Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard is the first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Ryan James Howard was born in St. Louis, Missouri on November 19, 1979. He attended Lafayette High School, then Southwest Missouri State University.MLB.com: Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard agreed to a 3 year contract with the Phillies on February 8, 2009. The deal was reportedly for $54 million dollars. In 2008 , Howard was the runner up to Albert Pujols for the National League Most Valuable Player. On April 26, 2010 he signed another contract extension through the 2017 season worth $125 million.http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100426&content_id=9586188&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi

Ryan Howard was drafted in the 5th round of the 2001 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He made his professional debut with Batavia (A League). He got his first professional home run on July 16, 2001.

In 2002, Howard was a South Atlantic League All-Star for Lakewood (A League). He hit a home run in three straight games from August 26 to August 29 and lead all Phillies minor league players with 19 home runs. Baseball America rated Howard as the eighth best prospect in the Phillies organization.

In 2003, he wont the Florida State League MVP with Clearwater (A League) and won the Paul Owens Awards for best Phillies minor league player. Howard was rated the 15th best prospect in the league by Baseball America and third best in the Phillies organization.

Ryan Howard spent the 2004 season in Reading (AA League) and Scranton-Wilkes Barre (AAA League). He hit 46 home runs and 131 runs batted in for the season and made his Major League debut on September 1. Howard started the 2005 season in Scranton but was recalled by the Phillies for good on July 1 when Jim Thome was placed on the disabled list.http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=429667&y=2005

Howard was drafted in the 5th round of the 2001 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He made his Major League debut on September 1, 2004, then was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 2005. He would later go on to win the National League Most Valuable Player in 2006.MLB.com: Ryan Howard He already ranks among the Phillies career leaders in home runs.

In 2006 Howard set a Phillies record for most home runs in a season with 58. He surpassed Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, who hit 48 home runs during the Phillies first World Series Championship team in 1980.

On July 16, 2009 Howard became the fastest player in Major League history to reach 200 home runs.MLB.com: Howard fastest in history to 200 homers He was named National League Player of the Month for August 2009. In 2009, Howard was tied Prince Fielder for the National League lead in runs batted in with 141. He finished third in the league in home runs with 45.http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/stats/

On October 22, Ryan Howard became just the second player in Major League history to drive in a run in eight consecutive post season games. Lou Gehrig accomplished the feat from 1928 to 1932.http://www.stlamerican.com/articles/2009/10/22/sports/local_sports/sports04.txt Howard was named the 2009 NLCS MVP after hitting .333 with two home runs and eight runs batted in against the Los Angeles Dodgers.http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091021&content_id=7517086&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb He struggled in the World Series, striking out a record 13 times, with just one home run in the six games.http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091104&content_id=7616316&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb On December 30, 2009, the Philadelphia Daily News named Howard the number five sportsperson of the year.http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20091230_5.html

Howard finished third in the 2009 National League MVP Award balloting. He finished behind winner Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals and Henley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins.http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091124&content_id=7713992&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

• 2004: .282 Average, 5 Doubles, 2 HR's, 5 RBI's
• 2005: .288 Average, 17 Doubles, 2 Triples, 22 HR's, 63 RBI's
• 2006: .313 Average, 25 Doubles, 1 Triple, 58 HR's, 149 RBI's
• 2007: .268 Average, 26 Doubles, 47 HR's, 136 RBI's
• 2008: .251 Average, 26 Doubles, 4 Triples, 48 HR's, 146 RBI's
• 2009: .279 Average, 37 Doubles, 4 Triples, 45 HR's, 141 RBI's

"I told him it's the mind-set of having unfinished business. Last year didn't go the way we wanted to. Hopefully, everyone comes in here with the mind-set of unfinished business and we all get locked in, have a good spring training, and carry it out through the season." - Ryan Howard, on the Phillies outlook for 2010http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/84936502.html

• 2005: National League Rookie of The Year
• 2006: Silver Slugger, National League MVP, Hank Aaron Award, The Sporting News Player of The Year, National League Josh Gibson Award
• 2008: National League Josh Gibson Award
• 2009: National League Championship Series MVP

Preseason

• March 4 - March 11: 6 games, 18 at bats, 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 rbi, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
• March 12 - March 19: 7 games, 17 at bats, 2 runs, 7 hits, 1 home run, 5 rbi's, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
• March 20 - March 27: 6 games, 18 at bats, 4 runs, 6 hits, 2 home runs, 2 rbi's, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
• March 28 - April 3: 6 games, 16 at bats, 1 run, 3 hits, 1 home run, 3 rbi's, 2 walks, 4 strikeoutshttp://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?roster_year=2010&player_id=429667&c_id=phi
  
  

Regular Season

• April 5 - April 11: 6 games, 28 at bats, 6 runs, 10 hits, 3 home runs, 10 rbi's, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
• April 12 - April 18: 6 games, 27 at bats, 3 runs, 7 hits, 4 rbi's, 2 strikeouts
• April 19 - April 25: 6 games, 25 at bats, 2 runs, 5 hits, 2 rbi's, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
• April 26 - May 2: 6 games, 23 at bats, 5 runs, 8 hits, 2 home runs, 2 rbi's, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
• May 3 - May 9: 7 games, 26 at bats, 3 runs, 6 hits, 2 rbi's, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
• May 10 - May 16: 5 games, 23 at bats, 4 runs, 8 hits, 1 home run, 3 rbi's, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
• May 17 - May 23: 7 games, 25 at bats, 5 runs, 9 hits, 2 home runs, 9 rbi's, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
• May 24 - May 30: 6 games, 21 at bats, 1 run, 4 hits, 1 rbi, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
• May 31 - June 6: 6 games, 26 at bats, 3 runs, 7 hits, 1 home run, 7 rbi's, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
• June 7 - June 13: 6 games, 21 at bats, 4 runs, 6 hits, 1 home run, 3 rbi's, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
• June 14 - June 20: 6 games, 24 at bats, 6 runs, 8 hits, 4 home runs, 7 rbi's, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
• June 21 - June 27: 6 games, 21 at bats, 8 runs, 7 hits, 1 home run, 4 rbi's, 3 walks, 1 strikeout