Ryan Howard

1979—

Professional baseball player

Ryan Howard emerged in 2005 as one of the top rookies in the National Baseball League. In 2006, his first full season with the Philadelphia Phillies, Howard played as a first baseman and was voted the National League's Most Valuable Player (MVP) and won the Hank Aaron Award as the most successful "slugger" in the league. Howard has become one of Major League Baseball's (MLB) most promising figures in terms of developing the kind of star power necessary to maintain and increase public interest in MLB.

Howard was one of four children born and raised in the suburbs of St. Louis, MO, by Ron and Cheryl Howard, formerly of Birmingham, Alabama. Howard and his fraternal twin brother Corey, older brother Chris, and sister Roni Karen were active children whose parents encouraged participation in sports and other extracurricular activities.

Cheryl Howard, a former marketing manager, and Ron Howard, who works as an engineer for IBM Corporation, instilled in their children the idea that hard work leads to success, a lesson they both relate to their experience with the Alabama civil rights movement of the 1960s. In a 2006 interview with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Howard quoted his father's message: "Don't focus on the blockers, on the challenges, if you have a chance to be what you want to be, be the best, be the pinnacle." The Howard children all cite their parents' unwillingness to accept mediocrity as a key, motivating factor in their initial and continuing successes. Howard told Philadelphia Daily News reporter Rich Hofmann that his mother taught him "common sense, being courteous," while his father gave him "aggressiveness, that fire to want to be the best."

Besides playing baseball, basketball, soccer, and football, Howard played trombone in the Lafayette High School marching band. He managed to excel in his athletic and musical interests without sacrificing academic progress. As he began to recognize that baseball was his favorite sport, his father installed a batting cage in the basement, helping Howard to learn the skills necessary to become a home-run hitter. Howard earned all-conference honors while playing baseball for Lafayette High, but he was not considered a major prospect until the end of his high school playing career. Howard set a home-run record during his senior year and as a result received an offer to play a first-base position for Southwest Missouri State (SMS) University.

Howard entered SMS without a scholarship for his first year but was informed that if he performed well he would be eligible for funding for his last three years. Howard was named Freshman of the Year by the Missouri Valley Conference Association, after hitting nineteen home runs in his first season. In the interview with Hofmann, Howard described his first years playing for SMS as an important stage in his development. "College was important for me. College allowed me to mature, not only as a baseball player but also as a person."

After his sophomore season, Howard was invited to the U.S. Junior Nationals Team, where he traveled extensively and made his first international excursions. While on tour with the Nationals Team, he had the chance to meet coaches, professional scouts, and seasoned veterans, all of whom gave him advice that he remembered long after succeeding to the major leagues. Though Howard was clearly a prospect for the junior league drafts, his draft appeal declined significantly after a relatively poor junior season. Howard was drafted in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Phillies, who chose him because the managers and coaching staff believed he had the potential to develop into a first-tier player. Howard left SMS at the end of his junior year, finishing his college career with a total of fifty home runs.

Played in the Phillies Junior Leagues

Howard's first position as a professional player was with the New York-Philadelphia league. After an impressive early performance, he was transferred to the Lakewood A League, where he continued his excellent batting record to become the leader in home runs among all Phillies minor league players. At this time, Howard was still learning to handle different pitchers and had a high strikeout average during his first and second years. Though his flaws led some analysts to ignore Howard as one of the minor league's potential stars, Phillies managers and coaches were certain that he would overcome his difficulties. Howard was promoted to the Phillies Florida League team in 2003, where he excelled with twenty-three home runs and eighty-two runs batted in (RBIs) to win the MVP Award for the Florida League. Howard participated in the 2003 Futures All-Star Game, where U.S. Minor League players play against teams from other countries.

In 2004 Howard was invited to attend the major league spring training, where he relished in the opportunity to play with and learn from members of the Phillies major league roster. Though it appeared that Howard was being groomed for a spot on the major league team, the Phillies decision to recruit Jim Thome, another prominent left-handed first base player, for a six-year contract indicated to some sports analysts that Howard had no place on the major league roster.

At the start of the 2004 season, Howard was placed on the double-A Reading Pennsylvania team. Howard broke the team's single-season home-run record, with 50 home runs and also scored 102 RBIs. Howard was then promoted to the triple-A team, playing from the Scranton, Pennsylvania, area, and finished the season with the Arizona Fall League, playing with the Phoenix Desert Dogs, where he increased his season RBI record to 160. As a crowning achievement to his minor league career, Howard was named by USA Today as the top minor league player of 2004, and he received the Paul Owens Award from the Phillies as the club's leading minor league player.

At a Glance …

Born Ryan James Howard on November 19, 1979, in Saint Louis, MO; son of Ron and Cheryl Howard; children: Darian Alexander. Education: Lafayette High School, Saint Louis, MO, 1994-98; attended Southwest Missouri State University, 1999-2002.

