Current Team Philadelphia Phillies
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Biography[]
Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a baseball player who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies, and in 2006 won the National League MVP. He graduated from Lafayette High School in 1998 and attended Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University). He bats and throws left handed; he has a twin brother, an older brother, and a sister, and claims to be the smallest of the Howard sons.
Career Highlights[]
- Winner of The 2006 AGMVC NL MVP Award.
- Winner of the 2006 National League Silver Slugger award at first base.
- Winner of the 2006 Home Run Derby.
- Hit 58 homeruns in 2006, setting team and second-year player records. The mark is tied for 10th all time in a single season.
- Winner of the 2005 Rookie of the Year award.
Scouting Report[]
Howard is one of the top hitters in the game. Although he strikes out a lot, he plays most of his games in a hitter's park. He is often criticized for his poor defensive skills.
Statistics[]
Batting Stats[]
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | BB | SO | HBP | SH | SB | IBB | GDP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | PHI | N | 19 | 39 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 5 | .282 | .333 | .564 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2005 | PHI | N | 88 | 312 | 52 | 90 | 22 | 63 | .288 | .356 | .567 | 17 | 2 | 33 | 100 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 |
| 2006 | PHI | N | 159 | 581 | 104 | 182 | 58 | 149 | .313 | .425 | .659 | 25 | 1 | 108 | 181 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 7 |
| 2007 | PHI | N | 144 | 529 | 94 | 142 | 47 | 136 | .268 | .392 | .584 | 26 | 0 | 107 | 199 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 35 | 13 |
| Total | 410 | 1461 | 255 | 425 | 129 | 353 | .291 | .397 | .610 | 73 | 3 | 250 | 493 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 80 | 28 |
Fielding Stats[]
| Year | Team | POS | G | GS | INN | PO | TC | A | E | DP | FPCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | PHI | 1B | 8 | 5 | 60 | 59 | 65 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 1.000 |
| 2005 | PHI | 1B | 84 | 79 | 706 | 707 | 752 | 40 | 5 | 53 | .993 |
| 2006 | PHI | 1B | 159 | 157 | 1412 | 1373 | 1478 | 91 | 14 | 139 | .991 |
| 2007 | PHI | 1B | 140 | 138 | 1241 | 1191 | 1306 | 103 | 12 | 124 | .991 |
| Total | 1B | 395 | 383 | 3446 | 3351 | 3625 | 243 | 31 | 326 | .991 |
Transactions[]
- Selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 5th round of the free-agent draft on June 5, 2001 - signed on July 2, 2001.
Trivia[]
- Howard surpassed Ralph Kiner as the new leader for home runs in his sophomore season in 2006; Kiner had 51 in 1947, while Howard had 58.
- He is also tied with several others for the most walks in a 9 inning game (5).
- On September 4, 2007, Howard passed Cecil Fielder for the most homers in his first 1,000 career at-bats; Howard was able to hit 85, while Fielder only hit 76.
- He holds the record for the fewest games played to hit 100 home runs (325). Once again, he passed Ralph Kiner (385).
- In 2007, he struck out 199 times, which is currently the record for the most strikeouts in a season.
- 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.
- He is a representative athlete for Under Armour.
- Howard 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.
- His favorite team growing up was the St. Louis Cardinals.