Elston Howard

A.L. Most Valuable Player award 1963
Golden Glove Winner 1963, 64
9-Time All-Star Selection 1957 - 1964
The Yankees' first black player
Inventor of the "On-Deck Bat Weight (doughnut)"
Full Name: Elston Gene Howard
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Born: Feb 23, 1929 in St.Louis, MO
Major League Debut: Apr 14, 1955
Died: Dec 14, 1980 in New York, NY
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GALLERY


CAREER BATTING STATISTICS
 BATTING
YEAR TEAM LG AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K OBP SLG
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1967
1968
 NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
Bos
Bos
 AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
 .290
.262
.253
.314
.273
.245
.348
.279
.287
.313
.233
.256
.196
.147
.241
 97
98
110
103
125
107
129
136
135
150
110
126
66
42
71
 279
290
356
376
443
323
446
494
487
550
391
410
199
116
203
 33
35
33
45
59
29
64
63
75
63
38
38
13
9
22
 81
76
90
118
121
79
155
138
140
172
91
105
39
17
49
 8
8
13
19
24
11
17
23
21
27
15
19
6
3
4
 7
3
4
5
6
3
5
5
6
3
1
2
0
0
0
 10
5
8
11
18
6
21
21
28
15
9
6
3
1
5
 43
34
44
66
73
39
77
91
85
84
45
35
17
11
18
 20
21
16
22
20
28
28
31
35
48
24
37
12
9
22
 36
30
43
60
57
43
65
76
68
73
65
65
36
24
45
 .336
.312
.283
.348
.306
.298
.387
.318
.342
.371
.278
.317
.247
.211
.317
 .477
.362
.379
.479
.476
.353
.549
.474
.528
.455
.345
.356
.271
.198
.335
Totals AVG
.274		 G
1605		 AB
5363		 R
619		 H
1471		 2B
218		 3B
50		 HR
167		 RBI
762		 BB
373		 K
786		 OBP
.322		 SLG
.427


 BATTINGBASERUNNINGMISC
YEAR TEAM LG HBP GDP TB IBB SH SF SB CS SB% AB/HR AB/K
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1967
1968
 NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
NY
Bos
Bos
 AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
 1
1
0
0
3
0
3
1
6
5
1
1
2
1
1
 4
11
18
9
12
8
5
20
17
10
16
12
6
4
5
 133
105
135
180
211
114
245
234
257
250
135
146
54
23
68
 5
6
6
6
4
7
6
1
4
12
3
9
3
3
7
 1
2
6
4
4
2
1
3
1
0
1
0
1
1
2
 4
2
2
4
4
8
4
9
2
4
1
3
2
2
1
 0
0
2
1
0
3
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
 0
1
5
1
1
0
3
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
 -.---
.000
.286
.500
.000
1.000
.000
.500
-.---
.500
-.---
-.---
-.---
-.---
.500
 27.9
58.0
44.5
34.2
24.6
53.8
21.2
23.5
17.4
36.7
43.4
68.3
66.3
116.0
40.6
 7.8
9.7
8.3
6.3
7.8
7.5
6.9
6.5
7.2
7.5
6.0
6.3
5.5
4.8
4.5
Totals HBP
26		 GDP
157		 TB
2290		 IBB
82		 SH
29		 SF
52		 SB
9		 CS
14		 SB%
.391		 AB/HR
32.1		 AB/K
6.8


