Chris Howard

Left-handed pitcher Chris Howard worked in 44 major-league games (1993-95) and was undefeated in his career: 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA. A native of Lynn, Massachusetts, Howard pitched 37 of those 44 games for the Boston Red Sox.

There were two American League players by this name whose major-league careers overlapped – the other Chris Howard was a catcher.1 The two Chris Howards played in the same game once in 1994, but they did not face each other.

The pitcher – Christian Howard – was born on November 18, 1965. He was the oldest of four sons born to Eugene and Christine (O’Connor) Howard.2 The family lived in the small coastal town of Nahant, where Chris Howard still lived as of 2026. Eugene Howard was from North Conway, New Hampshire. He met his future bride while skiing at Wildcat Mountain, where he was head of the ski patrol, then moved to her hometown of Nahant. Christine stayed busy raising the kids and as a homemaker. Eugene worked for Boston Edison for more than 30 years as a lineman, then as an engineer/planner. He later became vice president of a company called ElecCom.

Growing up, Chris played football, baseball, and hockey. In youth baseball, he played Little League, Babe Ruth, and American Legion ball – and was named MVP for three different Legion teams.

Chris attended St. Mary’s High School in Lynn, the same school attended by Red Sox star Tony Conigliaro and later by left-hander Chris Dwyer, who pitched in two games for the 2013 Kansas City Royals.

In June 1983, St. Mary’s won the Eastern Massachusetts Division 3 championship. Howard played first base in the championship game and was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored in St. Mary’s 4-1 win.3 He was named MVP of the tournament. On the mound for St. Mary’s that year, he was 12-1; as a batter, he had a .449 batting average. He was also named the Central Catholic League’s MVP and Division Three MVP. He also earned MVP honors in both football and hockey during his senior year of high school.4

After graduating from St. Mary’s, Howard had a three-quarter scholarship offer from the University of Miami. He decided to attend Miami Dade South College in Kendall, Florida, whose baseball program boasts 31 major-league players among its alumni. Howard can thank his uncle, Pat O’Connor, for setting him on his college ball path. O’Connor took a particular interest in his nephew’s baseball development. As Howard tells it, at the East-West Massachusetts All-Star Game, “All the kids were bragging about all the scholarships they had – Syracuse, St. John’s, Rollins, etc. – and all I had was this small scholarship to St. Leo’s College. ‘This is crazy,’ my uncle said. ‘You were the MVP of the division!’  He then started writing letters, getting referral letters and sending out my stats. This was before the Internet.5

“It was only my [St. Mary’s] coach Jim Tgettis’s second year, so he was new to college stuff. Miami called and said, ‘We’d like to offer you a three-quarters scholarship.’” Later, the school called and said they would need to split his scholarship with another player. However, the university helped arrange a full scholarship at Miami Dade South – a junior college, with coach Charlie Greene – and Howard accepted.

Howard played his freshman and sophomore years there, pitching during his freshman year. In between his freshman and sophomore years, the Atlanta Braves offered to sign him as an outfielder. He declined, returning to Miami Dade South to play outfield and pitch. In his sophomore year, he was selected to play in the Junior College All-Star Game in Orlando, where he hit two home runs, struck out four, and was named MVP.

In the January 1985 draft, at age 19, Howard was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth round but did not sign. He decided to stay in college and play for the University of Miami, fulfilling his lifelong dream. This time, he was offered a full scholarship. That summer, Howard also played for the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Under coach Ron Fraser, the U. of Miami Hurricanes had an even more illustrious baseball program than Miami Dade. Through 2025, they could point to 72 major-league alumni, including 32 pitchers.6 In Howard’s first at-bat for the Hurricanes, he hit a grand slam to win the game against Texas.7 He played first base and pitched for Miami in 1986. He led the team with a .370 BA with 51 RBIs and led in all but two offensive categories; his roommate, Greg Vaughn, hit three more home runs. The team went 50-17, won the Atlantic Region, and went to Omaha for the College World Series.

On June 16, 1986, the New York Yankees – namely, area scout Brian Sabean, the future general manager of the three-time champion San Francisco Giants – signed the 185-pound 6-footer as an undrafted free agent. The prospect reported to Oneonta in the New York/Penn League and appeared in nine games. He then went to the Yankees’ Gulf Coast League (rookie ball) team in Sarasota, where he hit .298 in 43 games. He did not pitch; rather, he played outfield and first base.

