Patrick O'Neal Howell (born August 31, 1968) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He played part of one season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in 1992, primarily 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 ...

. He also played one season in the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

in 1998. Howell's strength as an athlete was blazing speed. He stole a lot of bases in the minor leagues and showed exceptional range in the field. However, he was not a strong hitter.

Early life

Howell was born in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

and attended

Vigor High School Vigor High School, located in Prichard, Alabama, is a public high school that educates grades 9- 12. It is operated by the Mobile County Public School System. It serves most of Prichard. Dress code The Mobile County Public School System req ...

Prichard, Alabama Prichard is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, Mobile County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 19,322, down from 22,659 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Mobile metropolitan area. Prichard borders ...

Professional career

New York Mets

The Mets initially drafted Howell in the 9th round of the 1987 amateur draft. After playing with their minor league baseball system for five seasons, he made his major league debut in 1992. He got a hit in his first big league at bat against the

Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division, having moved to the div ...

Pete Harnisch Peter Thomas Harnisch (born September 23, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played in college at Fordham University from 1984 through 1987, and was an All-American pitcher. He played in Major League Baseba ...

. That season, he batted a .187 with no

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 1

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 79

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s over 31 games.

Minor leagues and overseas

After the 1992 season, he was traded to the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

for

Darren Reed Darren A Douglass Reed (born October 16, 1965) is a former professional outfielder. He played with the New York Mets in 1990 and with both the Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins in 1992. He played a total of 82 Major League games, 26 for the Met ...

. After playing one season in their farm system without returning to the majors, he became a free agent and re-signed with the Mets. After one season with the Mets, he left the affiliated minors, playing in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

from 1995 to 1997. In 1998, Howell crossed the Pacific to play for the

Brother Elephants A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, batting .264 in 24 games. He returned to the United States in 1999 with the

Duluth–Superior Dukes The Duluth–Superior Dukes were a professional baseball team based in Duluth, Minnesota. The Dukes were a charter member of the modern Northern League, which started play in 1993. The Dukes played their home games at Wade Stadium. After the 20 ...

in the Northern League. He played the next four seasons with the

Nashua Pride The Nashua Pride was a professional baseball team based in Nashua, New Hampshire, in the United States, not affiliated with Major League Baseball. They played home games at Holman Stadium from 1998 through 2008, when they were sold and renamed ...

of the Atlantic League before suffering a knee injury in July 2004. He tried to come back the following year but did not play professionally again. As a minor leaguer, Howell batted .249 with 20 home runs and 290 runs batted in 1133 games.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Pat 1968 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Atlantic City Surf players Binghamton Mets players Brother Elephants players Columbia Mets players Diablos Rojos del México players Duluth-Superior Dukes players Kingsport Mets players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball center fielders Nashua Pride players New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players Pittsfield Mets players Portland Beavers players Baseball players from Mobile, Alabama St. Lucie Mets players Tidewater Tides players Tigres del México players Vigor High School alumni Williamsport Bills players African-American baseball players