Athletes - Ryan Howard

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	Athletes - Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard (born November 19, 1979 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a first baseman in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. He bats and throws left handed.

Selected in the 5th round of the 2001 draft, Howard quickly ascended the Phillies' minor league system, earning consecutive MVP awards in the Florida State and Eastern leagues (2003-2004).

Howard appeared in 19 games with the Phillies in 2004. He posted a .282 batting average with two home runs and five RBI. Between playing for Double-A Reading, Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Phillies, Howard hit 48 home runs, which was the highest total in organized baseball in 2004.

In 2005, Howard became the Phillies' everyday first baseman in early July when slugger Jim Thome was sidelined for the season with an elbow injury. Howard, who led all major league rookies with 22 home runs, also posted a .288 average and 63 RBI in just 312 at-bats. He had 11 home runs and 27 RBI in September and October as the Phillies battled the Houston Astros for the National League wild card until getting eliminated in the last day of the season. Howard was rewarded for his effort by being named NL Rookie of the Year.

Like Thome, Howard has a penchant for hitting opposite-field home runs into the left field flower bed at Citizens Bank Park. Before the 2006 season, Thome was traded by Philadelphia with cash ($22,000,000.00) to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Aaron Rowand and two minor league pitchers, thus making room for the rising slugger.

Howard has been nicknamed, "Little how ya feelin", by the Philadelphia media, a reference to Frank Thomas.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ryan Howard ]

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Athletes - Ryan Howard

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