Bob Howsam

Robert L. Howsam (born 1918, Denver, Colorado) is a former executive in American professional sport who, in 1959, played a key role in establishing two leagues ? the American Football League, which succeeded and merged with the National Football League, and baseball's Continental League, which never played a game but forced expansion of Major League Baseball from 16 to 20 teams in 1961-62.

Related Topics:
1918 - Denver, Colorado - American - 1959 - American Football League - National Football League - Continental League - Major League Baseball

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Along with his brother and father, he founded the Denver Broncos, one of the original eight AFL (1960-69) franchises and a member since 1970 of the NFL. The Howsams also built Bears Stadium, which after renovation and expanded capacity became famous as the Broncos' noisy, raucous and perpetually sold-out home from 1960-2001, Mile High Stadium. The Howsam family sold the Broncos in 1964 to Fred Gehrke, and - after overcoming years of poor results on the field - the team has gone on to become one of the most successful operations in the NFL since the late 1970s.

Related Topics:
Denver Broncos - NFL - Bears Stadium - Mile High Stadium - Fred Gehrke

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The Broncos may have struggled in the early 1960s, but Bob Howsam would prove himself to be a highly successful baseball executive. He led the family-owned Denver Bears of the Class A Western League and Class AAA American Association from 1947-62. Thwarted in his attempts to bring major league baseball to Denver, Howsam was one of the founders of the Continental League, which in 1959 planned to become the "third major league" following the epidemic of franchise shifts during the 1950s. MLB magnates, nervous about the possible rescinding of baseball's anti-trust exemption by the U.S. Congress after the National League abandoned New York, agreed to study (and ultimately support) the formation of the new loop. While the CL never got off the drawing board - key cities New York (NL), Houston (NL) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (AL) were admitted to major league baseball in 1961-62 - it brought Howsam to the attention of league president Branch Rickey, the venerable, pioneering executive who had revolutionized baseball in his earlier career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers.

Related Topics:
Baseball - Denver Bears - Western League - American Association - Anti-trust exemption - National League - Branch Rickey - St. Louis Cardinals - Brooklyn Dodgers

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In 1964, Rickey (then 82) was semi-retired but still in baseball as a top advisor to St. Louis owner August "Gussie" Busch. In mid-August 1964, with the Cardinals seemingly about to finish well behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, Busch fired general manager Bing Devine and replaced him with Howsam - reputedly at Rickey's urging. But the team Howsam inherited ended up winning the NL pennant and the 1964 World Series when the Phils collapsed in late September.

Related Topics:
1964 - August "Gussie" Busch - Philadelphia Phillies - General manager - Bing Devine - 1964 World Series

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Howsam's two full years as Cardinals' general manager (1965-66) were not successful. The team fell back to .500 and many St. Louisans resented the fact that he had replaced a well-liked hometown figure, Devine, who had been wrongly fired. Howsam installed popular Red Schoendienst as manager and acquired future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Orlando Cepeda from the San Francisco Giants in 1966. The Cardinals were poised to win back-to-back pennants in 1967-68, but when the opportunity arose to start fresh with the Cincinnati Reds as their general manager in the autumn of 1966, Howsam departed.

Related Topics:
Red Schoendienst - Baseball Hall of Fame - First baseman - Orlando Cepeda - San Francisco Giants - Cincinnati Reds

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In Cincinnati, Howsam flourished. During his 11 years (1967-77) as general manager, he was one of the key figures (along with his predecessor, Bill DeWitt, and his manager, Sparky Anderson) behind "The Big Red Machine," which captured NL titles in 1970 and 1972 and world championships in 1975 and 1976. Although many of the Reds - Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez - were already in place (or in the organization) in 1966, Howsam boldly promoted young pitchers such as Gary Nolan, Don Gullett and Wayne Simpson to the major leagues. He ensured that the fruitful Cincinnati farm system continued to churn out young position players, such as Dave Concepcion and Ken Griffey. Then, in two masterful 1971 trades, he acquired second baseman Joe Morgan from the Houston Astros and outfielder George Foster from the Giants. In Cincinnati, Morgan would win the NL Most Valuable Player award in 1975-76 and earn credentials as a member of the Hall of Fame. Foster would hit 52 home runs for the Reds in 1977 - the only player to crack the half-century HR mark in the 1970s or 1980s. The '76 Cincinnati club, which swept the New York Yankees in the 1976 World Series, is usually considered one of the strongest in baseball history.

Related Topics:
Bill DeWitt - Sparky Anderson - 1970 - 1972 - 1975 - 1976 - Pete Rose - Johnny Bench - Tony Perez - Pitchers - Gary Nolan - Don Gullett - Dave Concepcion - Ken Griffey - Second baseman - Joe Morgan - Houston Astros - Outfielder - George Foster - Most Valuable Player - Home runs - 1977 - New York Yankees - 1976 World Series

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Approaching his 60th birthday at the close of the 1977 season, Howsam (who had become president of the Reds in 1973) turned over his general manager responsibilities to a longtime assistant, Dick Wagner. But the Reds' success ended when Howsam stepped aside. With the free agent era dawning, and with the Reds' stubborn refusal to play the big-money game, "The Big Red Machine" began to lose key players. Howsam had already traded Perez to the Montreal Expos in the months following the 1976 title. Gullett, Rose and Morgan were allowed to leave via free agency. Nolan developed arm problems. Anderson was fired after the Reds finished second in the NL West in both 1977 and 1978. Howsam resigned as president in 1978, and Wagner was blamed by many for the team's decline - although Howsam, one of the most conservative voices in the game at that point, surely helped set fiscal policy for the club. Yet Howsam's contributions to the Reds' brilliant successes of 1970-76 could not be overlooked - he even briefly returned to the club presidency in 1983-84, after Wagner's firing - and Howsam was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2004.

Related Topics:
Free agent - Montreal Expos - 1978 - Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame

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