Howie Gershberg Memorial

Howie Gershberg
Howie Gershberg
(1936-2003)

Howie Gershberg played baseball professionally in the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants minor leagues in the 1950s.  Originally a shortstop, he taught himself how to pitch.  After retiring as a player, Howie coached baseball at East Islip (NY) High School where he had a 111-35 winning record.  He then coached at St. John's University for 12 years, where his players included Frank Viola and John Franco.  In 1985, Howie joined the California Angels as a minor league pitching coach.  One of his first students was Chuck Finley.  In his nineteen seasons with the Angels, among his players were Brian Anderson, Mike Holtz, Brian Cooper, Matt Wise, Seth Etherton, Jarrod Washburn, Ramon Ortiz, Scott Schoeneweis, Scot Shields, John Lackey, and Francisco Rodriguez.  He helped convert catcher Troy Percival into one of the most dominating closers of his era.   Howie passed away from cancer on November 19, 2003.

Along with Joe Russo and Don Landolphi, Howie was the co-author of Championship Baseball Techniques, Fundamentals and Drills, a book on coaching still in circulation today.

This Web page is a permanent memorial in his memory.  Any thoughts, reminiscences or other comments you may have about Howie can be added to this page by e-mailing home@futureangels.com.

Audio Interviews

FutureAngels.com conducted three interviews with Howie Gershberg, discussing the teaching of pitching and some of the prospects he's tutored.  To listen, you need Windows Media Player.

A Day at The GAP

In 2002, FutureAngels.com produced A Day at The GAP, a 24-minute documentary about the Anaheim Angels' minor league complex in Mesa, Arizona.  Gene Autry Park and Howie are virtually synonymous; The GAP opened as the Angels' spring training site in 1984, and Howie joined the Angels in 1985.  Every spring, Howie could be found at The GAP teaching the Angels' minor league pitching prospects.

Howie was featured in the documentary.  To watch A Day at The GAP, click here.   You need Windows Media Player and a fast Internet connection (cable modem or DSL) to watch.

Baseball America

This article by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times appeared in the January 19, 2004 edition of Baseball America and is reprinted with his permission.

Howie Gershberg never would use the nickname his pitchers bestowed upon him. He was far too kind, far too humble.

They called him “the guru,” the coach who could make you smile and fix your delivery, all within a few minutes. From Chuck Finley to Bobby Jenks, from Troy Percival to Francisco Rodriguez, Gershberg worked tirelessly with two generations of Angel pitchers.

You rarely read about him; he preferred to deflect the attention toward his pitchers. You certainly wouldn't see him on TV. As his pitchers graduated to the major leagues, he happily turned his attention to the next crop of prospects.

He was one himself, in 1985, a rookie coach in pro ball after tutoring John Franco and Frank Viola at St. John's. His first staff with Rookie-level Salem included Finley and Roberto Hernandez. The Angels loved him, hired him full-time, retained him through numerous organizational shuffles and directed their treasured young arms to him.

In a 1996 profile of Gershberg in the Los Angeles Times, longtime Angel minor league manager Tom Kotchman affectionately compared him to the San Diego Chicken.

“You know that skit the Chicken does, where the little chickens follow him across the field? That's Howie,” Kotchman said. “I'd see him walk across the field and his pitching staff, his little chickens, would follow him around.”

Cancer hit him, but he hit back. In the fall of 2000, doctors told him he should not expect to live a year. In the spring of 2002, he bounded through training camp with the cancer temporarily controlled. That fall, he helped prepare the scouting reports the Angels used to shock the Yankees in the playoffs.

The Angels won their first World Series, and Gershberg got his ring. The Marlins won in 2003, with a pitching staff coached by Wayne Rosenthal, one of Gershberg's old St. John's pitchers. Rosenthal invited Gershberg to attend the Series, but he was too ill. He was 67 when he died of cancer Nov. 17.

Halo Insider

Halo Insider was the name of the souvenir program sold at Angels Stadium during the late 1990s and early 2000s. FutureAngels.com webmaster Stephen C. Smith wrote this article for the magazine about Howie that was published during the 2002 season.

Howie Gershberg's coaching career is in extra innings.

Most people at age 66 are ready to call it a career, settle back in the recliner and watch ballgames from the comfort of their living rooms.

But the man Angels players affectionately call “The Guru” has discovered that the wellspring of the Fountain of Youth flows from the joy of working with minor league pitchers, some of whom are nearly five decades younger than him.

Gershberg is now in his 18th season with the Anaheim Angels. From 1985 through 2000, Howie was a pitching coach assigned to one of the Angels' minor league affiliates. He's spent the last two years travelling the country as a special assignment instructor.

