Homer Elliot "Dixie" Howell (April 24, 1920 – October 5, 1990) was an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

. He appeared in eight seasons 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) ...

(MLB) between 1947 and 1956 for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

."Dixie Howell Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Accessed June 1, 2017.

Robinson's teammate in Montreal

Howell was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . His professional career began in 1938 after his graduation from

Louisville Male High School Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public co-ed secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District. History Ninth and Che ...

. By 1941, he had been acquired by the Dodgers and was playing for their top affiliate, the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league baseball, minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm system, farm club (Triple-A (base ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

. With the outbreak of World War II, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Fo ...

and missed the 1944–45 seasons. In he returned to Montreal and split catching duties for the Royals with left-handed-batting Herman Franks. The 1946 Royals, led by second baseman

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color lin ...

, won the league championship and the

Junior World Series The Junior World Series was a postseason championship series between champions of two of the three highest minor league baseball leagues modeled on the World Series of Major League Baseball. It was called the Little World Series (no relation to ...

, but are famous as the first

racially integrated Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...

team in "organized baseball" since the 1880s. Howell witnessed Robinson's constant battle against intimidation—especially in the form of

brushback pitch In baseball, a brushback pitch is a pitch–usually a fastball–thrown high and inside the strike zone to intimidate the batter away from the plate on subsequent pitches. It differs from the beanball in that the intent is not to hit the batter ...

es. "I was with Jackie on Montreal", Howell told

Roger Kahn Roger Kahn (October 31, 1927 – February 6, 2020) was an American author, best known for his 1972 baseball book '' The Boys of Summer''. Biography Roger Kahn was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 31, 1927, to Olga (''née'' Rockow) and ...

in 1953. "The way he was thrown at that year was unbelievable. Unbelievable and disgraceful." "You never saw anything like it", Howell said in a ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' interview published eight months before his 1990 death. "Every time he came up, he'd go down!" According to Robinson biographer

Arnold Rampersad Arnold Rampersad (born 13 November 1941) is a biographer, literary critic, and academic, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the US in 1965. The first volume (1986) of his ''Life of Langston Hughes'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer ...

, Howell was one of two Southern-born Montreal players (with Marv Rackley) who personally wished Robinson well on his promotion to the parent Dodgers in April 1947, breaking the

baseball color line The color line, also known as the color barrier, in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 19th century before the l ...

Major league career

Howell also made his major league debut in 1947, but not for the Dodgers. On May 3, he was traded to the Pirates in a multi-player transaction headlined by former Brooklyn

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pitc ...

Kirby Higbe Walter Kirby Higbe (April 8, 1915 – May 6, 1985) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1937 to 1950. Best known for his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was a two-time National League (NL) All-S ...

, and played his first game three days later, going hitless in three

at bats 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 ...

against the Boston Braves' ace right-hander, Johnny Sain.

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...

br>box score, 1947-5-6
/ref> Howell and Clyde Kluttz served as the Bucs' two primary catchers in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...

and Howell batted an MLB-career-high .276, but at the end of the season he was traded to the Triple-A San Francisco Seals, and spent in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

. Selected by Cincinnati in the 1948 Rule 5 draft, Howell spent the next four seasons (1949–52) in the big leagues with the Reds, serving as their most-used catcher in both

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

and

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

. But in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...

, the Reds traded for veteran receiver Andy Seminick and Howell appeared in only 17 games. In October, the Dodgers reacquired him for pitcher

Clyde King Clyde Edward King (May 23, 1924 – November 2, 2010) was an American pitcher, coach, manager, general manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. King's career in baseball spanned 67 years, including 35 full years with the New ...

. He played mostly at Triple-A in 1953 and 1954 (when he returned to the

), but spent the entire season on Brooklyn's

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

roster. Playing behind Roy Campanella and Rube Walker, Howell got into only 16 games (13 in the field and nine as a starting catcher). But he batted .262, and participated in another memorable season that saw Brooklyn win its only world championship, a seven-game triumph over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

in the

1955 World Series The 1955 World Series matched the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees, with the Dodgers winning the Series in seven games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It would be the only Series the Dodgers won while based ...

. Howell did not appear in the World Series. Howell was sent back to the Royals for most of the campaign, but was recalled by the pennant-bound Dodgers in August for his final seven games of major league service. He collected three hits and started in four games, but did not participate in the

1956 World Series The 1956 World Series of Major League Baseball was played between the New York Yankees of the American League and the defending champion Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League in October 1956. The series was a rematch of the 1955 World Series. ...

, a rematch between the Dodgers and Yankees won by the Bombers in seven games. Howell's career then continued in the minor leagues in 1957–58 before his retirement. As a big leaguer, in 340 games over eight seasons he collected 224 hits in 910 at-bats, scoring 98 runs, with 39 doubles, four

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 12 home runs and 93 RBI. Defensively, he recorded a .984

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

as a catcher. He is one of three ''Dixie Howells'' to have played professional baseball, and his big-league career coincided with that of pitcher Millard "Dixie" Howell, also a native Kentuckian. Both Dixie Howells were teammates on the 1949 Cincinnati Reds.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Dixie 1920 births 1990 deaths Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky Brooklyn Dodgers players Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Cincinnati Reds players Dover Orioles players Houston Astros scouts Major League Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Montreal Royals players Ottawa-Ogdensburg Senators players Pittsburgh Pirates players Reading Chicks players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Thomasville Orioles players United States Army personnel of World War II Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players