On an autumn night in 2011, as the St. Louis Cardinals won the deciding game of the NLDS, a cataclysmic moment occurred in the career of Philadelphia Phillies’ slugger Ryan Howard. A city’s hope rested with Howard, his team down by just one run with ace Roy Halladay on the mound, the most-beloved lefty in Philadelphia since Steve Carlton was at the dish with two outs remaining in his team’s season.
Phillies’ fans had seen this sequence before, but with a drastically different ending. Opposing teams have long applied the left-handed shift against Howard. In this case, setting Cardinals’ second-baseman Nick Punto in the shallow outfield grass just outside the diamond between first and second base. Howard took a mighty swing and chopped a sharp grounder to Punto, resulting in the final out of the series and season for Philadelphia; and something much more detrimental for Howard.
As the Cardinals celebrated in the crisp air that epitomizes October baseball, Howard fell to the dirt in a heap of tremendous pain due to a torn Achilles tendon. The Phillies hopes of retaining a dynasty had faded, just like the power of the man once lovingly called “The Big Piece.”
Ryan Howard blasted his way into the mainstream spectrum of America’s pastime quickly after making his debut in 2004, winning the NL rookie of the year award in 2005, and a league MVP in 2006. A two-time NL home run champion and a five-time NL All-Star, the big left-hander quickly became a fan-favorite as a franchise long-irrelevant was reaching the status of a contender for the first time since the early 1990’s.
Howard was an integral part of Philadelphia’s championship in 2008, just as he was during the team’s streak of five consecutive division titles, in what was to date the most successful era of Phillies’ baseball. The fastest man to ever reach the 250 home run plateau and the 1,000 RBI-mark was even named as a player most likely to be in the Hall of Fame in 2010, a status that is now murky at best.
On Philadelphia’s payroll due to the five–year, $125 million deal he inked in 2010, Howard has regressed in nearly every way, much like the cult-classic character Benjamin Button. The Phillies’ slugger has not reached the 30-home run mark in three consecutive seasons, and the song remains the same regarding his six-season long streak of 100+ RBI. Howard capped off his slide from dominance in 2014, a season in which he recorded the lowest slugging percentage of his career at .380 and a pedestrian batting average of .223.
The decline of Philadelphia’s favorite power-hitting first baseman matches the downward turn his franchise has taken. Posting career worsts and set to make $25 million in each of the next two seasons, Howard is now blocking the way of young talent in the Phillies organization from valuable at-bats as this team begins a rebuilding period. Much like Jim Thome before him, Howard’s every-day player status at first base is harming the development of prospects such as Maikel Franco and putting the Phillies’ near-future in jeopardy.
An ideal situation for Philadelphia’s front-office would be for Howard to have a resurgent start to the year, which would enable the team to dump him to an AL squad looking for a designated hitter. Howard has little to no value, outside of sentimental reminiscence, for a team barely expected to win 75 games. It is always a sad day as old heroes fade away, but the Liberty Bell has tolled for Ryan Howard’s career in Philadelphia. An emotion-filled move must be made by the Philadelphia front office to save a fan base any additional heartbreak.
Photo: Huffington Post