Former MLB manager Art Howe in ICU due to the coronavirus

Art Howe, who managed the Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics and New York Mets after his major league playing career, is hospitalized in intensive care with the coronavirus, Howe confirmed to Houston TV station KPRC 2 on Thursday.

Howe, 73, told KPRC 2 that he first felt COVID-19 symptoms on May 3 and learned he was positive two days after being tested. After trying to recover at home, he was transported to a hospital by ambulance Tuesday after his symptoms grew worse, and he remained in the ICU on Thursday night.

Howe's initial symptoms included chills that made him shake "like a leaf," then he felt "total fatigue" in addition to losing his sense of taste.

"Never experienced anything like it before," Howe told KPRC 2.

Howe said he has to go 24 hours without a fever before he can be released. He also said he has no interest in eating because of his lack of taste, but he knows he needs to eat.

Howe spent 12 seasons in the majors as a player, primarily at second base and third base. He played for Pittsburgh (1974-75) and Houston (1976-82) but missed the 1983 season because of an injury before playing two more years for St. Louis (1984-85). Howe hit .260 over his career with 43 home runs and 293 RBIs. His only postseason homer in three playoff trips came in the 1981 National League Division Series against Los Angeles.

Howe began his big league managerial career with the Astros in 1989 and led them for five seasons.

He took over the A's in 1996 and managed them for seven years, winning 600 regular-season games and leading Oakland to the playoffs three times. Those teams were known for general manager Billy Beane's then-unconventional method of using sabermetrics to evaluate players. Author Michael Lewis wrote a bestselling book on the A's called "Moneyball,'' and it was later turned into a film by the same name starring Brad Pitt as Beane and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Howe.

Howe was released from his contract with the A's after the 2002 season and became the manager of the Mets for two seasons.

"Want to send best wishes on behalf of our entire organization to former Mets manager Art Howe who is in a Houston hospital battling COVID-19,'' Mets vice president of alumni public relations and team historian Jay Horwitz wrote on Twitter. "Never have met a nicer man.''

Howe, whose managerial record is 1,129-1,137, most recently served as Texas' bench coach during the 2007 and '08 seasons.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.