Howard, Phillies energized by late-season run
The latest Phillies and baseball news from Philly.com.
Howard, Phillies energized by late-season run
Marc Narducci
Ryan Howard said he kept a simple outlook as he and his Phillies teammates continued to grind things out when most had counted them out.
Not that the Phillies still don’t have major work to do, but they are within three games of the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild card spot with 11 to play after Friday’s 6-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.
To be honest, not many, including this reporter, ever though that Phillies games entering the fourth week of September would have so much meaning. Howard insists he never bought into the talk of the Phillies demise.
“I never gave up on anything and that is why it’s a 162-game season,” he said. “A lot of people saw what happened last year and that is why you play them all and you never know what happens.”
Last year it was the Cardinals who came roaring back, when most had counted them out.
Now it’s the Phillies, along with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Milwaukee has made just as impressive of a run as the Phillies and actually only trail the Cardinals by 1.5 games.
Either way, the Phillies are definitely energized to still be playing meaningful baseball.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Howard, who has hit home runs in three consecutive games and now has 299 for his career. “This is the end of the season and the playoff push is right there and that is what you play for.”
And just because he insists that he isn’t surprised by the fact that the Phillies are playing meaningful games, doesn’t mean that Howard and his teammates aren’t enjoying this ride.
“To be in the hunt with everything that has gone on this year, being three games out now, it’s fun and an exciting time.”
In winning five straight division titles, one World Series and two National League pennants, maybe the Phillies took winning for granted, even subconsciously.
Now they are appreciating each win, and even after a disastrous weekend in Houston, they have bounced back.
So they will scoreboard watch a little more than usual, but as Howard explained, they can only take care of the task at hand.
At the very least, they have put tremendous pressure on the teams ahead of them. As recently as Aug. 17, the Phillies were 54-65. Since then they are 23-9.
Every game now has a playoff feel to it and based on where this team was even a month ago, this would have been impossible to envision for just about anybody but Howard and the rest of the team.
Howard is clueless. Don't care about the worthless states he picks up against sub par pitchers. And please let's STOP using the injury card which was certainly not there against the Giants and Cards, or do we not remember.— Campatent- Wow, thanks for the breath of fresh air, campatent. Howard's on a pace to hit well over a hundred rbis despite the injury and it's not a card it' s a fact. When you hit 299 homers in the majors or one,instead of sitting on your couch with a remote, maybe your opinion would matter. But for now, you're just a jerk.— jewel98
- Jewel 1 Campgoat o
Another shutout
— NewMick314 - If RH keeps getting hotter, I'm assuming teams will not pitch to him pretty soon,providing key opportunities for Brown and Mayberry...Only way to combat that is get the bases full for the big guy to clear...Despite the nightmare of a season, these September games are meaningful...so make em count...Run the table!— bearsfriend
- Sorry,Ruiz will get pitches to hit,too. — bearsfriend
- If nose was playing all year, phils would be in the postseason.— Jay Grace 69
- I ask my haters of Ryan Howard a similar question...Would you hate him this much if he made $16M a year? Question 2 is always if your boss came over to you and offered to overpay for your services because they think the market for your position will vastly increase in 3 years (when your contract is up) do you declune the large pay raise? With that I say shut up and let the guy play and your hatred should go to RAJ.— rvb2321
- No offense to Howard but getting hot now is just a coincidence. There's no need to invent a narrative around it. If he had such control over it, he would have gotten hot last week so they'd be in much better shape today. Once pitchers start pitching around him, he'll get cold again. Let's just hope the Phils can keep winning.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- Campatent, you are trash. You must be a miserable person. Let me guess, you probably got cut from every high school team. Perhaps you got lucky & made the football team one year and scored one touchdown during a JV game and live of that memory whenever you need to feel good about yourself. Maybe you are tired of having to make $6 an hour every year for the last 3 years b/c you are not good enough to earn more. Whatever the reason RH wast the fastest player to hit 100, 200 & soon 300 in MLB HISTORY. So get a life.— Jay25
- Howard is hitting over 300 with runners in scoring position. What was Hunter Pence hitting prior to the trade. Bottom line Howard is very productive and has been hit or miss in the clutch. Would you rather have Pence in the clutch. Chooch is having a career year.— cth
- To be honest, I'd rather have both. — bearsfriend
- I can't believe how ignorant today's commenters are. They attack Campatent for telling the truth which they are too dumb to remember. Since they can't accept the truth, they kill the messenger. The Phils got kayoed by the Giants and the Cards in the playoffs despite the best pitching staff in baseball, and it was Howard who led the troops to dead man's land. In both 2010 and 2011 the Phils had the absolute worst offense. Putting runners in scoring position was a sure bet to end the inning---batting UNDER .200 in the playoffs. Oh, by the way, your big hero struck out more than anyone in baseball during those two playoffs. Of course, unlike today, he was facing major league pitching.— donmargolis
- Bottom line is keep wildcard2 in sight. GO PHILLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— Darryl Cofield
- Jay 25 "Whatever the reason RH wast the fastest player to hit 100, 200 & soon 300 in MLB HISTORY." where do you get your stats?
