Steve Howe, Former NL Rookie of Year, Dies in Truck Crash at 48

April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Relief pitcher Steve Howe, who was the 1980 National League Rookie of the Year and suspended seven times by Major League Baseball for substance abuse, died early this morning when his pickup truck rolled over off a California freeway. He was 48.

Howe was driving westbound on Interstate 10 around 5:30 a.m. local time eight miles east of Indio, California, when his truck drifted into the center median, hit an embankment and rolled over, California Highway Patrol Officer Franco Castro said in a telephone interview.

Howe wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was partially ejected from the truck, which crushed his head and torso, Castro said. Howe was pronounced dead at the scene, which was around 135 miles east of Los Angeles.

Castro wouldn't say if there was evidence of alcohol or drug use by Howe, adding that the crash was still under investigation.

The Associated Press reported that Howe was critically injured in a motorcycle crash in August in Montana.

Howe, a left-hander, helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series in 1981, one season after he set a team rookie record with 17 saves.

``Steve played for me for five years and I thought the world of him,'' former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda said in a statement. ``I am truly sorry to hear about his passing and my deepest sympathies go out to his family.''

He underwent rehabilitation for substance abuse for the first time before the 1983 season and was suspended for all of 1984. The Dodgers released him in 1985, but he spent the rest of that season with the Minnesota Twins, before missing the 1986 season.

He spent 1987 with the Texas Rangers, but missed the next three seasons before joining the New York Yankees in 1991. Former major-league commissioner Fay Vincent banned Howe for life in 1992 after he pleaded guilty to a cocaine-possession charge in Montana, but an arbitrator overturned it.

He pitched with the Yankees through 1996, but two days after being released on June 24, 1996, was arrested in a terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport with a loaded .357 Magnum in his suitcase. He pleaded guilty to gun possession and received three years probation.

Howe was born March 10, 1958, in Pontiac, Michigan. He was a first-round pick of the Dodgers in 1979 and had a career major-league record of 47-41 with a 3.30 earned run average and 91 saves. He made his only All-Star appearance in 1982.