Bob Howsam

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Bob Howsam
Born	February 28, 1918 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Died	February 19, 2008(2008-02-19) (aged 89) Sun City, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Major League Baseball executive American Football League co-founder and team owner

Robert Lee Howsam (February 28, 1918 – February 19, 2008) was an American professional sports executive and entrepreneur. In 1959, he played a key role in establishing two leagues—the American Football League, which succeeded and merged with the National Football League, and baseball's Continental League, which never played a game but forced expansion of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 16 to 20 teams in 1961–62.

Howsam then became a prominent MLB executive, primarily known as the highly successful general manager (GM) and club president of the Cincinnati Reds^[1][2] during the Big Red Machine dynasty from January 23, 1967, through February 15, 1978, when his team won four National League pennants and two World Series titles.

Immediately before his tenure in Cincinnati, he had served as GM of the St. Louis Cardinals from August 17, 1964, until January 22, 1967. Although he inherited a team that would win the 1964 World Series, he made material contributions to the Cardinals' 1967 world champions and 1968 pennant-winners.^[2]

Born in Denver and raised in La Jara, Colorado, where his father owned a profitable bee-keeping business,^[3] Howsam attended the University of Colorado and served as a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II. He was the son-in-law of Edwin C. Johnson, a three-term United States Senator and two-term governor of Colorado.^[4] Johnson also was involved with professional baseball as founder and first president of the postwar Class A Western League, an upper-level minor league that played from 1947 to 1958.