Albert Pujols by 9th season 29 years = 366 HRs
Adam Dunn by 9th season 28 years = 316 Hrs
Mark Teixeira 9th season 31 years = 314 Hrs
— Roswell Greys - It's in terms of games played you moron. Not age. Howard came up in September when he was 25 years old, nearly 26 so check your facts before you question mine. — Jay25
- Here are some facts for you:
http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090716&content_id=5897450&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb— Jay25 - Yep, it's just a coincidence, because he NEVER gets hot in September and carries the team on his shoulders into the playoffs....
- Atta baby Howard! After all the struggles his bat is suddenly alive. Keep it going Phightins!!! Could be 2 back after today then it's getting real fun..— jmanship16
- Yup. I am trash. I make 6 bucks an hour. I still live with my mom. I never made the varsity team. I stoke my pin all the time. Call me what ever. It's incomprehensibly clueless for the ars to sit there in the beginning of this season and ponder what would have happened if he hit a hr on that last out against the cards. Let's think back to the Giants series or for that matter NY. Name me one quality pitcher that he can hit. Keep quoting worthless stats and numbers. Like I say, down by one, 2 outs, chase on 3rd and Aflet (sp?) Giants leftie on. What are you thinking? I know what 99 percent is thinking.— Campatent
- Yup, I forgot that Howard batted 1-9 and pitched as well. Sorry, didn't know it was Howard that got destroyed by Cody Ross in the Giants series, who also gave up the winning home run in the 8th inning vs a journey man 3rd baseman in the decisive game 6 vs Giants. I didn't know Howard chocked away a 4 run lead vs the Cardinals last year in game 2. Oh yeah, I also forgot that its Howard's fault that Cole Hamels didn't show up in 2009 thus forcing Pedro Martinez to pitch twice in that World Series. Also, we can't forget that Oswalt stunk it up in the playoffs because he had Howard pitch for him. Yup, you are right, blame RH. — Jay25
- Roswell, he might be talking about at-bats. This is Howard's 9th season kinda sorta, although he barely played at all in '04 (probably Sept. call-up) and only played half the season in '05 (after Thome got hurt) and half the season this year. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/howarry01.shtml— bergey66
- You can talk about the relief pitching all you want but it's clear the Phillies lost games in the 1st half of the season because there was no one in the middle of that lineup that opponents feared. Pence is a nice player but he's no Ryno.— OG
- Hey dnmargolis. Howard was only guy hitting in Giants series. He hit 300. Anyone else hits we win that series. Against cards, he won game 1 with a late 3 run homer, then handed Lee a 4 run lead in game 2 with 2 run single. Ok, he didn't hit great next 3, but series shoulda been over!— Logical1
- Halladay getting hammered again....im tellin you guys, hes done for the year!!!! Trust me, hes still hurt i think, i will give him credit for going out there, but its hurting us badly!!!ROY...take a rest big guy...please!— huntnmike3666
- it may be sparking Howard, but is doing nothing for Halliday. He is barely a 4th starter today. I hope next year is abetter year for this club because they are bad!!!!— avogel36
- Funny how Idiot 25 brings up Roy when the topic is Howard. I Will be more than happy to talk about Roy's or Lee's shortcomings but this article is Howard related. And someone mentioned above if it would be this bad if he was making less. 2 points: 1. If you are getting paid have some pride and don't eat until you look like a big fat slob with a fat belly hanging out, mostly during recovery 2. Yes the money does matter. You are paying big chunk to someone who can't hit lefties and can't hit the curve from righties. and to boot, he comes across utterly clueless to even give a f@&$ to improve.— Campatent
- My point is that you blame Howard for everything you tool. Would it be great if he struck out less? Yes. Despite being a career .275 hitter, would it be great if he could hit .300 and get on base more than .360? Yes. But let's not totally dismiss what he does: he's one of the premier power hitters in the NL, has amazing all around stats with men on base, is a leader & hard worker, won An MVP, NLCS MVP, most consecutive games with an RBI in the playoffs and a fat slob like you say. You probably never seen him up close in person but he is not fat. Plus he blew out an Achilles yet you can give him a pass on his physical condition for this year so that means that you are irrational and expect of others what you can't do for yourself.— Jay25
- BTW, how did it work out for Roy today? Kinda killed his team trying to pitch hurt. I admire him but not smart. Meanwhile Howard hit #300. I am sure you hated to see that. 4 hrs in last 4 games.— Jay25
- I can't believe Howard or any fan cpild get fired up by the present Phillies line up. Manuel has used 9-10 players a game changing the 3rd base and left field positions, but they are the most boring team the Phils had in recent years.— tulsaphil