Though Howard threw left-handed, he batted from the right side. He noted, “Apparently an unusual combination in baseball; there’s not too many guys who did it.” To name just two, Howard cited Rickey Henderson and Dave McCarty. “Weird. I did a lot of things right-handed – golf, kicking, hockey – but I threw lefty. And can’t hit lefty – more odd!”8

In 1987, Howard played in 86 Class A Carolina League games for the Prince William (Virginia) Yankees. He also pitched seven innings at the end of that year. “The first three [games] I threw great, then in the last appearance my arm got sore and I struggled, giving up eight runs.9

“The next year, they gave me a choice to pitch or hit; I chose pitching.” Howard was sent back to Prince William in 1988. He made the Carolina League All-Star team and was promoted for a short stint with the Class AA Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Eastern League. After that, he went back to Prince William. He ended the year working 50 innings in 31 games for that club, with a record of 2-2, an ERA of 2.34, and three saves.

Except for one plate appearance in 1997, all the batting Howard did in his professional career was from 1986 through 1988. He hit .245 overall, with five home runs, all in 1987 with Prince William.

Howard’s 1989 season was split between Class A Fort Lauderdale and Albany-Colonie. With Fort Lauderdale, he worked in 13 games, going 2-0 with a 1.78 ERA. With Albany-Colonie, he appeared 24 times with an 0-1 record, a 3.44 ERA, and two saves.10 All of his outings were in relief.

In September 1989, Howard’s son Dean was born. “Dean’s mother and I were only together for a couple of years. Playing in A ball and AA wasn’t much of a money maker back then, and the big leagues looked like a million miles away!”11 In addition to Dean, who passed away suddenly in January 2019, Howard has another son, C.J., and a daughter, Lexi. Howard was divorced a long time ago but noted, “I currently have a significant other who I have been with for over 20 years – Lisa Rizzo, who also lives in Nahant.”

In 1990, Howard started the year again with Albany-Colonie. At one point, he took a three-day absence following the death of his friend, godfather, and uncle John O’Connor. Upon arriving back in Albany, the minor-league coordinator, Mitch Lukevics, told Howard that the organization was sending him back to A ball, but that he could pick which team. Howard felt he had already proven himself at both levels, including making the All-Star team in Single A. He recalled, “I said forget it then, I’ll just go home!” After being home for a little over a month, he was released by the Yankees on May 1.

Nine days later, Howard signed with the Cleveland Indians. He accepted an assignment to Kinston of the Carolina League, which was high Class A. He pitched in eight games and went 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA, but they released him on June 6. He reflected, “You know what, it was just a crappy year. The Indians just had a bunch of lefties; not even sure why they signed me to begin with. It was just a bad year for me, and I needed to take some time off mentally.” He took a sabbatical from baseball for the rest of the year: “I bartended at a place called the Porthole Pub. l did some odd jobs, trying to figure out what I was going to do.”

When the offseason came, and both players and hopefuls started getting ready for the upcoming 1991 season, Howard talked with two good friends from the Boston area – Paul Sorrento and Ken Hill. Hill graduated from Lynn Classical High School and Sorrento from St. John’s Prep in Danvers. Hill talked Howard into joining them in some workouts and throwing. He demurred at first but then gave in and found he felt pretty good. After a few days of the workouts, he called his agent, Greg Demarkis, to see if he could get a job. Demarkis said, “You’re not going to believe this. I just got off the phone with the Chicago White Sox, and they’re looking for a lefty reliever! I mentioned your name, and they said, ‘We’d love to have him!’”

“Just when you think there is ‘no one up there’ looking out for you,” Howard quipped. “So I signed with the White Sox.”

After signing on January 27, 1991, Howard reported to camp and worked with coach Rick Peterson. “They completely changed my mechanics. I went along reluctantly. I was terrible in camp and told the coach, ‘I am going to get released.’ He said, ‘I have already talked to management’ and not to worry. Slowly I started getting it, and by the end of camp I was starting to throw a lot harder and a lot more strikes with both my fastball and curveball. I went to the Double-A Birmingham Barons and began the season throwing 20 scoreless, something like that. That changed my life.” That year he went 6-1 with nine saves and a 2.04 ERA.

During the subsequent winter (1991-92), Howard played in Venezuela for the Caribes de Anzoátegui, pitching in 19 games and going 1-2 with a 2.23 ERA. He made the Venezuelan League’s All-Star team and in January was added to the White Sox’ 40-man roster.

