogi Berra, and Bill Skowron give New York a 1–0 win over the Tigers. » September 2, 1961: Against Detroit's Frank Lary, Roger Maris doubles and takes 3B on a misplay. Mickey Mantle, hurting from a pulled muscle in his forearm, lays down a perfect drag bunt to score Roger. Maris then blasts homers his next two trips to the plate, and Elston Howard adds a three-run homer, for a 7–2 win. » September 3, 1961: After taking the first two games against Detroit, New York is down 5–4 in the 9th when Mickey Mantle ties the game with his 2nd homer of the day. Elston Howard wins it with a 3-run drive into the LF stands and Detroit leaves town four 1/2 games in back of New York. Mantle is now at 50 home runs, with Roger Maris at 53, the first teammates in history to hit 50. » October 4, 1961: Whitey Ford's 3rd straight World Series shutout, with home runs by Elston Howard and Bill Skowron, gives New York a 2–0 win in the opener against Cincinnati at Yankee Stadium. » May 26, 1962: In New York, Al Kaline suffers a broken right collarbone while making a diving, game-saving catch off Elston Howard's bat to seal Detroit's 2–1 win against the Yankees. He will be out until June 23rd. » August 19, 1962: Gino Cimoli, Wayne Causey, and Billy Bryan of the Athletics hit consecutive home runs in the 7th inning, but Elston Howard has two home runs and eight RBIs; Bill Skowron, a home run and four RBIs; Mickey Mantle, a grand slam and seven RBIs, and Skowron four RBIs as the Yankees rout the A's, 21–7. Mantle adds two stolen bases before Jack Reed takes over CF and has two at bats. » April 9, 1963: In the opener at Kansas City, Ralph Terry pitches a complete game 8–2 win for the Yankees. Led by Joe Pepitone's two homers and a double, New York collects 13 hits. Elston Howard adds a homer off starter Diego Segui. » May 4, 1963: The Yankees edge the Twins, 3–2, beating Jim Kaat on three solo homers. Elston Howard hits two, and Mickey Mantle adds one. » November 7, 1963: C Elston Howard becomes the first black ever voted American League MVP. New York's Howard tops Detroit's Al Kaline 248 to 148. » June 21, 1964: The Yankees move into first place by eight percentage points over Baltimore, as they outpitch the White Sox to win 2–0 and 2–1. Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard home runs win it 2–0 for Jim Bouton in the opener against White Sox pitcher Juan Pizarro, and an error wins the nightcap 2–1 in the 17th. The Yankees sweep 4, giving up just one run in 41 innings, and take nine games from Chicago in 11 days. » September 4, 1964: The Yankees overcome two homers by Ken Harrelson to beat the host A's, 9–7, in 10 innings. Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard hit back-to-back homers in the 4th inning for New York. With the Orioles losing today, Baltimore (81-54) and Chicago (82-55) are virtually tied for first, with New York (77-56) three games back. » September 23, 1964: The sizzling Yanks win their 9th in a row, defeating the Tribe, 4–3 in 11 innings and 6–4. Elston Howard's homer off Louie Tiant snaps a tie in the opener. John Romano homers in each game for the Indians while recently acquired Pedro Ramos finishes up both games for New York. Ramos, however, will not be eligible for the World Series. » May 3, 1965: The Yankees trade John Blanchard (.147) and P Roland Sheldon to Kansas City for C Doc Edwards. Edwards will replace the injured Elston Howard. » May 5, 1965: Elston Howard undergoes elbow surgery. The Yankees catcher is out until June 4th. » June 5, 1965: At Yankee Stadium, Mel Stottlemyre goes 10 innings to win 4–3 over the White Sox. Stottlemyre also clouts a 4th inning homer, off Gary Peters, for the first Yankee score in 24 innings. Mickey Mantle adds a homer in the 6th off Peters, and Elston Howard, recovering from elbow surgery a month ago, wins the game with a single in the 10th. » April 14, 1967: At Yankee Stadium, Red Sox rookie Bill Rohr debuts and startles everyone by taking a no-hitter into the 9th inning. But Elston Howard lines a 3-2 pitch for a single to right-center with two outs. Carl Yastrzemski had kept the no-hitter alive with a spectacular grab of a Tom Tresh drive to deep LF to open the 9th. The Red Sox win 3–0, beating Whitey Ford, who allows a lead off homer to Reggie Smith and a two-run homer to Joe Foy. » April 21, 1967: At Fenway, rookie Bill Rohr again tops the Yanks, beating Mel Stottlemyre, 6–1. Elston Howard's 7th-inning homer is the only Yankee score. Rohr will return to the minors after the Gary Bell acquisition and resurface with the Indians next year. » August 3, 1967: The Red Sox acquire C Elston Howard from the Yankees for cash and two players to be named. Howard will hit just .147 for Boston but provide a steady hand with the pitchers. » August 27, 1967: In a critical game with the White Sox, Boston RF Jose Tartabull makes a great throw home in the 9th to Elston Howard to nail Ken Berry trying to score from 3B. Boston wins, 4–3 behind two homers by Yaz. » October 21, 1968: Elston Howard, after two seasons with the Red Sox, announces his retirement.