Howie Ferguson was an intimidating power pitcher for the Skippers during the 1990-91 season. The 6’3 right hander hailing from Hamilton, Ontario made his mark during his time in a Skippers uniform.

“Howie was our #1 and always went against our opponent’s top pitcher!! He was my first 90+ mph guy at SC4,” said former Skippers Hall of Fame Coach Rick Smith. “His hard work and his extra efforts got him noticed enough to get drafted by the New York Yankees,”said Smith.

Skippers Hall of Fame coach, Dick Groch, told Coach Smith about the talented pitcher and played a role in landing Ferguson with the Skippers. Smith continued, “He was that true power arm for our team. He had the mentality of why waste the off speed…I will get him with my fastball!! Howie had a cocky confident mound presence! I really enjoyed having him as one of my pitchers. To this day when I am out on the recruiting trail, I am looking for pitchers who are like Howie was.”

Smith wasn’t the only one impressed by his skill set, Ferguson was drafted following the 1991 season by the New York Yankees to live out his dream of playing professional baseball. Ferguson’s power arm continued at the pro level going 2-0 in his first season of rookie ball with 36 strikeouts, only allowing 1 homerun. He finished his minor league career with 68 strikeouts to just 35 walks.

Howie was also a terrific basketball player. Smith mentioned one day right before the spring trip, Howie was in the gym playing with some of the guys on the basketball team and hurt his ankle, he had to miss a couple weeks. “I was so mad at him that day,” Smith recalled. “To this day I have the ‘Howie Ferguson Rule’ to keep my players healthy.”

Howie’s impact wasn’t just felt on the baseball field. Smith shared that Ferguson was part of the baseball team that helped build the first dugouts at Sanborn Park, a major improvement that lives on today.