Where Do Howard's Big Pieces Fit?
Almost exactly half of Ryan Howard's 297 career home runs have had a major change on the scoreboard.
Where Do Howard's Big Pieces Fit?
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Ryan Howard's game-winning home run Wednesday night, was just the second time in his career that he hit a homer in the ninth inning or later that took the Phillies from a deficit to a lead. The first was a a two-run homer off Yhency Brazoban in the bottom of the 10th inning of a game the Phillies trailed to the Dodgers, 4-3, on July 19, 2005 at Citizens Bank Park (see photo at left).
The homer was the 148th of his 297 career homers (almost exactly half) that have either put the Phillies ahead (113) or tied the game (35).
Wednesday's clutch hit was also the third homer in history to put the Phillies ahead in a game against the Mets when they were one out away from defeat (Jose Cardenal, 1978; a Bo Diaz grand slam down 3 in 1983).
Below is a detailed look at Howard's 297 career home runs broken down by score and runs generated by the homer. The green boxes indicate HRs that put the Phils ahead, yellow boxes indicate HRs that tied the game.
| Phillies' Margin |
Solo HRs |
2-Run HRs |
3-Run HRs |
Grand Slams |
Total HRs |
| Ahead 13 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Ahead 9 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Ahead 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Ahead 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Ahead 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Ahead 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| Ahead 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Ahead 3 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 15 | |
| Ahead 2 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 24 | |
| Ahead 1 | 17 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 36 |
| Tied | 31 | 36 | 16 | 2 | 85 |
| Behind 1 | 26 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 51 |
| Behind 2 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 15 | |
| Behind 3 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 18 |
| Behind 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | |
| Behind 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| Behind 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| Behind 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Behind 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Behind 10 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Behind 11 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Totals | 139 | 107 | 40 | 11 | 297 |
Oh wow! I remember that Bo Diaz grand slam from my childhood. Maybe my favorite Harry and Whitey call ever!
most at bats in a player's career are when score is tied or within 1 or 2 runs, particulary early in games, so might be more informative to see a break down of hr's in late inning clutch situations like last night, e.g., 8th or 9th inning that ties or wins game (can recall quite a few by Burrell for example)...also, late inning game- winning rbi's are just as "good", as Howard's big hit in NLDS against Colorado comes to mind...fyi, all Phillie fans recall Howard's numerous big hits fondly and with gratitude, and obviously Phils would have never gone to the World Series in 2008 and 2009 without him; the issue isn't whether to "root" for him but whether Amaro made one of the most bone-headed franchise-crippling moves in history to extend him through 2016 for an absurd $125 million when he was already declining rapidly, and is now unfortunately a very flawed and not elite player— warbiscuit- Excellent article. I'd be interested to know how many times in his career Mike Schmidt hit a homer in the ninth inning or later that took the Phillies from a deficit to a lead. When Schmidt hit his famous 11th inning home run versus Stan Bahnsen of the Expos in October 1980, it was a tie game. That's the moment we remember, because it was replayed over and over. We forget Bob Boone's two out RBI single in the 9th inning when the Phillies trailed 4-3.— Freedom Fries
- Schmidt's 500th hr was a 9th inning game-winner vs Pitt; one dramatic one that I remember vividly was about 1981 against steve Rogers in the 9th that i believe chnaged a defict to a lead on a ball low and away exactly where rogers wanted it that had Rogers shaking his headd— warbiscuit
