Ryan James Howard

Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a baseball player who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. Howard is the reigning National League MVP and the fastest player to reach 100 home runs in Major League Baseball history. He graduated from Lafayette High School in 1998 and attended Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University). Howard is six feet, four inches tall and 250 pounds. He is 27 years old and is in his fourth year in the big leagues. He bats and throws left handed.

One of the game's most feared sluggers, Howard is best known for his hitting. His 58 home runs in 2006 led Major League Baseball. As with many Philadelphia players who have played near the end of Veterans Stadium before its destruction and almost all "Phan Phavorites" at Citizens Bank Park, Howard has a fan club known as "Howard's Homers", with the group sporting Homer Simpson masks.
Career
Minor League Years
Selected in the 5th round of the 2001 draft, Howard quickly ascended the Phillies' minor league system, earning consecutive MVP awards in the Florida State and Eastern leagues (2003-2004). While doing this, he impressed scouts enough that general managers of several teams tried to lure the Phillies' Ed Wade into trading him, as Jim Thome was blocking his path to the majors. Rumors circulated that Howard would be traded to the Pirates for starting pitcher Kris Benson. Wade refrained from doing so.
2004 - A "Cup of Coffee"
On September 1, Howard made his first Major League plate appearance, striking out against Jaret Wright in a pinch-hit at-bat (for Vicente Padilla) in a 7-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves. On the 6th, Howard logged his first Major League hit in a single at-bat in a 3-1 loss to the Braves; on the 8th, he recorded his first multi-hit game with a double and a single in a 4-1 win over the Braves. On the 11th, Howard hit his first Major League home run off Bartolome Fortunato, driving in his first RBI and scoring his first run in an 11-9 win over the New York Mets.

Ryan Howard had 42 plate appearances in 19 games with the Phillies in 2004. He posted a .282 batting average with two home runs and five RBI; he also hit five doubles, drew two walks, and was hit by a pitch. Between playing for Double-A Reading, Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and the Phillies, Howard hit 48 home runs, which was tied for the highest total in organized baseball in 2004 along with Adrián Beltré of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
2005 - Rookie of the Year
On May 15, Howard recorded his first three-hit game, going 3-for-4 with a double, two singles, and a run-scored in a 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. On August 23, he recorded his first four-hit game, going 4-for-5 with a double, a home run, two singles, three RBI and three runs-scored in a 10-2 win over the San Francisco Giants. In early July, Howard became the Phillies' everyday first baseman when slugger Jim Thome was A sidelined for the season with an elbow injury.

Howard, who led all major league rookies with 22 home runs, also posted a .288 average and 63 RBI in just 312 at-bats and 88 games. He hit eleven home runs and 27 RBI in September and October. Howard finished his rookie season with 17 doubles, two triples, 52 runs-scored, and 100 strikeouts and 63 Runs Batted In as the Phillies battled the Houston Astros for the National League wild card until getting eliminated on the last day of the season. Howard was rewarded for his effort by being named NL Rookie of the Year, the fourth Phillie to win the award.

After the 2005 season, the Phillies faced a dilemma involving Thome and Howard. Both were very talented and proven power-hitters; Thome was the biggest free agent player the Phillies signed prior to the 2003 season, but Howard was the reigning Rookie of the Year and a promising young player. Before the 2006 season, Thome was traded, along with $22 million cash, to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Aaron Rowand and minor league pitching prospects in order to make room for Howard.

2006 - Most Valuable Player
On April 23, Howard became the first player to hit a home run into Ashburn Alley at Citizens Bank Park. The blast traveled 496 feet and was hit off Sergio Mitre of the Florida Marlins. It was the first of two Howard would hit in the game, the first multi-home run game of his career. He also became the first player to hit a home run into the third deck of the park in right field when he connected off Mike Mussina on June 20, a 481-foot long-ball that was again his first of two home runs. To honor the home run, the Phillies painted a white H on the seat where the ball was caught. Howard collected seven RBI on the two home runs and a triple in the 9-7 loss, becoming the first Phillies batter to drive in seven runs since pitcher Robert Person on June 2, 2002.

Howard was named to his first All-Star game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh as a reserve first baseman, by the player ballot. He participated in the Century 21 Home Run Derby prior to the game, and won the contest with a total of 23 home runs, defeating the New York Mets' third baseman David Wright in the final round. Howard was the second consecutive Phillie to win the Derby, with Bobby Abreu hitting a record 41 home runs in 2005.

From August 25 to August 29, Howard hit home runs in four consecutive games; on the 29th, Howard hit his 48th home run of the season to tie Mike Schmidt for the Phillies single-season record. Two days later, on August 31, Howard hit a home run into the upper deck of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium to surpass Schmidt as the Philadelphia Phillies single-season home run record holder.

