Athlete of the Week: Lou Howell
Our latest look at the Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame is not actually a Binghamton native but came here to play ball and never left, leaving an impact with nearly 40 years of coaching. Our latest Athlete of the Week, Lou Howell, brought to you by Amphenol Aerospace.
Lou Howell grew up the son of a major league catcher, Dixie.
"So, therefore, you know, I grew up in a catcher. I mean, I tried to follow in his footsteps. I just had fun growing up as a catcher."
Inspired, watching his dad win the 1955 World Series with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Lou worked hard, attending Kentucky Wesleyan and becoming the first player out of the Owensboro College to get drafted. Where to? Just the team that his dad rivaled in back-to-back World Series in the mid-50s.
"With the Yankees. I don't know how I went from the Dodgers to the Yankees," Howell joked.
From there he went to Johnson City...no, not that one.
"Playing in Johnson City, Tennessee in a rookie league. And then I went and trekked up here to Binghamton as a Triplet."
And Howell's Binghamton debut year in 1966, accruing 101 hits, 21 doubles, nine home runs and 66 RBI. Howell made his way to Syracuse winning the 1969 Governor's Cup championship.
"It was just having that kind of competition, I guess. I enjoyed it."
That was Howell's last season playing pro ball, but he wasn't leaving the Triple Cities anytime soon.
"I was dating my wife, Kathy, and we finally got hitched."
From there, Howell started teaching at Susquehanna Valley and spent over 30 years as a baseball coach with the Sabers, winning three STAC Championships.
"We won some games there. We win some games and played good. The kids played good. I thought they played good for me."
And though he never coached his kids in high school, his biggest success might've been teaching his kids the game.
"The game definitely had a different style."
His son Michael, made it three straight generations of Howells to get drafted in MLB, and in 2013, the two got to coach together as assistants at Seton, getting the Saints their first State Championship.
"It was a big win because that team that we played was, I think, they were about 21-0 until we came."
A fitting accomplishment at the end of his career, right next to his family.
"I was so thrilled that they were up there back in the all the way, and I don't know what to say other than that. just thrilled."