It's May: Howard Heating Up?
Ryan Howard went 2 for 4 with a double, a home run and two RBIs in last night's 3-2 victory over the Padres. The big man is heating up.
It's May: Howard Heating Up?
Todd Zolecki
Let's take a look at Ryan Howard's career splits, which include last night's double and home run in a 3-2 victory over the Padres:
- March and April: .230 with 13 homers and 37 RBIs.
- May: .264 with 21 homers and 55 RBIs.
- June: .280 with 19 homers and 48 RBIs.
- July: .294 with 23 homers and 67 RBIs.
- August: .307 with 26 homers and 81 RBIs.
- September and October: .308 with 33 homers and 79 RBIs.
History shows the man starts very slowly and heats up as the season progresses, so there's no reason to think differently about this season until proven otherwise.
"I'm seeing the ball better," Howard said. "But to be able to come through in a situation like that, it only makes it that much better. When you're not seeing the ball, everything is tough. You don't feel good at all, and everything is just wrong. Now I'm starting to kind of see it, and I'm putting some good passes on it. Hopefully, the results will start to change a little bit."
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In the Phillies Notebook, Brett Myers is long tossing and studying film to find a way to pump up his fastball.
Oh, and he said he's not out of shape.
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Sports Illustrated ran a poll and ranked Citizens Bank Park the 10th best in baseball.
It ranked ballparks in 10 categories. Here is where the Bank ranked in those categories: affordability (13th), food (4th), team quality (9th), tradition (14th), atmosphere (7th), fan IQ (7th), hospitality (30th), promotions (10th), traffic (10th) and neighborhood (20th). Philadelphia continues to have a terrible reputation for its fans, but at least people love the food.
The magazine ranked ballparks in Cleveland, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Detroit and St. Louis in the top five. I question that list. A lot. Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit and St. Louis have nice parks, but they're not four of the five ballparks I would send somebody for the ultimate baseball roadtrip. Not even close.
Here's my top five:
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Wrigley Field.
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PNC Park
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AT&T Park
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Fenway Park
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Camden Yards
Wrigley and Fenway are old. They're cramped. Blah, blah, blah. But they're also freakin' sweet. PNC Park is probably the best park in baseball. Too bad they can't move the ballpark to a city with a better team, you know? There's just something cool about watching a game on the bay in San Francisco, which has great food stands in center field. And Camden Yards is still a great place to go. I think the Bank is right underneath those top five. It's just too bad they didn't put the ballpark in the city.
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Comments (39)
Been to Wrigly, PNC, Fenway and Camden Yards, but having spent 2 years in Cleveland, I think you are vastly underating that venue. "The Jake" was a great place to watch a game, from a suite or regular seats, great food, terrific sightlines, easy parking and the restaurant in left field is a cool place to watch a game. Plus they had a sellout streak that was incredibly long. Camden Yards is nice, but gets a lot of credit for it's locale (Inner Harbor), as much as the stadium. It certainly started the trend toward the new designs but I think it's time as a major attraction is long gone. IMHO.— jimmymack- Billy Wagner remains one of the biggest horse's patoots in baseball. Keep yappin Billy, the Mets are in trouble already and you will just help things along.— lancastermike
Comment removed.- I question that 30th in hospitality, too, Bryan! And Zo....I know you're among the many who thought they should have put CBP in Center City. But if they had, we would have ranked 30th in traffic!— Norma
- Shea came in 29th...Yankee Stadium 28th and Fenway 27th. Talk about east coast bias...— lutton
- Wait a minute! This was a FAN survey? We voted ourselves 30th in hospitality?! What the......!!!!! Truth must have voted a 100 times!— Norma
- 10th best park is about right. CBP is very generic, and so is the Linc. The ownership's went cheapo and wen't with the safe generic stadiums. Can't blame them.— Leron
- lol-Can't blame them for being cheap. Can't blame them for buying fancy jets and driving the best cars while leaving a generic stadium for you to spend your $100.00 each appearance. What a loser.— Truth
- Ok, back up your argument with some truth...who bought/has the fancy jet? Phillies, Eagle's? C'mon big boy, just some facts & names. Lot's of people drive nice cars, so that makes absolutely no sense.— jimmymack
- WOOO RYAN HOWARDD !! GO PHILLS ! WHO CARES WHERE THE PARK IS, IM JSUT GLAD ITS WITHIN A 10 MIN WALK FROM ME!— Will.i.Am
- WOOO RYAN HOWARDD !! GO PHILLS ! WHO CARES WHERE THE PARK IS, IM JSUT GLAD ITS WITHIN A 10 MIN WALK FROM ME!— Will.i.Am
- Just read the comments from Wagner. What an a-hole! I'm certainly not defending Perez, but 5 of those runs were unearned. If Billy the Bully is going to rant at someone, maybe it should be the fielders who kept committing errors. Somebody in the Mets organization neds to muffle him. Can you imagine if he ever decided to mangage a team after retirement? He'd make Lou Pinella look like Mickey Mouse.— Norma
- 14th in tradition?????? Wait a minute, aren't we the oldest team in the same city in the universe? And what about the Phanatic? Like most surveys... a crock.— Moi
- So truth, did you hear about Phils Hughes and his supposed night vision problem,then the next day is was his oblique muscle that was strained, but then later on that day or the next day he all of a sudden has a cracked rib. Now what kind of toxic waste would you be spewing out in this blog if that was the Philles......?— Clinton, NJ
