Ryan Howard is Messy

I'd love to start this with some cutesy little opener about the Winter Meetings, but I just don't have it in me.

This past weekend, Philadelphia Phillies star Ryan Howard tied the knot with his former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader lady friend in Hawaii and to cap off the celebration, took part in what only can be described as a bizarre "ritual".

You see, after posing for pictures, the 2006 National League MVP and his wife Krystale decided to, well, frolic in the surf...thereby destroying their duds.

Thankfully, the couple got some mileage out of the clothes before trashing them.

Apparently the dress in the picture was one that Mrs. Howard selected during her recent stint on TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress".  And while I'm not sure what the "ritual" is...but I'm positive that the folks that designed the dress for the then future Mrs. Howard didn't plan on their creation being wrecked.

Yup, I'm fully aware that I've now written about Johnny Damon's haircut, Derek Jeter's weight and Ryan Howard's cheerleader wife's wedding dress on back-to-back days. 

Baseball fever...catch it!

 

Lil Ryan Howard is Awesome!

Looks like our good friend Gar Ryness (you can read The Hall's exclusive interview with the "Batting Stance Guy" HERE) has some competition. 

Check out this video of some random two-year-old at a Lehigh Valley IronPigs game imitating Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard.  Not too shabby...the tyke's even got he's even got the former MVP's batting glove tic down!



A proverbial tip o' the hat to CrossingBroad.com for finding this gem.

The Season That Was...September (and October)

When the calendar page turned to September...baseball had already seen five no-hitters (two of them perfect games), Ken Griffey Jr. call it quits and Manny Ramirez end up in Chicago.

What could the last month of the season have in store for its fans?

Early on, Chicago White Sox infielder Omar Vizquel became the leader in games played among foreign born players. More than Hall of Famers Tony Perez (2777) and Luis Aparicio (2601). More than octogenarian Julio Franco (2527). And now...more than the previous record holder Palmeiro.

And for the curious out there, Vizquel is 17th on the all-time list.

The season that was...September

Alright…let’s get right to it.

On September 11, Derek Jeter surpassed legend Lou Gehrig to become the Yankees all-time hits leader. With all the hype surrounding Jeter getting hit number 2722, you would think that he actually set some sort of real record.

He didn’t.

While the feat is impressive, the fact that it took him close to 1500 more plate appearances doesn’t make it AS impressive. Wake me up when he becomes the first Yankee to get 3000 hits…sometime in June of 2011.

And since we’re talking Yankees hits milestones (we were, right?)…let’s add another to the list.

Admitted steroid user (and yes, I will call him that until the media’s current man crush subsides) Alex Rodriguez finished the season tied for eighth all-time in home runs with 583.

Tied with who you ask? Mark McGwire.

No comment.

On September 2…Rodriguez collected career hit number 2500. But perhaps the most impressive “A-Rod” achievement this season was his ending the season with 100 RBI…for the 12th straight year!

Less than a week after Rodriguez got hit number 2500, Ichiro Suzuki sent the second pitch of the Mariners September 6 contest down the right field line for his 2000th hit in the Majors. With that case knock, he became the second-fastest player to reach the milestone.

Only Hall of Famer Al Simmons did it quicker.

A week later, Ichiro tallied his 200th hit of the season for the ninth consecutive year…setting an all-time Major League record. All-time hit king Pete Rose holds the non-consecutive record with ten.

On June 27, 2007, Phillies slugger Ryan Howard became the fastest player to hit 100 home runs when he bested Ralph Kiner by 60 games.

Earlier this season (on July 16), Howard again surpassed Kiner when he became the quickest to 200 home runs.

On September 18, the first baseman again joined some pretty exclusive company. With a sixth inning bomb off Atlanta's Tim Hudson, Howard joined Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey, Jr. as the only four Major Leaguers with at least four consecutive 40 home run, 120 RBI seasons.

Almost as impressive as Howard’s consistency in sending balls deep into the Philadelphia night…is Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds’ consistent futility.

In 2008, Reynolds became the first Major Leaguer to strike out more than 200 times…he finished with 204. This season, he was sent back to the bench a new record 223 times!

If it means anything to anyone, I’d like to point out that only two National League pitchers (Tim Lincecum and Javier Vazquez) struck out more batters than Reynolds struck out.

Lastly…it is worth mentioning that Brian Roberts (yes, THAT Brian Roberts) secured his status as a doubles hitting machine.

With his league leading 56 doubles, Roberts not only became the fourth Major Leaguer ever to achieve three seasons with more than 50 or more doubles (Hall of Famers Tris Speaker, Paul Waner and Stan Musial are the others)…but he secured the top spot on the “most doubles hit by a switch hitter” list.

And to think, back in March when I

previewed the Baltimore Orioles…I suggested “Monument City” had nothing to celebrate.

I stand corrected.

Some Ruthian efforts recognized

I came to a realization tonight...Ryan Howard might be the best power hitter going in the game today. I know, I know, I'm not really going out on a limb with that statement...but still, the kid is good.

On June 27, 2007, Howard became the fastest player to hit 100 home runs when he bested Ralph Kiner by 60 games.

Earlier this season (on July 16), Howard again surpassed Kiner when he became the quickest to 200 home runs.

Friday night, the Phillies first baseman again joined some pretty exclusive company in Philadelphia's 9-4 victory against the Braves.

With a sixth inning bomb off Atlanta's Tim Hudson, Howard joined Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey, Jr. as the only four Major Leaguers with at least four consecutive 40 home run, 120 RBI seasons.

A year from now, we could be talking about Howard putting Griffey and Sosa in the rearview as they never reached a fifth consecutive season. Ruth, on the other hand, sent more than 40 deep and drove in 120 or more a record seven times!

And since we're talking power hitters, Washington's Adam Dunn is poised to achieve a Ruthian feat of his own. Going into the last few weeks of the season, Dunn is three homers shy of becoming only the second player to reach 40 or more home runs in six straight seasons.

Ruth, again (obviously), being the other.

One record that neither Howard or Dunn need to worry about this season (even though they both held the dubious honor in the past) is setting the record for most strikeouts in a season.

While Dunn set the record of 195 Ks in 2004, Howard topped it with 199 in both 2007 and 2008. With 200 strikeouts and the Rockies in town, Diamondbacks infielder Mark Reynolds in looking to shatter his current season record of 2004.