You could put together a pretty good major league pitching staff with the players who've been under his tutelage at some point in their careers:

Chuck Finley. Troy Percival. Brian Anderson. Mike Holtz. Brian Cooper. Matt Wise. Seth Etherton. Jarrod Washburn. Ramon Ortiz. Scott Schoeneweis. Scot Shields. John Lackey.

“The Angels have taken good care of me,” Gershberg says. “They've shown nothing but class all the way.”

Gershberg's professional baseball career began in the mid-1950s, when he was signed as a shortstop out of high school by the Brooklyn Dodgers. The New York Giants moved him to the mound. “At that time, there was very little help from pitching coaches,” he recalls. “Almost everything I had to do, I had to learn on my own. I think that was very important, because I had to constantly talk pitching and get into other pitchers' heads.”

When he ended his playing career, Gershberg finished college and began coaching at East Islip (NY) High School where he had a 111-35 managing record. He then moved on to St. John's University where he coached for 12 years. Among his students were future major leaguers Frank Viola and John Franco. Viola won 176 games, and pitched in the 1987 World Series for the Minnesota Twins. Franco has 422 career saves, second only to former Angel Lee Smith (478) on the all-time list. “I was very blessed having those two kids,” Howie says. “We've become very close throughout our lives. To this day, Johnny Franco and I are in constant communication with each other. I get such great satisfaction from seeing what they made out of themselves.”

While at St. John's, he co-authored Championship Baseball: Techniques, Fundamentals and Drill, a book on coaching which is still in circulation today.

In 1985, “the Angels asked me if I would be interested in taking the short-season team” in Salem, Oregon, Gershberg says. “I figured I'd give it a try. I was blessed with a bunch of great guys, Chuck Finley being one of them. I decided this was the route to go with my career.”

One of Gershberg's most challenging projects was converting Percival from catching to the dominant closer he is today. “Troy Percival was my catcher (at Boise) in 1990. He wasn't our starting catcher, so most of the time he caught all my bullpens. The following year, he was my closer, so I was his first pitching coach in professional baseball. His command was good. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't ideal. But he did throw strikes. There wasn't much time spent on mechanics. When you have a guy throwing strikes at 95-98 MPH, you don't want to monkey around too much. We tried to let him fail so we could make adjustments, but to be perfectly honest it never happened.”

Perhaps Howie's best pitching staff was the 1999 Double-A Erie SeaWolves team. Four starters — Ortiz, Cooper, Wise and Etherton — went on to pitch in the major leagues for the Angels.

Now a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, Cooper credits Gershberg with saving his career. “Coming off a terrible year in 1998,” Brian says, “I spent my second year of winter ball with him. I finished the next year in the big leagues. I was lucky enough to be with him during two full seasons and two winter ball campaigns. I can say without a doubt that I would not have gotten to the big leagues without his help. Not only could he fix any of my problems, he taught me how to fix myself by recognizing what the ball was doing so that I didn't have to rely on pitching coaches for help. He is the one and only Guru!”

In 1999 Howie began to have health problems, starting with surgery for intestinal cancer that caused him to miss part of the season. He came back healthy in 2000. After the season, a checkup showed that not only had the cancer returned to his intestines, but also to his lungs. Howie was told he had 18 months to live.

Gershberg missed the 2001 season as he underwent chemotherapy. The Angels created a special assignment position for him, letting Howie work out of his New York home to scout and teach as his health permitted.

The elixir of baseball has kept the cancer in remission. Although he must still undergo regular exams, Gershberg is free to travel and instruct as much as he wishes. Howie has spent the 2002 summer travelling across the country to the Angels' minor league affiliates, and even to their academy in the Dominican Republic.

There's no doubt in Howie's mind that baseball has been an antidote, if not a cure. “Being around youngsters is the greatest thing in the world, because it does keep you young. I'm 66 years old, but when I come to the ballpark I feel like I'm 40 because of being around these young kids. The way they go about their business reminds me that baseball is the greatest game in the world.”

Reminiscences

Any thoughts, reminiscences or other comments you may have about Howie can be added to this page by e-mailing home@futureangels.com.

The passing of Howie is a great loss to baseball, but an even greater loss to all the lives that he has touched throughout his life. Howie was my first pitching coach in professional baseball -- I wish he could've been my own personal coach. His combination of knowledge and genuine care for his players was rare in professional baseball. Howie was a major reason for my accomplishments as a pitcher. He was a gifted teacher that helped his players shine bright with confidence. That is what I remember most about Howie. In a business of “what have you done for me lately,” Howie never turned his back on anyone and picked you up when you were down.>

I feel very privileged to have known such a great man and a great friend.

