Robert L. Howsam (born 1918, Denver, Colorado) is a former executive in American professional sport who, in 1959, played a key role in establishing two leagues – the American Football League, which succeeded and merged with the National Football League, and baseball's Continental League, which never played a game but forced expansion of Major League Baseball from 16 to 20 teams in 1961-62. 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Denver skyline, 1999. ... See also: 1958 in sports, 1960 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing Stock car racing: Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship — Lee Petty Indianapolis 500 — Rodger Ward USAC Racing — Rodger Ward Formula One Champion — Australia 24 hours of Le Mans: Carroll Shelby... AFL logo The American Football League (AFL) was a professional league of American football that operated from 1960 to 1969. ... The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities. ... The Continental League was a proposed third major league for baseball. ... MLB logo Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in the world. ...

Along with his brother and father, he founded the Denver Broncos, one of the original eight AFL (1960-69) franchises and a member since 1970 of the NFL. The Howsams also built Bears Stadium, which after renovation and expanded capacity became famous as the Broncos' noisy, raucous and perpetually sold-out home from 1960-2001, Mile High Stadium. The Howsam family sold the Broncos in 1964 to Fred Gehrke, and - after overcoming years of poor results on the field - the team has gone on to become one of the most successful operations in the NFL since the late 1970s. Conference AFC Division West Year Founded 1960 Home Field INVESCO Field at Mile High City Denver, Colorado Team Colors Broncos Navy Blue, Orange, and White Head Coach Mike Shanahan League Championships 2: 1997 (Super Bowl XXXII), 1998 (Super Bowl XXXIII) The Denver Broncos are a National Football League team based... NFL logo For other uses of the abbreviation NFL, see NFL (disambiguation). ... Mile High Stadium (known as Bears Stadium until 1968) was a baseball, soccer and football stadium that stood in Denver, Colorado from 1948-2001. ... Mile High Stadium (known as Bears Stadium until 1968) was a baseball, soccer and football stadium that stood in Denver, Colorado from 1948-2001. ...

The Broncos may have struggled in the early 1960s, but Bob Howsam would prove himself to be a highly successful baseball executive. He led the family-owned Denver Bears of the Class A Western League and Class AAA American Association from 1947-62. Thwarted in his attempts to bring major league baseball to Denver, Howsam was one of the founders of the Continental League, which in 1959 planned to become the "third major league" following the epidemic of franchise shifts during the 1950s. MLB magnates, nervous about the possible rescinding of baseball's anti-trust exemption by the U.S. Congress after the National League abandoned New York, agreed to study (and ultimately support) the formation of the new loop. While the CL never got off the drawing board - key cities New York (NL), Houston (NL) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (AL) were admitted to major league baseball in 1961-62 - it brought Howsam to the attention of league president Branch Rickey, the venerable, pioneering executive who had revolutionized baseball in his earlier career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers. Baseball is popular in the Americas and East Asia. ... The Denver Bears were the AAA minor league baseball franchise in the Pacific Coast League in Denver, Colorado from 1948 until the team name was changed to the Denver Zephyrs. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The American Association has been the name of at least two leagues of professional United States of America. ... This article refers to the American baseball league. ... Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 - December 9, 1965) was an innovative Major League Baseball executive who is best known for helping break baseballs color barrier and creating the framework to the modern minor league farm system. ... * World Champion notes: St. ... For the 1930s NFL team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (football). ...

In 1964, Rickey (then 82) was semi-retired but still in baseball as a top advisor to St. Louis owner August "Gussie" Busch. In mid-August 1964, with the Cardinals seemingly about to finish well behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, Busch fired general manager Bing Devine and replaced him with Howsam - reputedly at Rickey's urging. But the team Howsam inherited ended up winning the NL pennant and the 1964 World Series when the Phils collapsed in late September. See also: 1963 in sports, other events of 1964, 1965 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing Stock car racing: Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty Indianapolis 500 - A.J. Foyt USAC Racing - A.J. Foyt won the season championship Formula One... August Anheuser Busch Jr. ... * Division notes: In 1981, the Phillies finished with the best record in the Eastern Division prior to stoppage of play in the middle of the season due to the players strike, which forced the season to be split into two halves. ... The general manager in the sense contemplated in this article is the executive of a professional sports team responsible primarily for acquiring the rights to player personnel, negotiation of their contracts and reassignment or dismissal of players no longer desired on the team. ... Vaughan P. Bing Devine (born March 1, 1916 in St. ... The 1964 World Series, the 56th playing for the championship of Major League Baseball, pitted the National League champion St. ...

Howsam's two full years as Cardinals' general manager (1965-66) were not successful. The team fell back to .500 and many St. Louisans resented the fact that he had replaced a well-liked hometown figure, Devine, who had been wrongly fired. Howsam installed popular Red Schoendienst as manager and acquired future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Orlando Cepeda from the San Francisco Giants in 1966. The Cardinals were poised to win back-to-back pennants in 1967-68, but when the opportunity arose to start fresh with the Cincinnati Reds as their general manager in the autumn of 1966, Howsam departed. Albert Fred Red Schoendienst (born February 2, 1923) is an American former player and manager in Major League Baseball. ... The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, United States, is a semi-official museum operated by private interests that serves as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in North America, the display of baseball-related... The position of the first baseman First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that players team. ... Orlando Cepeda (born September 17, 1937) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and right-handed batter who played with the San Francisco Giants (1958-66), St. ... The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California. ... The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. ...

