1984 Profile: Jay Howell

"They always say it's lucky to be a Yankee. Better still, it lucky to be young and a Yankee, and Jay Howell is both. The 28-year-old Howell, with the golden hair, has a golden opportunity in 1984 to be a starter or reliever. He has done, and can do, both jobs, and the Yankee braintrust is finding it difficult to let his unlimited ability slip away from them.
When he has his control, he is one of the toughest pitchers to hit. His fastball explodes and usually drives right-handed batters away from home plate. When he sees that, he invariably comes in with a sharp-breaking overhand curve, and if it hits the corner, nobody but a Hall of Famer can hit it. He exhibited his fastball-curve ball arsenal to the Seattle Mariners on April 6 last year, and nine of them struck out and walked back to the dugout grumbling obscenities.
He also has a straight change, which is almost unfair to batters who hump up for his fastball. After one particularly brilliant game last year, Howell smiled: 'I never realized I had that good a change- I think I'll keep it.'
If he can control those three pitches, Jay Howell just might be the perfect long or short man in this year's scheme of things."

-The New York Yankees Official 1984 Yearbook

"1983 was Howell's first full major league season. He began the year with a 4.2 inning relief outing at Seattle on April 6 when he struck out a career high of nine batters. He combined with Rudy May for a shutout on May 29 against Oakland, but pitched only 4.2 innings and did not receive the win. Jay beat the Red Sox on June 25, 4-1, for his only win of '83. He left several games in the first half of the season with a blister and was on the disabled list from August 5 to September 2, having undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on August 7.
Jay began his pro career in the Reds' farm system. He pitched a 1-hitter for Indianapolis in 1979, made his major league debut in 1980 with Cincinnati and won his first major league game on August 16, 1981 for the Cubs in Chicago, beating Pittsburgh. In 1982 he began the year with Iowa (the Cubs' AAA club), posting his finest minor league stats. He was named the American Association's most valuable pitcher, leading the league in ERA (2.36) and finishing second in strikeouts (139), despite only pitching in the league until July 30 when he was acquired from the Cubs as the player to named later in the Pat Tabler trade of August 1981. Called up by the Yankees on August 31 when Tommy John was traded to California, Howell was 2-3 in six starts for New York, beating the Orioles and Indians.
Howell grew up in Boulder, Colorado where he was a football and baseball standout at Fairview High. He was a physical education major at the University of Colorado in Boulder and was named All-Big 8 in baseball in 1976. Jay lists his hobbies and hiking and fishing."

-1984 New York Yankees Information Guide