The Ryan Howard FIle: No.'s 53, 54, 55
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by user Christof
Philadelphia Phillies frst baseman Ryan Howard continues on his quest to be the great home run hitter of the post-Steroid Era in baseball.
Last Monday, Mr. Howard won the 2006 Home Run Derby. There were some fears that he would go into a post Derby slump, like last year's winner and current teammate Bobby Abreu did. However, Ryan has clearly shown this to not be the case in his four games since the All-Star.
On Friday, Howard hit his fifty-third career home run. Unfortunately, this 2-run blast could not help the Phils win the game. On Saturday, Mr. Howard hit his fifty-fourth career home run. This 2-run blast gave the Phillies some insurance, and they won the game going away.
Last night, Ryan Howard hit his fifty-fifth home run of his career. Again, this was a 2-run shot and gave the Phils the lead. Unfortunately, the Phillies bullpen blew the game, and the team lost yet again.
Howard now has 31 home runs for the season. The Phillies record is 48 in a season. It is most likely that Howard will break this record by Labor Day.
Howard development into becoming the greatest home run hitter of his generation has been one of the few bright spots for the Phillies this season. The Phis are now 42-49 this season. They are now in third place in the NL East. With the trading deadline fast approaching, it looks like the Phils will be sellers and not buyers. Also, after the season, the team has double-digit players eligible for free agency.
So it looks like a massive re-building process is about to begin for the Phillies. However with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley as cornerstones, the rebuilding process may not take long to complete. And that is music to the hears of the few remaining Phillies fans in this world.
Date
Tue 07/18/06, 5:13 am EST
