Complex sentence: A hard-throwing left-hander, Howe's career was plagued by alcohol and cocaine abuse; he first checked himself into a substance abuse clinic in 1983, but a relapse resulted in him being suspended for the entire 1984 season.
Split into simpler sentences: A hard-throwing left-hander, Howe's career was plagued by alcohol and cocaine abuse. Howe first checked himself into a substance abuse clinic in 1983, but a relapse resulted in him being suspended for the entire 1984 season.