Art Fowler, 84, Who Coached for Yankees Again and Again, Is Dead

By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
Published: January 30, 2007

Art Fowler, who became George Steinbrenner’s sixth, ninth, 17th and 26th Yankees pitching coach in a turbulent baseball pairing with his often hired and fired manager and drinking buddy Billy Martin, died yesterday in Spartanburg, S.C. He was 84.

Fowler’s death was announced by his son John, The Associated Press said.

In the late 1970s and ’80s, when the Yankees were known as the Bronx Zoo and Steinbrenner, the impetuous owner, had a revolving door of managers and coaches, Martin and Fowler were in and out, and then back and gone once more.

Fowler pitched in the major leagues for nine seasons, but was remembered mostly for his stints as Martin’s pitching coach, following him from Minnesota to Detroit to Texas to the Yankees to Oakland and then back to the Yankees.

“We got fired at Minnesota, we got fired at Detroit, we got fired at Texas,” Fowler once recalled. And there was more to come at Yankee Stadium.

Fowler was the Yankees’ pitching coach in the late 1970s and again in 1983 and 1988.

It seemed that when Steinbrenner was angry at Martin, one way to show his wrath was to rid him of Fowler.

In June 1983, a strain between Steinbrenner and Martin deepened when Steinbrenner removed Fowler as the pitching coach.

Asked if Martin resisted the change, Steinbrenner told The New York Times, “Naturally, he’s Billy’s best friend, and Billy wasn’t happy.”

Martin remarked: “He’s been with me 15 years. Am I sad? No comment.”

Fowler was not so reticent. “I just got fired,” he said. “But I won’t ever badmouth George Steinbrenner. He’s all right. But he doesn’t know anything about baseball, and he listens to the wrong advice.”

Fowler, a native of Converse, S.C., made his major league pitching debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 1954 and also pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels, appearing often in relief. He had a career record of 54-51.

In addition to his son John, Fowler is survived by his wife, Ruth; his son Ray; a daughter, Cheryl; and a sister, Ruth Gilbert.