— Matt Beaumont
Anaheim Angels (1994-2000)

Howie coached my son Buddy who is now a Junior in high school.  He had a special connection with him and even after he got sick he still mustered up the energy to coach him. I was at his house two days before he passed away to bring him a letter from my son and some photos.  I was not able to read it to him because it got me very emotional.   His wife later called and thanked my son.  Howie had given Bud his Angels uniform and asked him to wear it.  Needless to say he won't but it's always not far from him as a reminder.  In center field at St. John The Baptist there is a sign we put up in memory of Howie Gershberg.  If you feel like getting choked up I will send you a copy of the letter I kept for myself.  He was very special and when I see all the scouts that Howie had told to keep their eye on my son I am very thankful for all he did for him and everybody else he touched.

— Artie Cipoletti

(Buddy's letter:)

From our first lesson you began the long lasting influence that would stay with me for as long as I live.  You taught me everything from how to hold my mitt to where to stand on the rubber.  From you I can make changes in order to throw strikes during the innings on which I'm on the hill.  You molded and shaped me into the pitcher that I am today.  Since our first lesson I've averaged winning at least 2 championships a year and recently got an award from a summer team for my outstanding pitching for them.   I can safely say that 100% of my pitching ability comes from your teaching.   But it doesn't stop there.  My decisions made now, and the ways I control and react with situations are all from you.  I've always listened to every word you said, but I've also observed.  Everyone you're around loves you because you are always so positive, and I think that's what kept me pushing to being eager to learn more, and listen.  I would always look forward to the days on which my lessons fell upon, and I guess I'll just have to cherish those days BUT remember everything you told me, which I will never forget.  My promise I give to you is that I will succeed and I will go as far as baseball will take me.  Lately, my grades in school have averaged around 92-93, and I'm doing the best I can to keep that status up.  I'm hoping to make varsity this year and I know that if I remember everything and every detail you have told me that I will make the starting rotation.  I strongly believe though, that every trophy I've received since you've started teaching me this art, is as good as yours.   Because the focus I show while on that rubber is from your teaching.  This past year I believe was my best hitting year also.  I think I had more doubles, triples and homeruns than I did singles, and I only struck out about 5 times the whole season!  I just wanted to express and tell you that you are one of the best people I will ever meet, and everything you have told me I will never forget.  I will always look at you as a role model, and praise the Angels uniform you gave me!  I'm planning to get that put in a case and hang it on my wall, so that everyday when I have a baseball game, I can look at that uniform and say someday I'll have an Angels uniform of my own.   You will be proud when you know that my baseball career doesn't end in high school, but hopefully someday, it can be my job.  Everything since our first lesson to our last lesson has been a blessing for me, and I just want to thank you and let you know that I appreciate everything you have done for me, and I know now everything I need to know when I'm not throwing strikes to be able to throw strikes, you did a great job with me Mr. Gershberg and it reflects on anyone who watches me pitch.  I will never forget you.

With all love.

— Buddy Cipoletti

It's hard to describe how much Howie has affected my life. There is no doubt in my mind that without his knowledge of pitching and more importantly his positive attitude toward life I would not be where I am today. I had the privilege to be a part of one Howie's teams four different times. Those of you who know Howie know that it wasn't just the way he was able to see a simple adjustment in your mechanics that was needed to make you feel so much more comfortable with you delivery but it was the way he was able to always give you a positive spin on things. After a really rough first year of AA I was able to pitch with him in the Maryland Fall League. I came to him not only with bad mechanics but with terrible confidence. I swear that within a week Howie not only had me getting people out but he had me believing once again that I could pitch. If it weren't for him spending the extra time and not just with the mechanics but the time a father would spend teaching his son about life and how to deal with adversity I can honestly say that I would have been out of baseball long before I got the chance to pitch in the major leagues. Believe it or not I went from a suspect within the organization to pitching for the Anaheim Angels the very next year. I have so many wonderful things to say about Howie but I want to keep a few things between us. Howie my family and I owe you everything that we have. Without you I don't know where I would be but I know I would be half the man I am today. It was you that got me to the big leagues and its you that has me wanting to be a coach someday only so I can pass on to others what you have passed to me. We all are at a loss without you but those of us who got to know you are forever grateful for your wisdom and sacrifice. Thanks again Howie and I will always remember you.