On September 3, Howard went 4-for-4 with three home runs and a single in an 8-7 win over the Atlanta Braves, to become the first Philadelphia Phillies batter and the 24th player in Major League history to hit 50 home runs in a season. Reaching 52 home runs in the game, Howard also broke Ralph Kiner's 1947 record for home runs in a sophomore season, becoming just the second batter to hit 50 home runs in a second season. On September 5, Howard was named the NL Player of the Month for August. His 41 RBIs were the most any player had in one month since Frank Howard(no relation) had 41 in July 1962. With 14 home runs, he also set new franchise records for both statistics in the month of August. On September 22, Howard became the 8th player in history to hit 58 home runs in a season, belting a three-run round-tripper off Florida Marlins pitcher Ricky Nolasco. The same day, Howard was awarded the third annual Mike Schmidt Most Valuable Player honor by the Philadelphia Baseball Writers Association of America

On October 2, Howard was named the NL Player of the Month for September. Howard, who also won the award in August, became the first player since Albert Pujols in May and June 2003, to win the award back-to-back.
2006 Season awards
On October 10, Howard was named The Sporting News 2006 Player of the Year. On October 25, Howard was awarded the 2006 National League Hank Aaron Award.

On November 8, Howard was named by his fellow Major Leaguers as the Player of the Year and the National League Outstanding Position Player in the 2006 Players Choice Awards balloting. He succeeded Atlanta Braves outfielder Andruw Jones, the 2005 winner of both awards. On the same day, following a 5-3 win over Nippon Professional Baseball that capped a five-game international sweep by the MLB in the Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series, Howard was named the Series MVP; he hit .558 with eight runs, three doubles, four homers and eight RBI. On November 10, Howard was awarded the National League Silver Slugger Award at first-base.

On November 20, he won the National League MVP award, and became only the second player in baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in successive seasons, joining Cal Ripken Jr. (Fred Lynn and Ichiro Suzuki are the only players to win both awards during the same season).
2007
On March 2, 2007, the Phillies renewed Howard's contract in a one-year deal for $900,000, the greatest salary ever offered to a player not eligible for salary arbitration.

On Wednesday, May 9, Howard hit his 4th career grand slam against Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Medders when he came into the game as a pinch hitter for Wes Helms. On Sunday May 13, Howard was placed on the disabled list with a left quadriceps strain after missing five straight games. Howard fielded grounders for about 45 minutes before the Phillies game with the Blue Jays on Sunday May 20. Howard returned to the lineup on Friday May 25, after a rehabilitation assignment with the class A Lakewood team as a designated hitter. He hit a home run in his first at-bat there. On Sunday May 27, he hit two home runs in a win that helped the Phillies sweep the Braves.

On Wednesday June 27, Howard hit a 505-foot home run , and became the fastest player in Major League Baseball history to hit 100 home runs. The accomplishment was achieved in only 325 games, 60 games less than the 385 games that Ralph Kiner needed to hit his first 100 home runs from 1946 to 1948.

Though Howard did not compete in the 2007 All-Star Game, he was chosen to compete in the 2007 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby (hosted by State Farm) for the second straight year in order to defend his title. However Howard only hit 3 home runs in the first round and did not advance.

Since coming back from the DL, Howard has had a "Power Surge," as he quickly climbed to second on the home run leaders list in the National League. On Wednesday, July 25, Howard hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 14th inning to give the Phillies a victory over the Washington Nationals. He seems to have more plate discipline, and is also getting more base hits and RBIs. Howard currently is second in the National League in RBI's with 130.

On September 27th, he established a new major league record by striking out for his 196th and 197th time, breaking the old record of 195 (he tied it on Sept. 23rd), set by Adam Dunn in 2004. He ended the season with 199 K's. His month-by-month totals for the year (through Sept. 27) are as follows: April 28, May 16, June 41, July 35, August 40, and September 37.

His final 2007 season totals were a .269 average, with 47 home runs and 136 runs batted in, helping the Phillies get to the 2007 NL Division Series against the Colorado Rockies, their first playoff appearance since 1993, when they went to the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortuonatley the Phillies lost to the Rockies in four games and ended the Phillies season.
Trivia
* Howard had his first career stolen base on August 21, 2007 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.
* Howard has his own following group in Citizens Bank Park called "Howard's Homers".
* He appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman along with teammate Jimmy Rollins on April 11, 2007.
* Is a representative athlete for Under Armour.
* Appears on the packaging of Topps 2007 Series 1 baseball cards.
* Ryan appears in TV ads for the restaurant Subway.
* Ryan became a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc in the Fall of 2000 and his line name is BLUE HURT.
* Howard has a twin brother, an older brother, and a sister, and claims to be the smallest of the Howard sons.
* He played trombone in high school.
* Favorite team growing up was the St. Louis Cardinals.
* Holds the record for most strike outs in a single season with 199 (Adam Dunn was previously the record holder which he set in 2004).