Background and career
Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979), nicknamed "the Big Piece", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Howard spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, from 2004 to 2016. He is known for being the fastest player in baseball history to reach both 100 home runs and 200 home runs. Howard holds numerous Phillies franchise records. Howard made his MLB debut in 2004. He won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 2005 and the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 2006. Howard was a three-time NL All-Star (2006, 2009, 2010), and won the Silver Slugger Award, Hank Aaron Award, and the NL Championship Series MVP Award in 2009. Known for his power, Howard is a member of the 50 home run club. He was a two-time NL home run champion (2006, 2008), and became the fastest player to reach both the 100 and 200 home run milestones in MLB history, passing the marks in 2007 and 2009, respectively. He is also tied with Sammy Sosa for the most National League 140 RBI seasons at three and the most National League 130 RBI seasons at four. From 2006 to 2009, he hit 198 home runs, hitting at least 45 in each season. By the time he reached thirty years old, he had hit 222 home runs in 732 games. Over the remaining 840 games of his career, he proceeded to hit 160 home runs before playing his last major league game at the age of 36.
Howard was born in Florissant, Missouri. He attended Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Missouri, and Missouri State University (then Southwest Missouri State), where he played college baseball for the Bears from 1998 to 2001. Howard finished his collegiate career with 50 home runs, 183 runs batted in (RBIs), and a .335 career batting average in 172 games played. He was the 1999 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. Missouri State retired Howard's number on December 18, 2010. He played one summer in the Central Illinois Collegiate League, a league partially funded by Major League Baseball (MLB) for future prospects to develop.
The Philadelphia Phillies selected Howard in the fifth round of the 2001 draft and assigned him to the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York–Penn League. Howard ascended the Phillies' minor league system, earning consecutive awards in the Florida State League and Eastern League in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Howard also set the single-season home run record for the Reading Phillies, with 37 in 102 games. On July 31, he was promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons of the Class AAA International League. He became just the fifth minor league player since 1956 to hit at least 46 home runs. He was named by Major League Baseball one of the best first basemen in Philadelphia Phillies History. Howard won the Joe Bauman Home Run Award in the process. 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. Howard's No. 29 was retired by the Lakewood Blueclaws in 2010.
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 September 6, Howard logged his first Major League hit in a single at-bat during a 3–1 loss to the Braves; on September 8, he recorded his first multi-hit game with a double and a single in a 4–1 win over the Braves. On September 11, Howard hit his first Major League home run off Bartolomé Fortunato, driving in his first RBI and scoring his first run in an 11–9 win over the New York Mets. 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 the Double-A Reading Phillies, Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons and, the Philadelphia 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.
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 July 3, Howard recorded his first three-RBI game, against the Braves. On August 23, he notched 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. On July 1, Howard became the Phillies' everyday first baseman when Thome was sidelined for the season with an elbow injury. Howard was named National League (NL) Rookie of the Month in September. He batted .278 with 10 home runs and 22 runs batted in. In honor of winning the award, he received a specially designed trophy. Howard led all major league rookies with 22 home runs and posted a .288 average and 63 RBI in just 312 at-bats and 88 games. He hit 11 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 NL 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. He was also voted the Baseball Prospectus Internet Baseball Awards NL Rookie of the Year and received the NLBM Larry Doby Legacy Award (NL Rookie of the Year). 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, the Phillies traded Thome for outfielder Aaron Rowand and minor league pitching prospects Gio González and Daniel Haigwood in order to make room for Howard.
Howard began the 2006 season as the Phillies' starting first baseman. Howard hit his first home run of the season on April 3, off the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter. On April 23, Howard became the first player to hit a home run into Ashburn Alley at Citizens Bank Park. The home run traveled 496 feet (151 m) and was hit off Sergio Mitre of the Florida Marlins. It was the first of two Howard hit in the game, the first multi-home run game of his career. From May 20 to 29, Howard had at least one RBI in nine consecutive games. During that stretch, Howard hit six home runs and drove in 17 runs. 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 437-foot (133 m) 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. Howard went 0 for 1 with a groundout in the All Star Game. On July 30, against the Marlins, Howard tied a Major League record by walking five times, including an intentional walk in the eighth inning. From August 25 to 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. On August 31, Howard hit a home run into the upper deck of RFK Stadium to surpass Schmidt as the Phillies' single-season home run record holder. On September 3, Howard went 4-for-4 with three home runs and a double 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. Howard became the first player to reach 50 home runs in a season since Andruw Jones, who hit 51 home runs the previous year. 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. Howard's performance from August 28 to September 3 earned him NL Player of the Week. During that span, Howard batted .571 with six home runs and 12 runs batted in. On September 5, Howard was named the NL Player of the Month for August. His 41 runs batted in were the most any player had in one month since Frank Howard 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 Marlins pitcher Ricky Nolasco. On September 22, Howard became the first hitter to drive in 140 runs since David Ortiz in 2005. On September 27, in a game against the Nationals, Howard walked for the 100th time in the ninth inning. He was also be walked intentionally in the eleventh and thirteenth inning. Howard became the first Phillies' batter to walk 100 or more times since Thome in 2004. Howard finished the 2006 season with a .313 batting average, 58 home runs, and 149 runs batted in. He also set the Phillies' franchise record with 37 intentional walks. Howard and Ortiz were the only hitters to hit 50 or more home runs that season. Howard's 58 home runs was the most by a player in his sophomore season. In the process, Howard became the first Phillies' batter to win the home run title since Jim Thome did it in 2003. 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. On October 10, Howard was named The Sporting News 2006 Player of the Year. On October 25, Howard was awarded the 2006 NL Hank Aaron Award. On November 8, Howard was named by his fellow major league players 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, Howard won the National League MVP award, and became one of four players in baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in consecutive seasons, joining Cal Ripken Jr. and later joined by Dustin Pedroia and Kris Bryant. Howard received the Babe Ruth Home Run Award for leading MLB in home runs. He also received the Pride of Philadelphia Award from the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. Howard received the NLBM Oscar Charleston Legacy Award (NL MVP) and the NLBM Josh Gibson Legacy Award (NL home-run leader). The Philadelphia Baseball Writers' Association of America awarded him the third annual Mike Schmidt Most Valuable Player honor.