- Why has it taken soooo long to get another lefty in the bullpen?????— Clinton, NJ
- Patty Burrell! It's amazing what one can do in a contract year......— Truth
- Howard is really heating up— hawaiianPhilly8
- YAY PAT! Has anyone ever seen him hit a walk-off HR to win a game?! Thank God Chase was on base! Too bad Kyle didn't get the decision. He pitched really well tonight. Probably his most strike-outs.— Norma
- The thing that irks me the most is 7th in fan IQ. I guess that isn't bad, but who are the six better?— phillybob
- GREAT WIN!!! That was Pats 3rd walk off homer, says espn— Clinton, NJ
- Okay, I understand the thought that Ryan Howard is a slow starter, and his .230, 13 HR March/April show that. However, this year he is pathetic (at least for a 10 mil/yr, cleanup hitter, former MVP, A-Rod -type of contract seeker...) Even in his worst month he still hit nearly 60 pts higher than this season. Think of that! Again I question why he continues to bat 4th versus left-handed pitchers when Pat is doing so well. Is Charlie afraid to hurt Ryan's feelings?— MrPhillie
- Right on MrPhillie! I remeber last year or the year before Charlie would switch or separate Utley and Howard if need be. Well it needs to happen again ASAP! I think the last two times Howard has either hit a homerun or went 2-4, an article is written about him breaking out and bla bla bla, then he stikes out 3 times the next day!! Oh well....— Clinton, NJ
- Well, you would think after a good game on Thurs. with the double and HR that Ryan would be feeling a little better about himself. But I guess his conduct that got him ejected from tonight's game proves otherwise.— Norma
- Glad to see Aaron Rowand get a great reception his first at-bat. And booed when he hit his HR. LOL!— Norma
- I know Ryan Howard is off to a slow start and ususally has over the past few seasons. But as of the first pitch of Saturday's game with the Giants, he will hve 42 strike-outs! Isn't that just a little concerning? He said he is seeing the ball better, but it he's not producing like it. I don't think the 2 "off days" for Howard last week were enough. I really think he needs to be dropped in the lineup a few spots. Put Burrell in the 4th spot. He swinging a hot bat and really deserves it (I never thought I would say that). I'm sure Howard wouldn't like it, but it would help the team to get him on track. He said himself that the Phillies aren't playing to their full capability yet... I hope he was looking in the mirror when he said that. It's called humble-pie, Ryan Howard - with $10 million in your pocket, you can afford to eat it for a week or so.
- Todd, the Howard stats are quite interesting. So given that why doesn't he start practicing his swing a couple of months earlier? I heard that Rollins practiced almost daily during the winter with Rob Potts, the batting practice pitcher. Why can't Howard do the same?— cartoong98
- Pat's first walk-off HR since April of '02! Hats off to Charlie for not pulling him in later innings lately.— Norma
- Just heard this on the 6:00 news......NL Player of the Month? CHASE UTLEY!!!! Pat got votes, too! There's an article up on the Phillies website.— Norma
- Now why would Charlie play Dobbs when Feliz just had a good game yesterday at the plate?— Clinton, NJ
- Im so sick of Howard striking out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— Clinton, NJ
- Howsa 'bout Howard has 2 decent games in a row before all this nonsense? He was "heating up" last Saturday after he hit yet another solo HR - then went 1 for 9 in the next 3 games. Then he was "heating up" after Thursday - and has since struck out 4 of his next 6 at-bats. The fact is, he's terrible at this point, his conditioning (or lack of it) sucks, and, sorry, he's nowhere near the hitter he was in 2006. And again, gang, strikeouts really do matter. He makes the brass look smarter and smarter every day.— John in LA
- Extraordinardy. Howard's last 5 of 7 are Ks. We're 31 games into the season - almost 20%. Maybe a few more days on the bench wouldn't hurt...— John in LA
- Maybe a trip to Reading would help!— Norma
- I think people are making too much out of Howard's slow start. He will heat up and when he does he will carry this team for weeks at a time. That is what power hitters have always done. http://myteamrivals.typepad.com/phightin_phils_phorum http://myteamrivals.typepad.com/turnpike_series— BillZe
- Sorry, Bill, almost 20% of the season is done. Been following so far? He hit under .220 for the first 2 months last year, and the 30-day stretch Utley was out last year. Again, are you watching the games? There's a pattern here. He's simply not as "great" as we all thought - or he seems to think he is. Because the truly "great" players in the game today - ARod and Pujols - don't have fundamental flaws in their game. Like Howard does. He strikes out 40% of the. That's almost unfathomable - in fact, a "great" player has never done that. Add that he can't run, throw or field...— John in LA
- Bill, not sure if anyone can be making too much of this many K's. Historically he heats up, so we all have that too look forward to (or hope for), but regardless, still waaaaaay too many strikeouts even when he is driving in runs. Noboby has more K's. What would be an overaction to someone striking out more than ANYONE...EVER...— phillybob
- It's time for Howard to spend 60 games with the Iron Pigs to strike out down there instead of at the Cit.— Nick from the Northeast
- Hellooooooooo out there!— Nick from the Northeast
- The arbitration hearing for Howard next year ought to be a lot of fun. Even if he hits 50 dingers, how do you explain away what will be a record ampont of K's and at this point, a solid month of no production?— jimmymack
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