Howard almost made the team in his first major-league camp but was sent to the Vancouver Canadians of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League on the last day of spring training. Nearly all of his action in 1992 came with Vancouver. He went 3-1 with a 2.92 ERA. However, he strained his left elbow, which kept him out for a large part of that summer and limited him to just 26 2/3 innings pitched for the year (including a brief stint in the Gulf Coast League).

In 1993, Howard was in major-league camp again; this time, too, he was sent back to Class AAA, to the Nashville Sounds of the American Association. With Nashville he made a career-high 43 appearances, closing out 17 games. He was 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA and three saves, striking out 53 and walking just 16 in 66 2/3 innings. His reward was a September callup to the White Sox.

Under manager Gene Lamont, the White Sox were enjoying a very good year. The team had been in first place in the America League West Division since June 21. They were ahead by 5½ games as September began. Howard’s first call from the bullpen came on September 21 at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels were leading 7-0 in the bottom of the seventh. Alex Fernández had just given up a two-run single. The first two batters Howard faced – Jim Edmonds and Chili Davis – both singled; Davis’ hit drove in an inherited runner to make the score 8-0. Howard then struck out René Gonzales and got Greg Myers to ground out.

A week after his debut, he got the call again, in a home game against visiting Seattle. The Mariners had just taken a 5-2 lead. With one out and a runner on second, Howard got Ken Griffey Jr. to hit a pop fly. After an intentional walk, the baserunner on second was thrown out trying to steal third.

Howard’s third and final appearance of the season earned him his first major-league win. It was at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on October 2, the next-to-last game on the schedule. Both the White Sox and Indians scored one run in the first inning, and both teams added one more run in the eighth. Howard was tasked with holding the Indians in the bottom of the ninth. He got Jim Thome to fly out, then walked the next two batters, but got Junior Ortiz to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. The White Sox took a 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th, then Brian Drahman relieved Howard and retired the side.

The Blue Jays beat the White Sox in the ALCS, four games to two. Howard was not on the postseason roster.

His contract had run its course, and since the White Sox did not tender him a new one, Howard became a free agent near the end of November. A brief note in the Boston Globe stated, “According to reports out of Chicago, he fell out of favor with some White Sox coaches for failing to throw his curveball more.”12

In late January 1994, Howard signed a minor-league contract with the Red Sox. When interviewed that March, he said he’d been invited to join the White Sox for spring training but felt he had a better shot at making the Boston team, given how well Scott Radinsky had been pitching for Chicago. When the subject turned to Lynn and St. Mary’s High, Howard said he never knew Tony Conigliaro (who’d died in 1990) but noted that Tony’s brothers Billy and Richie were both good friends. He added, “I know the first time I stood on the field at Fenway and heard the national anthem … it was to be something I’ll never forget.”13

Teammate Tony Fossas – a veteran lefty situational reliever – knew that two such specialists might not both make the ballclub. Even so, he joked with Howard (“You say you’re from Boston, but you’re not. You’re from Nahant. I’m from Jamaica Plain.”). Fossas said that he and Howard had a good relationship, and that even though he didn’t want to lose his own position, he was rooting for Howard to make the team.14

Howard started the 1994 season with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, going 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA. In May, he was called up to replace an underperforming Fossas. Howard’s Boston debut – as a LOOGY, or left-handed one-out guy – came on May 13. Indeed, he faced just one batter – Toronto’s lefty-swinging John Olerud – who singled.

Fossas returned to the majors on June 1, and the Red Sox decided to keep both him and Howard on the staff.

The next day, Howard threw a scoreless eighth inning. He didn’t give up a run in any of his first six outings for the Red Sox. His first decision with Boston came in a game against the Yankees on June 30 at Fenway Park. In the top of the eighth, the Yankees led 5-3. Howard came into the game with two outs and runners on first and third. He got Paul O’Neill to ground into a 6-4 force play to end the inning. In the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox scored three runs. Manager Butch Hobson called on Ken Ryan to hold the lead, which he did. Howard got the win.

This was the year that the two Chris Howards appeared in the same big-league game. They had played against each other a number of times in the minors, with catcher Howard in the Seattle Mariners system and playing for Williamsport in the Eastern League in 1989 and 1990; in 1992, he was with Calgary in the Pacific Coast League. “We played against each other for a long time,” Chris Howard the pitcher said. “We used to laugh and joke about it. He’s a nice guy.”15

Their paths crossed in the majors in the second game of two on Saturday, July 23, 1994. Though scheduled as a home game for Seattle, it was played nearly 3,000 miles away, at Fenway, because four 15-pound ceiling tiles had fallen onto the stands at Seattle’s Kingdome, and repair work clearly had to be done. Two Mariners games against the Orioles and four against the Red Sox had to be shifted. The Red Sox were deemed to be the home team.