In Cincinnati, Howsam flourished. During his 11 years (1967-77) as general manager, he was one of the key figures (along with his predecessor, Bill DeWitt, and his manager, Sparky Anderson) behind "The Big Red Machine," which captured NL titles in 1970 and 1972 and world championships in 1975 and 1976. Although many of the Reds - Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez - were already in place (or in the organization) in 1966, Howsam boldly promoted young pitchers such as Gary Nolan, Don Gullett and Wayne Simpson to the major leagues. He ensured that the fruitful Cincinnati farm system continued to churn out young position players, such as Dave Concepcion and Ken Griffey. Then, in two masterful 1971 trades, he acquired second baseman Joe Morgan from the Houston Astros and outfielder George Foster from the Giants. In Cincinnati, Morgan would win the NL Most Valuable Player award in 1975-76 and earn credentials as a member of the Hall of Fame. Foster would hit 52 home runs for the Reds in 1977 - the only player to crack the half-century HR mark in the 1970s or 1980s. The '76 Cincinnati club, which swept the New York Yankees in the 1976 World Series, is usually considered one of the strongest in baseball history. William O. DeWitt Sr. ... Sparky Anderson (left) with George W. Bush and Yogi Berra George Lee Sparky Anderson (born February 22, 1934) is the only manager in the history of Major League Baseball to win the World Series while leading clubs in both leagues. ... See also: 1969 in sports, other events of 1970, 1971 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: Pete Hamilton won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Bobby Isaac Indianapolis 500 - Al Unser, Sr. ... See also: 1971 in sports, 1973 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing Stock car racing: A.J. Foyt won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty Indianapolis 500 - Mark Donohue USAC Racing - Joe Leonard won the season championship Formula One Championship - Brazil 24 hours of... See also: 1974 in sports, 1976 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing Stock car racing: Benny Parsons won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Unser USAC Racing - A.J. Foyt won the season championship Formula One Championship - Austria 24 hours of... See also: 1975 in sports, other events of 1976, 1977 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: David Pearson won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough Indianapolis 500 - Johnny Rutherford USAC Racing - Gordon Johncock won the season championship Formula One Championship: James... Peter Edward Rose, Sr. ... The Reds Johnny Bench, arguably the greatest catcher in baseballs history. ... Atanasio Pérez Rigal, better known as Tony Pérez (born May 14, 1942 in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba), is a former player in Major League Baseball. ... A baseball pitcher delivers the ball to home plate In baseball, pitching is the act of throwing the baseball from the pitchers mound toward the catcher with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to make contact with it, or draw a walk. ... Gary Nolan can refer to different people: Gary Nolan: a baseball player Gary Nolan: a radio host This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Donald Edward Don Gullett was a successful Major League Baseball player and coach. ... Dave Concepción (b. ... George Kenneth Griffey, Sr. ... The position of the second baseman A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base. ... Joseph Leonard Morgan (born September 19, 1943 in Bonham, Texas) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman, considered by many as one of the greatest second basemen to have played the game. ... The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team based in Houston, Texas. ... An outfielder moves in to catch a fly ball Outfielder is a collective term including left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder, the three positions in baseball farthest from the batter. ... George Arthur Foster (b. ... In American sports, a Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests. ... In baseball, a home run is a base hit in which the batter is able to circle all the bases, ending at home plate and scoring a run, with no errors on the play that result in the batter achieving extra bases. ... See also: 1976 in sports, other events of 1977, 1978 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto racing Stock car racing: NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough Cale Yarborough won the Daytona 500 USAC Racing - Tom Sneva wins the season championship Indianapolis 500 - won by A.J. Foyt. ... The New York Yankees are a Major League baseball team based in The Bronx, New York City. ... The 1976 World Series matched the defending champion Cincinnati Reds against the New York Yankees, with the Reds sweeping the Series to repeat. ...

Approaching his 60th birthday at the close of the 1977 season, Howsam (who had become president of the Reds in 1973) turned over his general manager responsibilities to a longtime assistant, Dick Wagner. But the Reds' success ended when Howsam stepped aside. With the free agent era dawning, and with the Reds' stubborn refusal to play the big-money game, "The Big Red Machine" began to lose key players. Howsam had already traded Perez to the Montreal Expos in the months following the 1976 title. Gullett, Rose and Morgan were allowed to leave via free agency. Nolan developed arm problems. Anderson was fired after the Reds finished second in the NL West in both 1977 and 1978. Howsam resigned as president in 1978, and Wagner was blamed by many for the team's decline - although Howsam, one of the most conservative voices in the game at that point, surely helped set fiscal policy for the club. Yet Howsam's contributions to the Reds' brilliant successes of 1970-76 could not be overlooked - he even briefly returned to the club presidency in 1983-84, after Wagner's firing - and Howsam was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2004. In North American sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has run out and is now free to sign with another team. ... The Washington Nationals is a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Washington, D.C.. It relocated to Washington from Montréal, Québec, Canada after the 2004 season. ... See also: 1977 in sports, 1979 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto racing USAC - A J Foyt won final season championship under USAC. CART, Championship Auto Racing Teams open wheel racing established in the United States. ... The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame was instituted in 1958 to recognize the career of former Cincinnati Reds players, managers and front-office executives. ...