New face of slugging builds body of work

By Eduardo A. Encina
Published March 28, 2007

CLEARWATER - There was a time, as Ryan Howard describes it, when he had to ponder the tough choice that every player now has to make. He saw teammates around him giving in to baseball's dirty little secret, but Howard decided not to follow.

"My personal thoughts were just that it's not me," Howard said this spring. "That's not who I am, out there playing. That's something else that's helping me do that. I just wanted to see how good I am, naturally, with what I've been given.

"I've known guys that have used it, like, back in the past," he said. "I've seen guys that have used it, and that was another thing to me that showed me. This guy's doing this, he's on that, and I'm killing this guy. So, it's kind of like, what's the purpose of doing that if you're not getting that super benefit?"

Now baseball wants to showcase the 27-year-old Phillies slugger as everything great about the game - a power hitter who looks more baseball player than muscleman. A superb young hitter who has been anointed as "clean."

Meanwhile, the game wrestles with whether it will recognize Barry Bonds' chase of Hank Aaron's home run mark. Pundits ponder if Mark McGwire belongs in the Hall of Fame. And Sammy Sosa's once-celebrated career has little but long-shot life - all because they've each become the faces of baseball's steroid era.

That's why baseball is grateful for the robust first baseman because his NL MVP season last year - the best power-hitting season not counting those above since Roger Maris - was built on hard work and not human growth hormone.

"I think he can handle it though because he's a very even keel young man," general manager Pat Gillick said. "I think that's one of the reasons why he had as such a great season last year. He doesn't get too high or too low. He always has a good smile and a great attitude, and he comes to the ballpark every day looking to make things happen."

That doesn't mean that there weren't doubters about Howard. That's what happens when a player emerges from nowhere to hit 58 homers and 149 RBIs to lead the majors in this era. Heads turn and fingers start to point.

"I think the question will always come up a lot," manager Charlie Manuel said. "Is it fair to him? No, because he's definitely totally legit."

Manuel knows this will be a challenging season for his cleanup hitter. He's raised the bar for himself and the finicky fans of Philly. He has more homers than anyone during their sophomore season, and only Joe DiMaggio had more RBIs 167 in 1937 in his second season.

"He had an amazing year last year, but I know in his mind thinks he can improve, and all of us around here believe the same," second baseman Chase Utley said.

Gillick, in his second year as Phillies GM, says that the first time he saw Howard hit, he was reminded of Willie McCovey. He wasn't a pull hitter. He has a flexible bat and could go with wherever the ball was pitched - and hit it hard.

But entering last season, there was still concern. Howard hadn't been in the majors a full season. And he had hit just .148 against lefties in 2005. The Phillies tried to get a free agent who could step in - Eduardo Perez and Wes Helms were on the wish list - but the Phillies couldn't sign anyone.

And then Howard showed baseball exactly what he could do. His bat nearly propelled the Phillies into the playoffs as he hit .355 after the all-star break as Philadelphia fell three games short of the NL wild card. Still, he had an amazing impact: 23 of his homers gave his team the lead in a game.

Now the game is looking for an encore.

"I know going into this season, there are going to be a lot of outside expectations, and the key word is outside expectations," Howard said. "I think that nobody can put more pressure on them than themselves. That's why you have goals. You set your goals to go out and achieve your goals and not someone else's goals because everyone else's goals might be to hit 81 home runs or do this or do that or whatever, and if you don't live up to their expectations, all of a sudden it's a bust.

"But if you have your goals, and your goals are reasonable - obviously you set them so that you can attain them and push yourself - I think that if you go out there to achieve them, I think you should be happy and everybody else will be," he said.

Asked what his goals for 2007 are, Howard declined to specify: "To me, I have my goals, I know what they are, and I'm going to stick to that."

Howard has struggled this spring, hitting .218 with 20 strikeouts in 55 at-bats before Tuesday's late game. But there's still faith in Philly that last year was just the beginning of something great.

"I didn't think he'd hit 58 last year," Gillick said. "It's tough to expect him to do that. If he doesn't get hurt, I think he could hit 45 home runs. Our park is kind of a park that's ideal to him. He can hit a ball out of any part of our park. I think he's going to have a great year."

Eduardo A. Encina can be reached at eencina@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 28, 2007, 09:00:22]