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Bob Howsam
Robert Lee Howsam (February 28, 1918 – February 19, 2008) was an American professional sports executive and entrepreneur. In 1959, he 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 (MLB) from 16 to 20 teams in 1961–62.
Howsam then became a prominent MLB executive, primarily known as the general manager (GM) and club president of the Cincinnati Reds during the Big Red Machine dynasty from January 23, 1967, through February 15, 1978, when his team won four National League pennants and two World Series titles.
Immediately before his tenure in Cincinnati, he had served as GM of the St. Louis Cardinals from August 17, 1964, until January 22, 1967. Although he inherited a team that would win the 1964 World Series, he made material contributions to the Cardinals' 1967 world champions and 1968 pennant-winners.
Born in Denver and raised in La Jara, Colorado, where his father owned a bee-keeping business, Howsam attended the University of Colorado and served as a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II. He was the son-in-law of Edwin C. Johnson, a three-term United States Senator and two-term governor of Colorado. Johnson also was involved with professional baseball as founder and first president of the postwar Class A Western League, an upper-level minor league that played from 1947 to 1958.
Howsam made a name for himself as a baseball executive. He led the Denver Bears of the Western League and Triple-A American Association from 1947 to 1962. He built one of the most successful minor league franchises of the 1950s and was twice (1951 and 1956) named Minor League Executive of the Year by The Sporting News. Howsam, his brother Earl and his father Lee also built Bears Stadium, a minor league baseball park which, after renovation and expanded capacity, became famous as Mile High Stadium, the Denver Broncos' noisy, raucous and perpetually sold-out home from 1960 to 2001. While the Bears achieved success as the top farm team of the New York Yankees in the late 1950s, an earlier stint as a mid-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1952–54) served to introduce Howsam to Pirates' general manager Branch Rickey, the Baseball Hall of Fame executive, who had revolutionized baseball in his earlier career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey would play an influential role later in Howsam's career.
In an attempt 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 antitrust exemption by the U.S. Congress after the National League abandoned New York City in 1958, agreed to study (and perhaps support) the formation of the upstart league. Howsam was slated to become owner of the Denver franchise, one of the league's eight charter members. Howsam even went as far as expanding Bears Stadium to a capacity of over 34,000. Rickey, meanwhile, was elected president of the new circuit.
The new league never got off the drawing board; it was doomed once three of its key cities gained Major League franchises in 1961 and 1962: New York and Houston were awarded expansion National League franchises in 1962, while the Washington Senators of the American League moved to Minneapolis–Saint Paul as part of the Junior Circuit's 1961 expansion.
Howsam had taken on a large amount of debt in hopes of bringing the majors to Denver. However, there was little prospect of retiring it in the foreseeable future, as he was now saddled with a stadium far too big for a Triple-A team. He concluded the only way to get additional revenue was to extend his stadium's season by bringing in a football team.
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Bob Howsam
Robert Lee Howsam (February 28, 1918 – February 19, 2008) was an American professional sports executive and entrepreneur. In 1959, he 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 (MLB) from 16 to 20 teams in 1961–62.
Howsam then became a prominent MLB executive, primarily known as the general manager (GM) and club president of the Cincinnati Reds during the Big Red Machine dynasty from January 23, 1967, through February 15, 1978, when his team won four National League pennants and two World Series titles.
Immediately before his tenure in Cincinnati, he had served as GM of the St. Louis Cardinals from August 17, 1964, until January 22, 1967. Although he inherited a team that would win the 1964 World Series, he made material contributions to the Cardinals' 1967 world champions and 1968 pennant-winners.
Born in Denver and raised in La Jara, Colorado, where his father owned a bee-keeping business, Howsam attended the University of Colorado and served as a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II. He was the son-in-law of Edwin C. Johnson, a three-term United States Senator and two-term governor of Colorado. Johnson also was involved with professional baseball as founder and first president of the postwar Class A Western League, an upper-level minor league that played from 1947 to 1958.
Howsam made a name for himself as a baseball executive. He led the Denver Bears of the Western League and Triple-A American Association from 1947 to 1962. He built one of the most successful minor league franchises of the 1950s and was twice (1951 and 1956) named Minor League Executive of the Year by The Sporting News. Howsam, his brother Earl and his father Lee also built Bears Stadium, a minor league baseball park which, after renovation and expanded capacity, became famous as Mile High Stadium, the Denver Broncos' noisy, raucous and perpetually sold-out home from 1960 to 2001. While the Bears achieved success as the top farm team of the New York Yankees in the late 1950s, an earlier stint as a mid-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1952–54) served to introduce Howsam to Pirates' general manager Branch Rickey, the Baseball Hall of Fame executive, who had revolutionized baseball in his earlier career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey would play an influential role later in Howsam's career.
In an attempt 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 antitrust exemption by the U.S. Congress after the National League abandoned New York City in 1958, agreed to study (and perhaps support) the formation of the upstart league. Howsam was slated to become owner of the Denver franchise, one of the league's eight charter members. Howsam even went as far as expanding Bears Stadium to a capacity of over 34,000. Rickey, meanwhile, was elected president of the new circuit.
The new league never got off the drawing board; it was doomed once three of its key cities gained Major League franchises in 1961 and 1962: New York and Houston were awarded expansion National League franchises in 1962, while the Washington Senators of the American League moved to Minneapolis–Saint Paul as part of the Junior Circuit's 1961 expansion.
Howsam had taken on a large amount of debt in hopes of bringing the majors to Denver. However, there was little prospect of retiring it in the foreseeable future, as he was now saddled with a stadium far too big for a Triple-A team. He concluded the only way to get additional revenue was to extend his stadium's season by bringing in a football team.