Career: Philadelphia Phillies Minor League, first base position, 2001-05; Philadelphia Phillies, first base position, 2005—.

Memberships: Major League Baseball Players Association; Negro League Hall of Fame.

Awards: National League Rookie of the Year, 2005; Philadelphia Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, Mike Schmidt Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, 2006; Sporting News Player of the Year, 2006; Negro League Hall of Fame and Museum, Oscar Charleston Legacy Award, 2006; Hank Aaron Award, 2006.

Addresses: Office—Philadelphia Phillies, One Citizens Bank Way, Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA 19148.

Because Thome was performing well as the team's first baseman, the Phillies management wanted to keep Howard playing with the club's triple-A team in 2005, a decision that led Howard to request a potential trade. However, when Thome suffered from injuries in 2005 and was eventually placed on the disabled list, Howard was given an opportunity to fill in for Thome in his first major league appearance.

Played in the Major League

Howard was initially transferred to the major league squad in May of 2005, where he fared poorly in his first games with the team. Thome returned from injuries in June, and Howard was again sent to the triple-A team. When Thome's injuries recurred, Howard was brought back to the major league to finish the season in Thome's absence. Howard's performance, which included twenty-two home runs and sixty-three RBIs in the last eighty-eight games of the season, impressed analysts and the coaching staff and solidified his position on the team. Howard was given the National League Rookie of the Year Award as a crowning acknowledgment for his performance in 2005.

In the off season, the Phillies made the decision to trade Thome and keep Howard as their permanent first baseman. In 2006, during his first full season as a major league player, Howard exceeded expectations with 58 home runs and 149 RBIs, winning the National League MVP Award for 2006, and becoming only the second player in baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in successive seasons. Howard capped the season by winning the home-run competition at the 2006 All-Stars Game.

To begin the 2007 season, the Phillies renewed Howard's contract with a significant pay increase to an annual $900,000. Howard performed well in the early 2007 season but suffered an injury in May that placed him temporarily on the disabled list. When Howard returned in late May, his performance remained strong through the remainder of the series and helped his team to win the National League Eastern Division, the first time the Philadelphia squad has reached the division championships since the team's 1993 appearance against the Toronto Blue Jays. Howard's final statistics for the regular season were 47 home runs and 136 RBIs.

Though the Phillies had a relatively successful 2007 season and achieved the goal of playing in the postseason championships, the team also achieved the dubious honor of setting a major league record when they lost their ten-thousandth game to the St. Louis Cardinals on July 15. Regardless, the Phillies performed well in the closing half of the season and, with Howard's return to the roster, they gained the National League East Title. However, the team was swept in the first four out of seven games to lose the title to the Colorado Rockies. Howard had a disappointing performance in the four-game series, scoring only one home run and one RBI. Despite the disappointing end to the season, Howard continued to be one of the best players in the league and was ranked second in both home runs and RBIs for the 2007 season.

Howard is one of the most important players on the Phillies and has rapidly become one of MLB's rising stars. His effect on the Phillies is more significant because of the team's history. The Philadelphia Phillies were one of the last teams in the National League to sign an African-American player for their team, and the addition of Howard has been an important step in establishing the popularity of MLB among Philadelphia's African-American community. The Philadelphia Phillies ball club has long had a reputation of being unwelcoming toward African-American players and many of the club's former African-American players suffered abuse at the hands of the city's fans. However, Howard's rise in popularity, to become one of Philadelphia's most beloved athletes, signaled to many fans and sports analysts the beginning of a new era for the franchise.

Sources

Periodicals

New York Times, July 11, 2006; November 21, 2006; March 4, 2007.

Philadelphia Daily News, August 27, 2006.

Philadelphia Inquirer, October 3, 2007.

St. Louis Post Dispatch, January 15, 2006; April 7, 2006; September 29, 2006; October 26, 2006; November 21, 2006.

USA Today, September 13, 2006.

Online

Amaro, Ruben Jr., "High Above Home Plate," Courier Post Online,http://www.courierpostonline.com/blogs/2007/03/amaro-interview-on-howard-deal.html (December 12, 2007).

Hollander, Dave, "Beast Burdens," Philadelphia City Paper,http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2006-03-23/cover.shtml (December 12, 2007).

Mandel, Ken, "Notes: Howard Receives Honor," Philadelphia Phillies Official Site, http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060922&content_id=1676747&vkey=news_phi&fex=_.jsp&c_id=phi (December 12, 2007).

"Player Profile," MLB Official Site,http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=429667 (December 12, 2007).

"Ryan Howard Biography," Ryan Howard Official Site, Philadelphia Phillies,http://www.ryanhoward.info/biography/ (December 12, 2007).

Santoliquito, Joseph, "Notes: Howard Makes a Memory," Major League Baseball Online, http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060423&content_id=1414701&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi; (December 12, 2007).

—Micah L. Issitt