Howser Has Brain Tumor; Surgery Is Set : Operation to Determine If Malignancy Is Present

Dick Howser, manager of the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals, will undergo surgery next week for a brain tumor and miss the rest of this season, team officials announced Friday.

“The neurosurgeon does not feel that this surgery is life-threatening,” Dr. Paul Meyer, team physician, said at a news conference. “Under the best of circumstances, the recovery process would require three or four months. We will not know whether it is benign or malignant until we have sections taken and studied under the microscope.”

Meyer said doctors believed that the tumor “has been there for some time.”

Howser, 50, was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City Friday morning.

Howser who had managed the American League to a 3-2 victory in Tuesday night’s All-Star game at Houston, missed the Royals’ game against the Cleveland Indians Thursday night with what was announced as a sore neck. Meyer said Howser was taken to the hospital for tests after he became disoriented.

“We would ask him, ‘Who is this man?’ ” said Meyer, pointing at John Schuerholz, the Royal general manager. “He didn’t know. We asked him who won the game last night, and he said the Royals, but he didn’t know the score.”

Meyer said: “Anytime a person has a brain tumor, it is serious. But there is no way to know whether the tumor is malignant or not until the surgery.

“I examined him this afternoon, and he is not in any pain or discomfort.”

Meyer said the surgery was being delayed until swelling around the tumor can be brought down. The tumor, Meyer said, is in the front left part of the brain, and is 5 to 7 centimeters in diameter.

“This is a large tumor,” he said. “If it is benign, as we hope it is, then the plan will be to remove it.

“If it is malignant, then you have to resort to radiation-type therapy, or chemotherapy.

“It’s in the frontal area, where emotions and personality are centered.”

Mike Ferraro, a close friend of Howser’s and the Royals’ third base coach, was appointed interim manager.

“Driving to the park today, I kept thinking about all the things Dick and I have been through,” Ferraro said, dabbing at his tear-swollen eyes. “But Dick is a battler. He’s always been a battler, and I have faith that he can handle any situation.”

Ferraro had a kidney removed in cancer surgery in 1983, shortly after becoming manager of the Cleveland Indians. He was fired before the end of the season.

“My wife reminded me today that the reason I came back from having malignant cancer was because of the support of all my friends and loved ones,” Ferraro said. “I know that Dick knows we’re all pulling for him.”

Players were stunned by the news.

“Every now and then, something happens to slap you in the face and remind you that all these little things you’re worried about don’t amount to anything,” said Hal McRae, the Royals’ designated hitter.

Ferraro, one of the All-Star coaches, said Howser seemed subdued during the All-Star festivities.

“A bunch of us were sitting around in the coaches’ room swapping stories and joking around,” he said. “Usually, Dick would be right in there leading the group with the funniest story. But he just kind of sat there. I asked him about it, and he said he wasn’t feeling good.”

Dr. Charles Clough, a Kansas City neurosurgeon, will perform the surgery.

The Royals won their first World Series championship last season. In an eight-year playing career, Howser was with the Kansas City A’s, Cleveland and the New York Yankees. He led the Yankees to 103 regular-season victories in 1980 in his first year as a manager but was fired after the Royals, managed by Jim Frey, swept the Yankees in the American League playoffs. He replaced Frey as manager of the Royals at midseason in 1981.

During the 1980 playoffs against the Royals, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner told Howser to fire Ferraro after Ferraro, the Yankees’ third base coach, sent Willie Randolph home in the second game and was thrown out at the plate.

Howser refused to fire his friend and was instead fired himself. Ferraro stayed with the Yankees one more year.