Ryan Howard

About Ryan Howard

Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979, in St. Louis, Missouri) is a baseball player who plays first base for the Philadelphia Phillies. Howard is six feet, four inches tall and 255 pounds. He bats and throws left-handed.

One of the game's most feared sluggers, Howard was the 2006 National League MVP. On June 27, 2007, Howard became the fastest player to reach 100 home runs in Major League Baseball history. He also holds the record for most strikeouts in a single season, with 199 in 2007.

Selected in the 5th round of the 2001 draft, Howard quickly ascended the Phillies' minor league system, earning consecutive MVP awards in the Florida State and Eastern leagues (2003 and 2004), respectively. While doing this, he impressed scouts enough that general managers of several teams tried to lure the Phillies' Ed Wade into trading him, as Jim Thome was blocking his path to the majors.