Former Athletics Manager Art Howe Released From Hospital After COVID-19 Battle

After a week-long battle in intensive care doing battle with the COVID-19 coronavirus, ex-A's manager Art Howe was released from the hospital and allowed to go home Sunday.

Former Oakland Athletics manager Art Howe is out of the hospital after having spent most of the last week in intensive care after coming down with COVID-19 coronavirus.

The 73-year-old Howe, who managed the A’s from 1996-2002, said in a texted to mlb.com’s Brian McTaggart that he was feeling much better. Talking earlier in the week Howe said he believed he was past the worst of it, but his doctors weren’t going to release him until he’d been without a fever and with a normal temperature for at least 24 hours.

And in a text to the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome, Howe said, “I am definitely home.”

“I just want to thank all the friends and fans for all the kind emails and texts,” he wrote. “They were very uplifting.”

After feeling week and unable to eat much last weekend, Howe went by ambulance to the hospital, where he was tested for and diagnosed with COVID-19.

“I don’t know where I got it or how I got it,” Howe said midweek. “But I can tell you it’s not something you’d ever want to have.”

While texting with mlb.com, Howe said the disease was no joke.

“Think about your fellow man,” he told McTaggart in their text exchange. “It’s important. This is a crazy thing.”

Howe will still be in quarantine while at home. His wife of 50 years, Betty, has been quarantined since he went to the hospital but he said at the time “I’m looking forward to being quarantined with Betty.”

Howe, who played 11 years in the big leagues after being a star quarterback and baseball player at the University of Wyoming, has lived in the Houston area after having spent seven seasons with the Astros. After his managing career with the Astros, A’s and Mets was done, he spent time doing Astros TV broadcasts.

With the A’s, he brought the 2000-2002 teams to the playoffs in what would later be defined as the “Moneyball” era after the book written by Michael Lewis, which was later turned into a movie starring Brad Pitts as A’s general manager Billy Beane. Philip Seymour Hoffman portrayed Howe, although his Howe bore little resemblance to the man.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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