Best All-Time General Managers: #23 Bob Howsam

JUN 15 1967, OCT 12 1972, DEC 11 1982, DEC 12 1982 Howsam, Bob (Master of trades) – Groups Credit: Denver Post (Denver Post via Getty Images) /

Orchestrator of some of the most dominant teams of the 1960s and 1970s, the next member of our best all-time general managers list aided two of most storied franchises in the game

St. Louis Cardinals, 1965-66
Cincinnati Reds, 1967-78, 1984

Bob Howsam didn’t set out to become one of the best all-time general managers; his goal was to overturn the existing baseball structure.

A combat pilot during World War II, Howsam entered into the family business – ownership of the minor league Denver Bears – following his release from the military. In the late 1950s Howsam, who also owned the new American Football League’s Denver Broncos, put his money into Branch Rickey’s non-existent Continental League in order to secure a franchise for his home city.

The Continental League never materialized, but Rickey remembered Howsam, and when Cardinals owner Gussie Busch fired Bing Devine midway through what appeared at the time to be a doomed 1964 season Rickey recommended Howsam as Devine’s successor. The Cardinals, of course, rallied to win the pennant and World Series.

He remained in St. Louis through 1966, but when the chance surfaced to build his own operation in Cincinnati Howsam leaped at it. His timing initially appeared horrible. The Cardinals breezed to pennants in both 1967 and 1968 while the Reds finished 14 games back.

But Howsam was building a dynastic core. Among players he brought to the majors were future stars Johnny Bench, Lee May, Dave Concepcion and Hal McRae. The Reds won the 1970 NL West division title in a walk and defeated Pittsburgh in the championship series before losing the World Series to Baltimore.

Prior to the 1972 season Howsam sent May, Jimmy Stewart and Tommy Helms to Houston in exchange for Joe Morgan, Cesar Geronimo and Jack Billingham. In a separate deal he traded Frank Duffy to the Giants for George Foster. In concert with holdovers such as Bench, Pete Rose and Tony Perez, the Big Red Machine won the NL West by 10 and one-half games in 1972, by 20 in 1975 and by 10 in 1976.

Counting a 1973 divisional title, that meant five post-season appearances in seven seasons for Howsam. The 1975 and 1976 teams both won the World Series.

Given that track record, it’s little wonder that Howsam still ranks high in both short-term and long-term improvement. At an average of +2.75 games, he has the 15^th best score all time in average short-term impact. His long-term profile, averaging +8.23 games per season, ranks 27^th.

Howsam was selected Sporting News Executive Of The Year in 1973 for his role in making the Reds the dominant NL team that season.

The irony is that Howsam had several better years. He should have won the award in both 1967 and 1972, when he improved the Reds by 7.9 and 9.1 games respectively. He lost out to Dick O’Connell and the Impossible Dream Red Sox in 1967, and to the White Sox’ Roland Hemond in 1972.

Although it is not part of the calculus of his rating, it should be noted that Howsam was a central figure in the labor-management disputes often riddling baseball during the 1970s and 1980s. As a leader of the Player Relations Committee, he was a frequent sparring partner with Players Union chief Marvin Miller, and there are those who view his hard line approach as a major reason for the era’s numerous work stoppages.

Howsam’s lofty status among all-time GMs is remarkable in one respect; he is one of only three men among the 25 best GMs in history whose score is negative in category 7, post-season appearances directly attributable to his short-term decisions. In only two seasons did Howsam directly impact the Reds’ post-season prospects, and both were negative impacts. (Details below.)

In a strange way, that’s a testament to the long-term efficiency of the structure Howsam built. The Reds were so good so consistently that they never required short-term improvement.

Bob Howsam

In the first six categories, values reflect the standard deviation of the GM’s performance above or below the historical mean for that category. Category 7 awards or deducts points for seasons in which the GM’s short-term impact exceeded the margin by which his team either reached post-season or failed to do so. Category 8 represents post-season appearances; in categories 7 and 8 indicated points are based on numbers of teams and post-season berths.

Short-term average: +45
Short-term total: +40
Long-term average: +10
Long-term total: +81
Residual average: +01
Residual total: +49
Season-by-season breakdown of GM’s post-season shares.

1969: Penalty -0.70. Howsam hurt the Reds by 11.6 games; they failed to qualify for post-season by 4 games. Key moves: Promoted Darrel Chaney, -2.3; traded Mack Jones, +2.2; traded Leo Cardenas, +4.9.
1978: Penalty -0.70. Howsam hurt the Reds by 2.5 games, the exact margin by which they failed to qualify for post-season. Key moves: Acquired Dave Tomlin, -3.2; re-signed Pedro Borbon, -1.4; promoted Manny Sarmiento, -1.4; promoted Tom Hume, -1.4; promoted Mike LaCoss, -1.5.

Category 7 total: -1.40

8. Credit for post-season appearances (1970, 0.70; 1972, 0.70; 1973, 0.70; 1975, 0.70; 1976, 0.70): +3.50

Grand total: +7.36.

Next. Top GMs all-time: #24 Gerry Hunsicker. dark

That’s #23 in our best all-time general managers, Bob Howsam. Is he too high? Too low? Comment below!

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