Howard was born in San Diego, California and attended Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park, Kansas.

[1] He also made his MLB debut in 1991 as a September call-up, appearing in nine games for the Mariners; he was 1-for-6 at the plate for a .167 batting average.

[1] He ended his playing career in 1996 with the Norfolk Tides, a Triple-A farm team of the New York Mets.

[1] He also played in 790 games in Minor League Baseball (487 at the Triple-A level) where he batted .250 with 366 RBIs and 65 home runs.

In 2010, Howard played the role of a bench coach in the Japanese movie Baseball Dreams which was filmed in Williamsport.