— Brian Cooper
Anaheim Angels (1995-2001)

Howie Gershberg is a major league person. At times in your life, or on the mound, when all you wanted to do was dig a hole and crawl in, Howie was right there to advise you that tomorrow was coming, and you were going to be a great part of it. He has an unequivocal mind for the game of baseball, and a heart bigger than the man he is. The baseball world knows him as "The Guru", but those of us that had the privilege to receive his tutelage, know him as a gracious, caring, friend. We all will miss him, even those who would have.

— Jason S. Hill
Anaheim Angels (1994-1999)

It has taken me a while to be able to put into words what my cousin Howie meant to the family and especially to me. When our moms were alive, each Sunday we would all head to Long Island to Howie's Mom's house. Although Howie was 12 years my elder, I always enjoyed being around him and to listen to his words of passion for the game he loved. We were all so proud of him in what he accomplished in his short lifetime. However, the most impressive thing about Howie was not his technical or superior teaching skills in the art of pitching, but his charm, grace, and ability to make anyone feel at home. He possessed the same rare qualities that his Mom and Dad had. You were at ease from the moment you met him and at some point, he made you laugh (got that from his Dad). Although I was so glad that I had the opportunity to spend some time with Howie over the last few years, I'm very fortunate and lucky to have known him so well. I'm a better person for having known Howie. You and the family are always in my heart and prayers.

— Darryl Marcus

Although Howie is my second cousin I grew up being accustomed to calling him Uncle Howie. We lived close to two hours apart but visited with each other as much as we could considering all the travel that he did. He was a great man and the most intriguing person I have ever met. He was so kind and was all about family. I could remember being in public school bragging about my Uncle Howie and how cool I thought it was that he was involved in major league baseball. Last year I got married and he was able to attend. We hadn't seen each other in a couple of years but picked up right away. The man could talk for hours upon hours about his love of baseball. I always loved his stories of turning a baseball player into a star. Today is a very sad day for my family and I will definitely miss him. Uncle Howie, I wish we could have spent more time together. I will miss you and have you in my heart always. I love you.

— Seth Marcus

It's been almost three years now since I was in the Angels organization, and no matter how my career was going while I was there, Howie always had an encouraging word. The injuries I suffered in the years I was with the Angels were extremely hard to handle, and Howie, having seen me pitch just once, made me feel like no matter what, I would end up in the big leagues, just because he believed in me. Your description of him as an Uncle is perfect. In the times that I couldn't pitch, particularly in instructional league, he sat with me, and spent some time on the mental game. He was ever the definition of the word “teacher”. He was and will always be a special part of my time with the Angels. He taught me a lot about baseball, and even more about life. I've missed our conversations up until this day, and I will miss him and his wisdom even more so.

— Greg Moore
Anaheim Angels (1999-2000)

I wish I could tell you all that me and Howie spent many spring trainings together on the farm, but I can't. My story of Howie is a little different. I was raised in New York in a family that didn't have a lot of money. I was raised in Queens and played little league and high school ball there. Well, before I got to high school I was told of Howie by a local scout and decided that he was what I needed to get to the next level. When I first met Howie It was an experience like no other. As a young kid I was a bit nervous, but if you know Howie you know that he always brings out the best in everyone he meets, always makes them confident. He had more confidence in me than I did, but that was Howie's nature. He never lied to you and he always made you feel good about yourself. I never was able to afford the lessons he gave and he knew that, so he gave them to me for free. Howie and I built a close relationship over the years and it will be weird not going to see him give me instructions before spring training this year, as he has done every year since I signed. I can honestly with all my heart say I would have never made professional baseball without Howie. He always made you feel comfortable not just on the mound but in life. You always left him knowing that everything was going to be okay.....I know that even though he is gone .....It will be okay....I have been praying for Howie and his family for a long time and I know that God is holding Howie in His arms right now as you read this...He is forever in my thoughts....I love you Howie......

— Pete Munro
Toronto Blue Jays (1999-2000)
Houston Astros (2002-2003)

I just found out the news about Howie. Even though I wasn't a pitcher, I enjoyed listening and talking with him. He touched all of us through the years. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family as well as the Angel family. He will be dearly missed....

— Derick Urquhart
Anaheim Angels (2000-2002)

The below column was written by FutureAngels.com webmaster Stephen C. Smith and posted on the web site the night that Howie passed away.

Uncle Howie
November 19, 2003

To the baseball world, he was “The Guru.”  To me, he'll always be ”Uncle Howie.”

Howie Gershberg came into my life when I visited Erie, Pennsylvania, in May 1999.   The Angels had a Double-A affiliate there, the Erie SeaWolves, and the team's starting rotation was stacked with major league pitching prospects.  Four of them — Ramon Ortiz, Matt Wise, Brian Cooper, and Seth Etherton — went on to pitch in the big leagues for the Angels.  A fifth, Mark Harriger, might have made it too if not for an arm injury that effectively derailed his career.

