The Big Piece Gets No Love

The Big Piece Gets No Love

Happy Independence Day Bunters!  I hope your BBQ's, Pool parties and beach days find you well.  Independence Day, when our founding fathers flipped England the bird and said "We got this".  In the spirit of this holiday I would like you all to help me fix a wrong.  Let's have an independent thought. Let's not agree with the Phillies fan base that bashes its greatest player.  You have all heard it, "Howard strikes out too much", "Howard isn't clutch", and “How could Howard take that called 3rd strike in the NLCS?”  He has been, by far, the best position player during this run.  Sorry, DiamondGirl, Howard is number 1. Chase is a distant 2nd.  Most, so called, fans fail to realize we have a stone cold Hall of Famer playing here. Here are the numbers to prove it.

Ryan Howard has played 6 full seasons now.  Remember, he came up in the middle of the 2005 season, played 88 games and won the Rookie of the Year.  He has averaged 45 Home Runs during that span.  45 Home Runs!  Mike Schmidt, the franchises all time best position player had 2 seasons of 45 Home Runs or more.  Ryan Howard has also averaged 136 RBI during his first 6 seasons.  Mike Schmidt's best RBI season was 1980, he had 121.  Michael Jack had 7 seasons of 100+ RBI. Howard already has 5 seasons of 100 or more, not counting this year.  I'm not here to bash Mike Schmidt; he was the best player the Phillies ever had, till Ryan Howard came along.  Like Howard, Schmidt wasn't appreciated while he was here.  He got slammed for striking out too much.  He also got knocked for hitting Home Runs that didn't matter.  The fan base did not embrace Mike Schmidt till he got close to 500 Home Runs.  Then everyone realized he was a great player.  Howard seems to be getting the same treatment.

How will Ryan Howard's numbers look when his career is over?  If he keeps this pace, he will end up with 630 Home Runs.  That's 45 Home Runs over 14 years.  That would put him tied for 5th with Ken Griffey Jr.  He would be ahead of Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew and Reggie Jackson.  His RBI total works out to 1,904 that would be good enough for 8th place all time, ahead of Willie Mays, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski.  His slugging percentage is currently 14th best at .564.  He's ahead of Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle.  Ryan Howard will end up ahead of some pretty good names in a lot of offensive categories.

Spread the word Bunters.  Ryan Howard is a Hall of Fame player.  He's our Hall of Fame player.  We don't get many in Philly.  Don't be the last to realize what we have here. The next time you hear someone say "Howard's a bum", you can hit them with cold hard stats.  Give the Big Piece the love he deserves.

Keep It Classy Philly!

DB29