The Red Sox lost the Friday night game, 6-3, then won the first game of the twin bill Saturday, 6-5. In the nightcap, Chris Howard caught for the Mariners. (Dan Wilson, their first-string catcher, had caught the two previous games.) Chris Howard, the pitcher, entered in the eighth but faced just two batters; the catcher Howard’s next time up was five batters away. The catcher played in six more games before his big-league career ended. Both of his career RBIs came in this game.

Hurler Howard’s one major-league save came on August 6, against Cleveland in the first game of a doubleheader. The Sox led 5-3 after five innings. Howard worked four innings, allowing just one hit in the ninth.16

The 1994 season ended early for everyone throughout the majors. The last game played that year was on August 10, after which the players went on strike. Howard had pitched in that last game, tagged for three runs in a 17-7 loss to the Twins.

On the season, though, he was again undefeated: 1-0, with a 3.63 ERA, well below the team ERA of 4.93. He’d worked 39 2/3 innings in 37 games.

Howard recounted what happened during and right after the strike. “I was down in Florida, working out down there. I came home at Easter because it didn’t look like we were going to start spring training anytime soon. As soon as I got [home], they said the strike was over. Jason Bere was from Wilmington – we were roommates with the White Sox – so I went over to play some catch with him at Wilmington High School. It was still 35-45 degrees. I tore a muscle in my left forearm, and when I got to spring training, I couldn’t throw. They sent me back to extended spring training just to get my arm healthy again.”

Howard was 0-2 in six games rehabbing with the Class A Sarasota Red Sox, with a 5.23 ERA, aggravating the injury at the beginning of May. He spent most of the season in Pawtucket, getting into 17 games with an ERA of 3.92 and a 3-1 record. On August 31, about 10 days after designating him for assignment, Boston traded him to the Texas Rangers for utility outfielder Jack Voigt. Voigt never appeared in a game for the Red Sox and re-signed with the Rangers once he reached free agency that fall.

Howard recalled, “I wasn’t part of [pitching coach] Kevin Kennedy’s crew. As soon as I got healthy, they traded me.” He joined the Rangers but appeared in just four games for them, the first on September 1, the day after the trade. The Rangers lost all four of those games, but not on Howard’s watch. He didn’t allow any runs – earned or unearned – in four innings.

These were the last games Howard pitched in the majors. Aside from his undefeated big-league record and 3.13 career ERA, he handled six fielding chances without an error. He never came to the plate at the top level.

Howard intended to keep going, but injuries prevented it. He recounted a scary episode that took place during spring training in 1996: “I was pitching in a game and, all of a sudden, I couldn’t feel my fingers. I didn’t know if it was my forearm or my neck. I couldn’t feel my fingers. When I threw a fastball, I almost hit my foot. They thought I was having a stroke.” (Houston Astros flamethrower J.R. Richard had suffered a stroke in 1980.)

“They rushed me to the hospital, and they found a blockage in a nerve in my neck. That probably contributed to my problem with my forearm. I wasn’t getting the proper nerve conduction into my arm. So I had a cervical fusion. I came back from that and had a torn labrum that they [treated] the same year.” Howard missed the entire 1996 season.

Howard’s final year in professional baseball was 1997, with the New York Mets organization. He started the year in extended spring training with some shoulder strength issues. He worked seven innings in rookie ball with the Gulf Coast League Mets. After that, he appeared in 10 games for the Advanced-A St. Lucie Mets (1-1, 7.15), followed by 13 games in the Eastern League (Class AA) for the Binghamton Mets. With Binghamton, he pitched 15 2/3 innings without a decision but with an excellent 1.15 ERA and 0.830 WHIP. He had been added to the Mets’ 40-man roster when another injury occurred.

“I don’t know if it was bad karma or what, but right at the end of the year – right when they’re looking at calling guys up – there was like three games left [for Binghamton]. I came in in the ninth inning, and a guy hit a line drive back at me and broke my arm. My right arm, but I still couldn’t play … I had a cast on it.”

In 1998, Howard briefly hooked on with the Los Angeles Dodgers. During spring training, “it was raining one day, and I was throwing to Mike] Piazza, and I had four pitches left. I threw a curve, and then I threw a fastball, and I go, ‘Oh, God, what the hell was that?’ Something in my arm just snapped. It was bad. I couldn’t throw. I couldn’t throw another ball. They tried to rehab me, but I couldn’t even brush my teeth. I ended up having a total reconstruction of my shoulder. I retired.”

