Howard Bushong is a former

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach at the high school, college, and minor league levels. He has moved between the college and professional levels several times, most recently coaching the

Connecticut Tigers The Norwich Sea Unicorns are a baseball team located in Norwich, Connecticut. From 2010 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They play ...

of the Class A

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. He previously coached at Texas State as both a head coach (when it was known at Southwest Texas State) and an assistant, as well as the rookie league GCL Tigers and AZL Padres.

Playing career

Bushong played for

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

from 1975–77, including the Longhorns championship run through the 1975 College World Series.

Coaching career

Bushong began his coaching career at Tuloso Midway High School in Corpus Christi, TX. His next assignment was at Austin Westlake High School, winning two Texas state championships and amassing a 311–84 record over twelve years.

College coaching career

Bushong became an assistant coach at his alma mater, Texas, in 1990. After foure seasons, he took over as head coach of Southwest Texas State. Bushong led Southwest Texas State to their first ever division championships (Southland Texas Division, 1996 and 1997),

Southland Conference baseball tournament The Southland Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Southland Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. Tou ...

title, and NCAA tournament appearance in 1997. He was named Southland Coach of the Year in 1996. His final season as head coach of SW Texas State was 1999, during which he again led the Bobcats to the Southland Tournament championship. Following four seasons coaching at the minor league level, Bushong returned to the Bobcats, now known as Texas State, serving as an assistant coach to his successor,

Ty Harrington Ty Lee Harrington (born July 16, 1964) is an American former baseball player and coach. He served as the head baseball coach at Texas State University from 2000 through the 2019 season. Under Harrington, the Texas State Bobcats baseball, Texas Sta ...

, from 2004–2009.

Professional coaching career

In his first foray into managing at the professional level, Bushong took over the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

affiliate AZL Padres for the 2000 season. He then took over the GCL Tigers, an affiliate of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. After three seasons with the Tigers organization, he returned to college coaching at Texas State. In 2009, Bushong returned to professional ranks taking over the Class A

Oneonta Tigers The Oneonta Tigers were a minor league baseball team located in Oneonta, New York. They were members of the New York–Penn League. The Tigers were the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and played their home games ...

, who later moved to

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

, to become the

. Bushong's final season as manager was 2010.

Head coaching record

The following is a listing of Bushong's record as a head coach at the college level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushong, Howard 1953 births Texas State Bobcats baseball coaches Texas Longhorns baseball coaches Texas Longhorns baseball players Living people Minor league baseball managers