Marriage connects two of Tucson's baseball greats
Two of the top baseball names in Tucson history, Jack Howell and Andy Lopez, got new jobs last week.
Lopez, who coached Arizona to the 2012 NCAA championship, is helping his son Michael, who is on the baseball staff at Marymount California University, an NAIA program.
Howell, who played at Palo Verde High, Pima College and the UA before embarking on a long MLB career as a player and coach, became the Los Angeles Angels minor-league field coordinator.
On Saturday, they joined forces, more or less.
Andy’s daughter, Kerri, married Jack’s son, Dallas, at Skyline Country Club. They met while working at Fit on the River, a Tucson fitness facility.
Howell has come full circle since signing with the Angels as a UA junior 32 years ago.
“It’s funny, but (Cubs manager) Joe Maddon was then an Angels minor-league coach who scouted me at Pima College,” Howell remembers. “He wanted to draft me then, but apparently I told them I wanted too much money. So I played in the Alaskan Summer League and won the hitting title. After that, they made me an offer and I signed, winding up in Salem, Oregon, with Joe Maddon.”
Howell and Lopez will be together again Jan. 30 at Hi Corbett Field when the UA honors its 1976, 1980, 1986 and 2012 national championship teams.
