In our fifth installment of our Legends Series, we sit down with Art Howe, who’s chosen the Bayou City as his permanent home. Art’s heroics as a player would ultimately launch the Astros into their first ever post-season appearance.
As a manager, he’d go on to win 392 games with the Astros, developing the eventual Hall of Fame careers of Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.
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We start with that magical 1980 season, and the N.L. West tiebreaker at Dodger Stadium on October 6th, 1980.
Q: What do you remember most about that run that season and that elimination game?
A: We had a good team the year before and kind of blew that lead in 1979. 1980 finally came around and it went down to the wire. People forget that Joe Niekro that day earned his 20th win of the season. He pitched a wonderful game for us. I had a good game that day and I’m still in touch with so many of those guys. It’s fun to talk about.
Q: What do you remember most about the home run in that do or die game vs. the Dodgers in the 3rd inning that broke the game wide open?
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A: Doug Harvey was the home plate umpire. I’m up with a runner on, I’m down 1-2 in the count, and I get thrown a breaking ball and it comes down from the top of the zone, it’s strike three. I kind of flinched and Havery says it’s a ball (laughs). It was clearly a strike. Joe Ferguson is catching for LA, and he’s going ballistic. I stepped back out of the box and Doug said to me, don’t take that pitch again. The next pitch, I literally hit it out of the park and as I’m crossing home plate, I say to Doug Harvey, “I didn’t”.
Q: What stood out most about Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio?
A: The makeup was there. You knew they were special.
With Bagwell, I’ll never forget that we traded for him and its Opening Day, we had just gotten him and we’re in Cincinnati. The Reds have that loaded bullpen with the Nasty Boys at the time, and when he comes up, they throw a fastball at his head. He somehow gets out of the way, but it knocks him down. He casually brushes himself off, and the next pitch, he hits a line drive right back over the pitcher’s head into center field. He wasn’t intimidated in the least.
With Biggio, when I first got there, he was our catcher. One day he’s out there with his catcher’s mitt and he’s fielding grounders with that giant mitt, and he’s doing it better than some of our infielders. He was so quick and athletic. That’s all I needed to see because he had so many tools. By putting him at second base, he could do everything and steal bases all year long because his legs weren’t tired from catching a game.
Q: When it’s all said and done, is Jose Altuve on the Mount Rushmore of greatest Astros?
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A: Yes. It’s incredible to me the pitches he’s able to hit, often way out of the zone, although there have been moments this season where he’s been more disciplined at the plate. He just loves playing the game and the team feeds off of that energy.
Q: On the managerial side, Joe Espada is in his final year of a contract. Does that wear on you as a manager?
A: Well, he’s been there in some capacity for well over a decade, and Joe has seen a lot of the winning all of those years from the dugout. Heck, last year they almost won the division again. If I were him, I wouldn’t be concerned.