Rich Hofmann: Brewers winning battle with Howard, losing the war with Phillies
MILWAUKEE - There is an uncomfortable symmetry to Ryan Howard's first two games in the National League Division Series. Eight plate appearances. Four walks. Four strikeouts.
To say that the Brewers are being careful with Howard is to be guilty of gross understatement. Two of the four walks have been intentional. Very few of the pitches thrown in his at-bats have been what you would call hittable. He is being patient on the one hand and sometimes getting himself out on the other. It is all to be expected.
DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff photographer
Ryan Howard has yet to put a ball in play, which is just the way the Brewers apparently planned it.
"Pretty much," Howard said. "We had played them just before [in September], not too long ago, and I pretty much knew that they were going to come out and try and pitch very careful to me. It's just a matter of going out there and being patient and trying to get pitches to hit."
In this ongoing tug of war with the concept of superstardom, Howard now bears an interesting burden. Because of his monster September - 32 RBI, the new club record - there is no chance anybody is thinking about taking any chances with him. Because this is the biggest stage, any tendency toward caution is just magnified.
It leaves him battling, and not always successfully, in the middle of what has been a pretty quiet Phillies lineup, despite their 2-0 lead over the Brewers in the best-of-five series. Howard has gotten this kind of treatment before from opposing managers, and at least has some experience dealing with the emotions. But that doesn't mean the emotions aren't there, because they are.
"It's still a little bit frustrating," Howard said. "But having gone through it, you have the understanding for it. You know how to deal with it. You're equipped to deal with it."
And the thing is, it isn't likely to change with tonight's Game 3 against the Brewers, Jamie Moyer against Dave Bush. Milwaukee manager Dave Sveum might not like where his team stands today, but he has to see his Howard strategy as a success. There is no reason for him to make any alterations.
"What he's done in the last month or whatever, you know, you just try to keep that guy in the ballpark," Sveum said. "And we've done that and . . . we've just had two bad innings. Other than that, we've kept a big-time power-hitting team in the ballpark. We had a couple of unfortunate innings."
A three-run inning in the first game . . . a five-run inning in the second game . . . loss . . . loss. It isn't much but, the way Howard figures it, "What's wrong with that? I don't see a problem with that. We've been able to go out there and gotten good pitching the first two games. Hopefully, Moy can go out there and do the same thing. With the playoffs, it's a matter of if you can get one big inning and going from there."
But when will Howard get his chance? And can he keep his cool as bad pitch follows lousy pitching during his plate appearances? As Phils assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said: "We pretty much expected it. He's got to keep with the attitude that, if they're going to walk me, I'll take what we can get. As long as he does that consistently, I think we'll be OK."
Amaro said September was the biggest factor in the Brewers' thinking.
"I know, because we have the same kinds of meetings over here," he said. "Nobody wants to get beaten by the big man. Every team has that guy and nobody wants to get beaten by him."
If Shane Victorino beats you with a grand slam, it is baseball's wondrous serendipity. If Ryan Howard beats you with a grand slam, especially in October when everyone is watching, it is not so wonderful or serendipitous for the manager who pitched to him.
So, both his talent and the stage are conspiring against Howard right now. That this is a sign of enormous respect is plain. But knowing that and coping with it are two different things.
"In the long run, I guess when you stop and look at it, you can [see it as a sign of respect]," Howard said. "But the competitor in you, you want to go out there and try to get the job done. That's the frustrating part about it. The competitor in me wants to go out there and try to get stuff done."
With that, the tug of war continues. *
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