Ryan Howard

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This article is about the baseball player. For the fictional character on the American television show The Office, see Ryan Howard (The Office).

Ryan James Howard

Philadelphia Phillies — No. 6
First base
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
September 1, 2004 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Selected MLB statistics (through the 2006 season)
AVG	.304
HR	82
RBI	217

Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a first baseman in Major League Baseball who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. He graduated from Lafayette High School in 1998 and attended Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University). He bats and throws left handed.

Howard won the 2006 National League Most Valuable Player award, which is voted by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He is considered one of the premier sluggers in the game, and represents the next generation of extremely talented and powerful National League sluggers that are able to carry their respective teams.

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).

Contents 1 2004 2 2005 3 2006 3.1 Season awards 4 Professional Records 5 Career Awards 6 See also 7 External links 8 References

[edit] 2004

Ryan Howard took a break and 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 the highest total in organized baseball in 2004.

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.

[edit] 2005

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 benched 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 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. 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. Howard finished his rookie season with 17 doubles, two triples, 52 runs-scored, and 100 strikeouts.

[edit] 2006

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 (the longest home run to date at Citizens Bank Park) 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. ^[1]

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 461-foot longball 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 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 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 ^[2].

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.

[edit] Season awards

On October 10, Howard was named The Sporting News 2006 Player of the Year. On the 25th, 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..

[edit] Professional Records

Major League Records
Record	Total	Season	Passing	Date
Home runs in a second season	58	2006	Ralph Kiner, 51 (1947)	52nd on 09.03.2006
Walks in a nine-inning game	5	2006	tied, numerous others	07.30.2006
Home runs in first 1,000 career at-bats	82	2004—2006 (932 AB)	Cecil Fielder, 76 (1985—1990)	77th on 09.04.2006

[edit] Career Awards

Preceded by Jason Bay	National League Rookie of the Year 2005	Succeeded by Hanley Ramirez
Preceded by Bobby Abreu	Home Run Derby Champion 2006	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Chase Utley	National League Player of the Month August & September, 2006	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Andruw Jones	National League Home Run Champion 2006	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Pat Burrell & Chase Utley	Mike Schmidt Most Valuable Player 2006	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Andruw Jones	The Sporting News Player of the Year 2006	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Andruw Jones	National League Hank Aaron Award 2006	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Derrek Lee	National League Silver Slugger (1B) 2006	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Albert Pujols	National League Most Valuable Player 2006	Succeeded by incumbent

[edit] See also

50 Home Run Club
Phillies Annual Franchise Awards
list of Ryan Howard's notable home runs
list of Ryan Howard's franchise records

[edit] External links

• Ryan Howard - ESPN player profile
• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Ryan Howard - Purchase Authentic Ryan Howard Autographs

[edit] References

1. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060423&content_id=1414701&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi
2. ^ http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060922&content_id=1676747&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi