Ryan Howard : biography
Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979) is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Nicknamed The Big Piece, Howard stands and weighs . He bats and throws left-handed.
Howard was the National League MVP. Howard is the fastest player to reach both the 100 and 200 home run milestones in Major League Baseball history, passing the marks in 2007 and 2009, respectively.
Due to Howard’s reputation as an extreme pull hitter, opposing managers often utilize an unusual infield shift with him at the plate, with the third baseman playing shortstop, the shortstop playing second base, and the second baseman playing in shallow right field.
Major league and franchise records
Record | Total | Season(s) | Surpassing | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Walks in a nine-inning game (NL) | 5 | 2006}} | tied, numerous others | url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2006_07_30_flomlb_phimlb_1 |title=Florida v. Philadelphia, 2006-07-30 |publisher=Mlb.mlb.com |date=July 30, 2006 |accessdate=September 24, 2011}} |
Home runs by a Phillies batter, single season | 58 | 2006}} | Mike Schmidt, 48 () | 49th on August 31, 2006 |
Home runs in a sophomore season | 58 | 2006}} | Ralph Kiner, 51 () | 52nd on September 3, 2006 |
Intentional walks to a Phillies batter | 37 | 2006}} | Jim Thome, 26 () | 27th on September 13, 2006 |
Fewest games for 100 home runs | 325 | 2004}}– | 1946}}–) | 100th on June 27, 2007 |
Home runs in first 1,000 career at-bats | 85 | 2004}}– | Cecil Fielder, 76 (–) | 77th on September 24, 2007 |
Fewest games for 150 home runs | 495 | 2004}}– | 1952}}–) | 150th on July 2, 2008 |
Strikeouts by a Phillies batter | 199 | 2008}} | 2007}}) | 199th on September 27, 2008 |
Career grand slams by a Phillies batter | 9 | 2004}}– | 1972}}–) | 8th on May 30, 2009 |
Fewest games for 200 home runs | 658 | 2004}}– | 1946}}–) | 200th on July 16, 2009 |
At least one RBI in consecutive postseason games in the same year | 7 | 2009}} | Iván Rodríguez ()Bernie Williams () (6 all)Carlton Fisk () | url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091018&content_id=7487412&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb | title=Howard’s RBI streak sets playoff mark | publisher=MLB.com | work=MLB.com | last=Bowman | first=Mark | date=October 19, 2009 | accessdate=October 20, 2009}} |
At least one RBI in consecutive postseason games | 8 | 2009}} | tied, Lou Gehrig ( and ) | url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2009/news/story?id=4578588 | title=Howard ties Gehrig’s RBI streak | publisher=ESPN.com | agency=Associated Press | date=October 19, 2009 | accessdate=October 20, 2009}} |
Most strikeouts in a World Series | 13 | 2009}} | Willie Wilson, 12 () | November 4, 2009 |
Fewest games for 250 home runs | 855 | 2004}}– | 1946}}–) | author=11:43 |url=http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/6300/ryan-howard-fastest-to-250-hr-all-time |title=Ryan Howard fastest to 250 HR all-time – Stats & Info Blog – ESPN |publisher=Espn.go.com |date= |accessdate=September 24, 2011}} |
Personal life
Howard has a fraternal twin brother named Corey, as well as an older brother and a sister. He says he is the smallest of the Howard sons. His favorite baseball team growing up was the St. Louis Cardinals. Howard has a son named Darian Alexander, who born January 26, 2001. Howard graduated from Lafayette High School (Wildwood, St. Louis County, Mo.) in 1998, where he played trombone. While attending Missouri State University he became a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and his line name was "Blue Hurt". Howard is a representative for a number of products including Under Armour and the Subway restaurant chain. He also appeared on the cover of MLB 08: The Show.