Cowboy Classics: Take me out to the ballgame

CHEYENNE -- Art Howe is not thrilled with the way he was portrayed in the Hollywood blockbuster, "Moneyball."

He called it a "character assassination."

Who could blame him?

He came off as arrogant, unwilling to budge, insubordinate and a jerk, among other titles. Phillip Seymour Hoffman did a masterful job in the flick, but that is not Howe -- personality or physique.

"First of all, Philip Seymour Hoffman physically didn’t resemble me in any way," Howe told the Houston Chronicle in 2011. "He was a little on the heavy side. And just the way he portrayed me was very disappointing and probably 180 degrees from what I really am, so that was disappointing too."

Back then, Howe said he would like to manage again. He said the book, and the movie, didn't help his cause in that department.

"It certainly doesn’t help it the way I was portrayed," Howe said. "I want people who don’t know Art Howe – that’s the problem with the movie – I’ve spent my whole career trying to build a good reputation and be a good baseball man and someone who people like to play for and all of the above. Then in two hours, people who don’t know me – and Brad Pitt’s a big name, people are going to see his movies – and all these people across the country are going to go in and get this perception of me that’s totally unfair and untruthful. So I’m very upset."

Howe came to Wyoming on a football scholarship and left a Hall of Fame baseball player. He wasn't signed out of college, but was spotted by a scout back home in Pittsburgh, playing on a local team. He went on to play for the Pirates, Astros and St. Louis Cardinals in his 11-year playing career. He batted .260 and hit 43 home runs.

Howe went on to manage in the big leagues for 15 seasons, leading the Astros, Athletics and Mets. He compiled a record of 1,129-1,137.

Howe played at Wyoming from 1967-69, suiting up for 109 games for the Cowboys. He earned first-team all-conference honors in 1969. He was inducted into the Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.

Wyoming discontinued its baseball program in 1996. The school made one appearance in the College World Series back in 1956.

Contact Chad Blakely at Blakely737@gmail.com or follow him @blakely737