Howie was their pitching guru, but also a surrogate father — well, not so much a father as an uncle.  He didn't try to be your dad and tell you what to do, but he was always there with sage advice and an encouraging word.

If Howie liked you — and I can't think of anyone he didn't like; certainly, everyone loved him — he'd make you part of his family.  He'd embrace you, or at least put his arm around your shoulder, and treat you like the nephew or niece he hadn't seen in far too long a time.

When I learned that Howie had passed away today, it was hard to decide where to begin spreading the sad news.  He had touched so many lives in the game, not just those who played but also those like me who he'd privileged by letting us into that tight circle which means you're family.  I called a friend in Lake Elsinore, a booster who ran the host parent program when Howie had been pitching coach there years ago.  She started thinking of so many pitchers who'd once played for him, like me making a mental checklist of who to call as we freely shed our tears.  I too began alerting those who'd played for them, some recently, some long ago.  Yet Howie was precious to all of them, and no matter how many years went by they always tried to stay in touch with him, knowing that we didn't have much time left to enjoy his presence in our life.

What I didn't know that day four years ago in May was that Howie was already fighting the affliction that would ultimately take him from us.  He had surgery for intestinal cancer later in the season, but returned in 2000 proud that he'd actually put on weight!

After the 2000 season, Howie learned that the cancer had returned and was told he had eighteen months to live.  The Angels made him a special assignment coach for 2001, working out of his home in New York.  What was his assignment?  To once again beat that cancer.

For a while, he did.  After undergoing chemotherapy, he scouted a bit and travelled as his health permitted.  In 2002, he came to major league camp, reunited with so many young charges he'd helped to the major leagues.  Ironically for a pitching coach, he wandered about the practice fields using a bat as a prop.  Dressed in the Angels' new uniform, he anxiously requested if I'd take pictures of him in the red jersey so he could send them to his wife.  Although the Angels kept him at Tempe Diablo Stadium for most of the spring, deep down I think he really enjoyed the minor league complex at Gene Autry Park the most.  "The GAP" has so much history, and Howie was so much a part of it.  It was at The GAP that he tutored a young Chuck Finley, and helped convert a poorly-hitting catcher named Troy Percival into one of the most dominant closers in the game.

Even though he was fighting his own battle, Howie always asked how I was doing.   For a couple years, while he was undergoing chemotherapy, I was dealing with an irregular heartbeat.  We both were wiped out from the medication and would “one-up” each other comparing the chemicals tiring us out.

We did share one belief — the elixir that kept us healthy was being around the young ballplayers whose lives and careers were just beginning.  We joked that so long as we had baseball in our lives, we'd be as immortal as these prospects believed they were.

Howie felt well enough to travel across the country last year, visiting us in Rancho Cucamonga, his first trip to the California League in many years.  I think Howie knew his time was running out, because our conversations were tinged with the little things you say when you know deep down this might be the last time you see each other.

Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, we managed to stay in touch.  Howie would let me know how his treatments were going.  I'd let him know what I'd seen of his young charges and how I thought they were doing.  All the while, he was still giving to the Angels.  As the team prepared for a post-season in which they won their first World Series, Howie was attending New York Yankees home games as an advance scout.   The Angels later beat the Yankees three games to one, running wild on the Bronx Bombers' inferior outfield defense.  You can credit Howie for that.

Howie loved to teach, and was excited by the potential the Internet offered to let him teach while at home.  I returned from the Arizona Fall League with video of one Angels pitching prospect, and placed it on-line so he could watch it.  Right away, he noted a flaw in the pitcher's mechanics.  We also placed Howie's notes from his pitching manual on-line, because he wanted to share them with local high school pitching coaches, and anyone else who liked him shared a passion for learning the game.

Before the 2003 season began, Howie told me that he wasn't going to be able to attend spring training.  The cancer had once again asserted itself, and he had to undergo more chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  If baseball kept Howie alive, then its absence from his life would contribute to his death.

His passing was all too expected, in fact anticipated, and probably freed him from the suffering he must have felt.  But we never heard about any of it.  Howie was the eternal optimist, always the one with a good word, always found the silver lining in a dark cloud.

Howie taught me a lot about baseball, but more importantly he taught me a lot about life, and how to show courage when Fate tries to take that life away from you.  As a minor league coach, he didn't get the public accolades he deserved.  But there are plenty of ballplayers crying tonight who will tell you that, in their lives, Howie Gershberg was major league all the way.