View source for Dixie Howell (catcher)

{{short description|American baseball player (1920-1990)}}
{{other uses|Dixie Howell (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Dixie Howell
|image=Dixie Howell 1951.jpg
|position=[[Catcher]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1920|4|24}}
|birth_place=[[Louisville, Kentucky]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1990|10|5|1920|4|24}}
|death_place=[[Binghamton, New York]], U.S.
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=May 6
|debutyear=1947
|debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 8
|finalyear=1956
|finalteam=Brooklyn Dodgers
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.246
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=12
|stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=93
|teams=
* [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{mlby|1947}})
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1949}}–{{mlby|1952}})
* [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] ({{mlby|1953}}, {{mlby|1955}}–{{mlby|1956}})
|highlights=
* [[World Series]] champion ({{wsy|1955}})
}}
'''Homer Elliot "Dixie" Howell''' (April 24, 1920 – October 5, 1990) was an American [[professional baseball]] [[catcher]]. He appeared in eight seasons in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) between 1947 and 1956 for the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]], [[Cincinnati Reds]] and [[Brooklyn Dodgers]].<ref name="statistics">[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/howeldi02.shtml "Dixie Howell Statistics and History"]. "baseball-reference.com. Accessed June 1, 2017.</ref>
==Robinson's teammate in Montreal==
Howell was born in [[Louisville, Kentucky]]. He threw and batted right-handed, stood {{convert|5|ft|11|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|190|lb}}. His professional career began in 1938 after his graduation from [[Louisville Male High School]].  By 1941, he had been acquired by the Dodgers and was playing for their top affiliate, the [[Montreal Royals]] of the [[International League]]. With the outbreak of World War II, he served in the [[United States Army]] in the [[European Theater of Operations]]<ref>[http://www.baseballinwartime.com/those_who_served/those_who_served_atoz.htm "Those Who Served," Baseball in Wartime.com]</ref> and missed the 1944–45 seasons. In {{baseball year|1946}} he returned to Montreal and split catching duties for the Royals with left-handed-batting [[Herman Franks]]. The 1946 Royals, led by [[second baseman]] [[Jackie Robinson]], won the league championship and the [[Junior World Series]], but are famous as the first [[racial integration|racially integrated]] team in "organized baseball" since the 1880s.  Howell witnessed Robinson's constant battle against intimidation—especially in the form of [[brushback pitch]]es.
"I was with Jackie on Montreal", Howell told [[Roger Kahn]] in 1953. "The way he was thrown at that year was unbelievable. Unbelievable and disgraceful."<ref>{{Cite book| last=Kahn| first=Roger| title=Rickey & Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball| location=New York| publisher=[[Rodale, Inc.|Rodale Books]]| year=2014| isbn=978-1-62336-297-3| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/rickeyrobinsontr0000kahn}} Page 211</ref>
"You never saw anything like it", Howell said in a ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' interview published eight months before his 1990 death. "Every time he came up, he'd go down!"<ref>{{cite web|first=Dick|last=Balos|title=Jackie Robinson: Simply a great athlete|date=February 12, 1990|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-12-sp-505-story.html|access-date=June 16, 2015}}</ref>
According to Robinson biographer [[Arnold Rampersad]], Howell was one of two [[Southern United States|Southern-born]] Montreal players (with [[Marv Rackley]]) who personally wished Robinson well on his promotion to the parent Dodgers in April 1947,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rampersad| first=Arnold| title=Jackie Robinson: A Biography| location=New York| publisher=[[Random House]]| year=1997| isbn=0-345-42655-X}} Page 167</ref> breaking the [[baseball color line]].
==Major league career==
Howell also made his major league debut in 1947, but not for the Dodgers. On May 3, he was traded to the Pirates in a multi-player transaction headlined by former Brooklyn [[starting pitcher]] [[Kirby Higbe]], and played his first game three days later, going [[hit (baseball)|hitless]] in three [[at bats]] against the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]]' ace right-hander, [[Johnny Sain]].<ref>[[Retrosheet]] [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1947/B05060BSN1947.htm box score, 1947-5-6]</ref> Howell and [[Clyde Kluttz]] served as the Bucs' two primary catchers in [[1947 Pittsburgh Pirates season|1947]] and Howell [[batting average (baseball)|batted]] an MLB-career-high .276, but at the end of the season he was traded to the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[San Francisco Seals (baseball)|San Francisco Seals]], and spent {{baseball year|1948}} in the [[Pacific Coast League]].
Selected by Cincinnati in the 1948 [[Rule 5 draft]], Howell spent the next four seasons (1949–52) in the big leagues with the Reds, serving as their most-used catcher in both [[1950 Cincinnati Reds season|1950]] and [[1951 Cincinnati Reds season|1951]].  But in [[1952 Cincinnati Reds season|1952]], the Reds traded for veteran receiver [[Andy Seminick]] and Howell appeared in only 17 games. In October, the Dodgers reacquired him for pitcher [[Clyde King]].  He played mostly at Triple-A in 1953 and 1954 (when he returned to the [[Montreal Royals]]), but spent the entire {{baseball year|1955}} season on Brooklyn's [[National League (baseball)|National League]] [[1955 Brooklyn Dodgers season|roster]].  Playing behind [[Roy Campanella]] and [[Rube Walker]], Howell got into only 16 games (13 in the field and nine as a starting catcher).  But he batted .262, and participated in another memorable season that saw Brooklyn win its only world championship, a seven-game triumph over the [[New York Yankees]] in the [[1955 World Series]].  Howell did not appear in the World Series.
Howell was sent back to the Royals for most of the {{baseball year|1956}} campaign, but was recalled by the pennant-bound Dodgers in August for his final seven games of major league service. He collected three hits and started in four games, but did not participate in the [[1956 World Series]], a rematch between the Dodgers and Yankees won by the Bombers in seven games.  Howell's career then continued in the [[minor league baseball|minor leagues]] in 1957–58 before his retirement.  As a big leaguer, in 340 games over eight seasons he collected 224 hits in 910 at-bats, scoring 98 runs, with 39 [[double (baseball)|doubles]], four [[triple (baseball)|triples]], 12 home runs and 93 RBI. Defensively, he recorded a .984 [[fielding percentage]] as a catcher.<ref name="statistics" />
He is one of three ''Dixie Howells'' to have played professional baseball, and his big-league career coincided with that of pitcher [[Dixie Howell (pitcher)|Millard "Dixie" Howell]], also a native Kentuckian. Both Dixie Howells were teammates on the [[1949 Cincinnati Reds season|1949 Cincinnati Reds]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=h/howeldi02 |fangraphs= |cube=|brm=howell001hom}}
{{1955 Brooklyn Dodgers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Dixie}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Baltimore Orioles (International League) players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Dodgers players]]
[[Category:Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds players]]
[[Category:Dover Orioles players]]
[[Category:Houston Astros scouts]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball catchers]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:Montreal Royals players]]
[[Category:Ottawa-Ogdensburg Senators players]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players]]
[[Category:Reading Chicks players]]
[[Category:San Francisco Seals (baseball) players]]
[[Category:St. Paul Saints (AA) players]]
[[Category:Thomasville Orioles players]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players]]