Phillies: Ryan Howard was The Big Piece to 2008 World Series team

Chris Valenti

Oct 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard (6) tips his cap to the fans as he leaves the game during the ninth inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. The Philadelphia Phillies won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Phillies legend Ryan Howard’s importance to the 2008 World Series been overlooked as a result of injuries and struggles that overtook the latter parts of his career

Yesterday the career of a Phillies great most likely came to a modest end. Ryan Howard was released from the Atlanta Braves organization after batting .184 with one home run in 38 at bats for their Triple-A affiliate.

Howard once again becomes a free agent, however, one would assume this was Howard’s last shot to make it back to the big leagues. His career has seemingly come to an end after reaching the highest of highs with the Phillies, while also reaching the lowest of lows through an injury-plagued finale.

It’s a strange feeling when someone so important to an organization walks away from their career. It makes a fan think of fond memories provided by that player.

Fan Reaction

With Howard, he seems to bring a different reaction out of Phillies fans. He was always judged differently than the other pieces of that team that took the city by storm.

While Howard is listed with Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz as the core players who delivered the best era in Philadelphia Phillies baseball, he also has received the most criticism from fans. The reasoning for this depends on who you ask.

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Some will point to the injuries, some to the strikeouts, and others to the low average after teams started to deploy the shift against him. Others will leave stats out of it and some point to his remarks about trading places when criticized his recent performance.

Others will leave stats out of it and some point to his remarks about trading places when criticized his recent performance.

“You want to trade places? You want to see what it’s like? For me, I’m good. Like I said before, it’s all about putting things in perspective. There’s a lot of outside stuff, a lot of people who have opinions. They can’t — you don’t — walk in my shoes so you don’t know what it’s like.”

Many fans found this insulting as Howard is a multi-millionaire, so the fact he was complaining justifiably aggravated those who work multiple jobs a day to barely make it and would gladly switch to the luxurious lifestyle he lives.

The final boiling point in the relationship between Howard and the fans would happen in his last season as a Phillie when a fan threw a beer bottle at him. This event caused Howard to comment on the situation stating:

“If someone throws something, we’re just supposed to sit there and wear it and get hit. Nah, man, we’re human beings first and foremost. People get it twisted. They see the baseball stuff, and they don’t see you as a human being. They see you as someone that just plays baseball.”- Ryan Howard

Howard was right; it is in the end only a game, and people tend to forget that sometimes with their interactions toward a struggling player. All of these negative things seemed to cloud all that he accomplished for this team.

2008 Regular Season

The Big Piece is a fitting nickname for Howard because the argument can be made that he was the biggest piece that contributed to the success of those teams. This can be validated by taking a closer look at the 2008 World Series season.

Howard had his second-best season as a pro in 2008 finishing with 48 home runs, 146 RBIs, 105 runs scored and a batting average of .251. These numbers would have Howard at the top or among the league leaders in many offensive categories. Howard was first in home runs and RBI, tied for sixth in extra-base hits and tied for fifth in total bases.

For home runs and RBI, no other players were relatively close, as Howard had eight more home runs than Adam Dunn who was second in the league with 40 and finished with 16 more RBI than Josh Hamilton who finished second with 130.

While Howard did not walk away with his second MVP award after his 2008 campaign, he did finish second in the voting to Albert Pujols who batted .356 that season with 37 bombs and 116 RBI.

Howard over the course of his career has earned the nickname Mr. September. He lived up to this nickname in the final month of the 08 season batting .352 with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs.

This helped the Phillies take over first place in the NL East from the Mets who had a 3.5 game lead over the Phillies with 17 games left to play. Without the month Howard put together, it is possible the Phillies may have fallen short of the playoffs that season as this was when there was only one wild card spot in each league.

2008 Postseason

Once the postseason began, Howard did scuffle a bit in the first two rounds. Particularly in the NLDS, where he batted .182, with no home runs and only one RBI in four games against the Brewers.

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In the NLCS, Howard still did not produce the power numbers he was accustomed to. In five games he batted .300 with 0 home runs and only two RBI. Howard did manage to score runs once he was on base, which was pivotal to the Phillies success in that series, finishing with four runs scored which were tied for the team lead in the series.

Once the team reached the World Series, this is when Howard turned it on, giving the Phillies the offensive spark they needed. The offense struggled as a whole going 2-for-33 with runners in scoring position in Games One through Three.

The team desperately needed someone to help produce runs to support the great pitching they were getting from their starters as well as the bullpen.

The Phillies broke out of the slump with runners in scoring position in Game Four with a 10-2 victory. Howard was at the center of the ten run outburst with three hits, 2 of which being home runs, and producing 5 RBIs. This would help propel the Phillies to a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Howard’s final World Series stats would be a .286 batting average, while leading the team in home runs with three, in RBI with six, and finishing third on the team in runs with three.

Beyond the Stat Line

Statistics alone do not show the impact Howard had. While Utley was on a Hall of Fame path of his own before injuries plagued his career as well, he was able to see better pitches as a result of Howard protecting him in the lineup.

The 2008 World Series will always be remembered for the pitchers among other factors. Hamels with his MVP performance, Joe Blanton with a home run, Jamie Moyer pitching while sick in his last chance at a ring, Brad Lidge completing the perfect season (if you don’t count the All-Star game), Ruiz’s walk-off, and the rain which delayed Game 5.

It is almost fitting that the other players and moments have taken the spotlight away from the performance Howard had. This would be a common trend throughout his entire Phillies career as he almost became the outcast of that team in the eyes of the fans. A player who had a significant impact, but fans felt could have done more.

Next: Phillies and Carlos Ruiz: Top 51 Moments

Howard may receive the most criticism of the core players, other factors may cloud our memories of Howard being arguably the most feared hitter in the MLB from 2006-2009. However; one thing is for certain. Howard was the glue that held that offense together, and while it is not wise to deal in hypotheticals, it is hard to imagine the Phillies would have had the sustained success they did without him.

Chris Valenti

Graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a degree in writing.