James Eugene Howarth (born March 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who appeared in 152

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

in the Major Leagues over all or part of four seasons, from to , for the San Francisco Giants. He threw and batted left-handed, and was listed as tall and . Howarth was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he graduated from high school. He attended

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

, and was selected All-SEC as a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

in his junior year in 1968.YouTube: Jim Howarth appearance at the "Our Love of Baseball" exhibit, Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, Miss., posted 1 October 2016
/ref> That June 7, he was selected by the Giants in the eighth round of the 1968 amateur draft and entered their

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

. After his fourth season in the organization, in , when he batted a lofty .363 in 110 games for Triple-A Phoenix, he was rewarded with a post-September 1 call-up to San Francisco. Howarth recorded three

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and three

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in seven games and 17

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

s that month. Then he spent two full years, and , on the Giants' MLB roster. In 1972, he was part of a crowded outfield corps that featured

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

r Willie Mays, in his last campaign as a Giant, in center field—along with multiple All-Star selection and

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

recipient

Bobby Bonds Bobby Lee Bonds (March 15, 1946 – August 23, 2003) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball from to , primarily with the San Francisco Giants. Noted for his outstanding combination of power hitting and speed, he was the first pl ...

, future All-Stars

Dave Kingman David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948), nicknamed "Kong," "King Kong," and "Sky King", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who was a three-time MLB All-Star with 442 career hom ...

and Gary Matthews, rookie and future eight-time Gold Glove winner Garry Maddox, and veteran Ken Henderson. Howarth appeared in 74 games, with 25 starts in the outfield, and batted .235 in 136 plate appearances. His highlights including leading the National League in

pinch hitting In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, American ...

, with 13 hits in 39

bats Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

, and his only MLB home run, a two-run blow off left-hander

Claude Osteen Claude Wilson Osteen (born August 9, 1939), nicknamed "Gomer" because of his resemblance to television character Gomer Pyle, is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cinci ...

on June 30 that helped propel the Giants to an 8–4 win at Candlestick Park against their bitter rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Retrosheetbr>box score (30 June 1971): "San Francisco Giants 8, Los Angeles Dodgers 4"
/ref> The following year, his playing time diminished somewhat: he was given only 98 plate appearances, and his batting mark fell to .200. When he began 1974 with no hits in four at bats as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement, San Francisco sent him back to Phoenix for more playing time. But, later that year, Howarth sustained a knee injury and concussion in a home-plate collision, and decided to leave professional baseball. In his 152 big-league games, Howarth collected 49 hits, with six doubles, one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * In ...

, and his lone home run. He had 16 runs batted in. Howarth returned to Biloxi, where he spent 41 years in banking before his 2016 retirement.

References

External links

1947 births Living people Amarillo Giants players Baseball players from Mississippi Decatur Commodores players Major League Baseball outfielders Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Biloxi, Mississippi {{US-baseball-outfielder-1940s-stub