Howard Bushong is a former

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach at the high school, college, and minor league levels. He has moved between the college and professional levels several times, most recently coaching the

Connecticut Tigers The Norwich Sea Unicorns are a baseball team located in Norwich, Connecticut. From 2010 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They play th ...

of the Class A

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. He previously coached at

Texas State Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

as both a head coach (when it was known at Southwest Texas State) and an assistant, as well as the rookie league

GCL Tigers The Florida Complex League Tigers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Tigers. The team plays its home gam ...

and

AZL Padres The Arizona Complex League Padres are a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Diego Padres, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona, which is also the ...

Playing career

Bushong played for

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

from 1975–77, including the Longhorns championship run through the 1975 College World Series.

Coaching career

Bushong began his coaching career at Tuloso Midway High School in Corpus Christi, TX. His next assignment was at Austin Westlake High School, winning two Texas state championships and amassing a 311–84 record over twelve years.

College coaching career

Bushong became an assistant coach at his alma mater, Texas, in 1990. After foure seasons, he took over as head coach of Southwest Texas State. Bushong led Southwest Texas State to their first ever division championships (Southland Texas Division, 1996 and 1997),

Southland Conference baseball tournament The Southland Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Southland Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. Tou ...

title, and NCAA Tournament appearance in 1997. He was named Southland Coach of the Year in 1996. His final season as head coach of SW Texas State was 1999, during which he again led the Bobcats to the Southland Tournament championship. Following four seasons coaching at the minor league level, Bushong returned to the Bobcats, now known as Texas State, serving as an assistant coach to his successor,

Ty Harrington Ty Lee Harrington (born July 16, 1964) is a former American baseball player and coach. He served as the head baseball coach at Texas State University from 2000 through the 2019 season. Under Harrington, the Texas State Bobcats baseball, Texas State ...

, from 2004–2009.

College coaching career record

The following is a listing of Bushong's record as a head coach at the college level.

Professional coaching career

In his first foray into managing at the professional level, Bushong took over the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

affiliate

for the 2000 season. He then took over the

, an affiliate of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. After three seasons with the Tigers organization, he returned to college coaching at Texas State. In 2009, Bushong returned to professional ranks taking over the Class A

Oneonta Tigers The Oneonta Tigers were a minor league baseball team located in Oneonta, New York. They were members of the New York–Penn League. The Tigers were the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and played their home games ...

, who later moved to

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

, to become the

. Bushong's final season as manager was 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushong, Howard 1953 births Texas State Bobcats baseball coaches Texas Longhorns baseball coaches Texas Longhorns baseball players Living people Minor league baseball managers