CAREER FIELDING STATISTICS
YEAR TEAM LG POS G Ch PO A E DP FPCT
1955
1955
1956
1956
1957
1957
1957
1958
1958
1958
1959
1959
1959
1960
1960
1961
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1965
1965
1966
1966
1967
1967
1967
1968
 NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
Bos
Bos
 AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
 C
OF
C
OF
1B
C
OF
1B
OF
C
OF
C
1B
OF
C
1B
C
C
C
C
OF
1B
C
1B
C
1B
C
C
C
 9
75
26
65
2
32
71
5
24
67
28
43
50
1
91
9
111
129
132
146
1
5
95
13
100
1
48
41
68
 26
137
122
100
23
192
76
40
56
382
48
246
477
0
456
95
683
761
842
1008
1
30
663
120
606
1
320
261
409
 23
124
108
97
20
178
68
38
54
355
47
221
444
0
410
90
635
713
786
939
1
29
614
112
553
1
289
246
377
 3
10
14
2
3
11
5
2
1
26
0
23
26
0
40
4
43
44
51
67
0
1
43
8
44
0
26
14
30
 0
3
0
1
0
3
3
0
1
1
1
2
7
0
6
1
5
4
5
2
0
0
6
0
9
0
5
1
2
 2
3
5
0
1
4
0
5
0
8
0
2
39
0
9
12
4
12
8
9
0
2
6
11
6
0
4
5
3
 1.000
0.978
1.000
0.990
1.000
0.984
0.961
1.000
0.982
0.997
0.979
0.992
0.985
-.---
0.987
0.989
0.993
0.995
0.994
0.998
1.000
1.000
0.991
1.000
0.985
1.000
0.984
0.996
0.995
Totals G
1488		 Ch
8181		 PO
7572		 A
541		 E
68		 DP
160		 FPCT
0.992


WORLD SERIES BATTING STATISTICS
 BATTING
YEAR TEAM LG AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K OBP SLG
1955
1956
1957
1958
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1967
 NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
Bos
 AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
 .192
.400
.273
.222
.462
.250
.143
.333
.292
.111
 7
1
6
6
5
5
6
4
7
7
 26
5
11
18
13
20
21
15
24
18
 3
1
2
4
4
5
1
0
5
0
 5
2
3
4
6
5
3
5
7
2
 0
1
0
0
1
3
1
0
1
0
 0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
 1
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
 3
1
3
2
4
1
1
1
2
1
 1
0
1
1
1
2
1
0
4
1
 8
0
3
4
4
3
4
3
6
2
 .222
.400
.333
.263
.533
.318
.217
.333
.414
.158
 .308
1.200
.545
.222
.923
.550
.190
.333
.333
.111
Totals AVG
.246		 G
54		 AB
171		 R
25		 H
42		 2B
7		 3B
1		 HR
5		 RBI
19		 BB
12		 K
37		 OBP
.306		 SLG
.386


 BATTINGBASERUNNINGMISC
YEAR TEAM LG HBP GDP TB IBB SH SF SB CS SB% AB/HR AB/K
1955
1956
1957
1958
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1967
 NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
Bos
 AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
 0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
 0
0
1
0
0
2
2
0
1
0
 8
6
6
4
12
11
4
5
8
2
 0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
1
 1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
 0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
 -.---
-.---
-.---
1.000
-.---
-.---
-.---
-.---
-.---
-.---
 26.0
5.0
11.0
--.-
13.0
20.0
--.-
--.-
--.-
--.-
 3.3
--.-
3.7
4.5
3.3
6.7
5.3
5.0
4.0
9.0
Totals HBP
3		 GDP
6		 TB
66		 IBB
5		 SH
3		 SF
0		 SB
1		 CS
0		 SB%
1.000		 AB/HR
34.2		 AB/K
4.6


WORLD SERIES FIELDING
YEAR TEAM POS G Ch PO A E DP FPCT
1955
1956
1957
1958
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1967
 NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
NYY
Bos
 OF
OF
1B
OF
C
C
C
C
C
C
 7
1
3
5
4
5
6
4
7
7
 12
2
23
16
11
31
38
32
43
24
 11
2
21
14
11
31
37
30
40
23
 1
0
1
2
0
0
1
2
2
1
 0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
 0
0
1
2
0
0
1
1
0
0
 1.000
1.000
0.957
1.000
1.000
1.000
1.000
1.000
0.977
1.000
Totals G
49		 Ch
232		 PO
220		 A
10		 E
2		 DP
5		 FPCT
0.991



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.

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.

Elston Howard invented the doughnut, officially called "Elston Howard's On-Deck Bat Weight." The patent was issued in 1967 and the first team to buy the "doughnut" was the St. Louis Cardinals. Elston may have actually invented the "weight" in 1963 but it didn't start showing up in the Majors until 1968.