Baseball provided a bridge to Howard’s new career, which remains ongoing. “I took a job in sales with WEEI, the Red Sox radio network. I didn’t know anything. I walked in, they gave me a desk and a phone book and said, ‘We need ads on the radio for the Red Sox, B.C. [Boston College], and the Celtics.’ I said, ‘All right.’

“In one year, I went from everybody asking me for autographs, speaking at spaghetti dinners, banquets, people calling me – ‘You want to go play golf?’ – to everyone hanging up the phone on me, wanting nothing to do with me.

“But I did good there. I stayed for about a year and a half. Then I took another sales job at DHL, and I was there for a couple of years. Moved up to some form of area manager. I then took a job at Rodenstock as a regional manager and then as a wholesale manager.17  Then I was director of sales training – product training, and wholesale manager for the Northeast.”

Howard’s next position was with JN Phillips Auto Glass. Starting as assistant vice president, he worked his way up to vice president for sales. “Now I work for a company called SKF [based in Sweden]. They’re one of the largest – if not the largest – companies in ball bearings. They have 45,000 employees. I’m a strategic sales manager for OEM [original equipment manufacturers]. My customer base of accounts is pretty big – for example, Dodge, ABB, Ingersoll-Rand, Gardner Denver, Gorman Rupp. Those accounts are probably worth about $20-25 million a year. I have to go out to the corporate office a lot, but in the field they have their own manufacturing plants all over the place. I go there and I meet with the engineers, the planners, with purchasing – to make sure SKF is part of their bearing selection.”

Although Chris Howard certainly didn’t have the typical route to the major leagues, his background in baseball has been very helpful in his sales career. A salesperson is often competing with others, and personal relationships with clients are important. “Trying to find common ground outside of the normal day-to-day business is … people like sports. It’s helped me out with stories, some of the associations, golf tournaments – bringing customers to meet some of the guys. It’s been far more helpful than a college degree would have been.”

Last revised: July 22, 2026

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Chris Howard for the July 15, 2023, interview and follow-up emails. Thanks to Sarah Coffin Ottinger from the Boston Red Sox. Thanks as well to Rod Nelson of SABR’s Scouts and Scouting Research Committee.

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Ted Sloan and checked for accuracy by members of SABR’s fact-checking team.

Photo credit: Chris Howard, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author relied on Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and a number of other databases.

Notes

1 Chris Howard the catcher appeared in 22 games, all for the Seattle Mariners, in the years 1991-94. In 37 plate appearances, he hit .188.

2 Howard’s three brothers are Kevin, Justin, and Gene. In his July 2023 interview with the author, Chris Howard said, “All of them were good athletes. Justin was the all-time hits leader at UMass. My younger brother was first-team All-American at Rollins College.” All direct quotations from Chris Howard are from this interview unless otherwise indicated.

3 Skeets Othmer, “It’s St Mary’s, 4-1, in Division 3 final,” Boston Globe, June 22, 1983: 30.

4 “3 Redmen head squad,” Boston Herald, June 30, 1983:  53.

5 Email to author from Chris Howard, April 27, 2026.

6 “University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) Baseball Players,” Baseball-Reference,com, https://www.baseball-reference.com/schools/?key_school=609bab49. Accessed June 21, 2026.

7 “Miami Tops Texas,” Daytona Beach Morning Journal, February 10, 1986: 26.

8 Chris Howard email.

9 Chris Howard email.

10 The two Chris Howards might have faced each other at one point this year, with catcher Howard playing for Williamsport and pitcher Howard for A-C. In April 2026, the Chris Howard who is the subject of this biography recalled, “I did face him, but I don’t remember if it was in Double A or Triple A. Could have been Jacksonville AA.”

11 Chris Howard email.

12 Nick Cafardo, “Harrington wants in,” Boston Globe, January 21, 1994: 42.

13 Nick Cafardo, “Howard makes pitch for Sox job,” Boston Globe, March 21, 1994: 38.

14 Cafardo, “Howard makes pitch for Sox job.”

15 Howard interview with author, July 15, 2023. He added, “As a matter of fact, you know how people send cards to sign. I just got one of his the other day and sent it back. I put a card of mine in the envelope and said, ‘I’ll sign my card, but you can send the real Chris Howard his.’”

16 One unearned run scored on an error in the seventh, but the Red Sox won, 6-4. Aaron Sele got the win.

17 Rodenstock GMBH is a German manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses and spectacle frames.