Ryan Howard is going where only cheaters have gone before. By the time this season is finished, he could trail only Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa on baseball's single-season home run list.
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| There's no doubt that Ryan Howard has grown bigger in the last few years. (Getty Images) |
So what happens when Howard hits No. 62 and joins them?
It's an awkward question, but that's baseball today. The steroid era sullied not only those who cheated their way to excellence, but those who will achieve excellence in the future. Given history, how are we supposed to tabulate Howard's skyrocketing homer tally without a twinge of doubt? Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927. Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961. Nobody has matched those numbers, much less beaten them, without the (alleged) benefit of steroids or Human Growth Hormone.
So here comes Howard, mashing homers for the Phillies with a body that, it must be told, has changed radically since 2003. And here we are, jaded and beaten down by those who came before him, which is why Howard's march toward Maris has eluded the spotlight.
No, Maris isn't the record-holder anymore. Bonds has the current mark of 73, set in 2001. McGwire once had the record at 70, set in 1998. Sosa has never owned the record but has hit 66, 64 and 63 home runs -- three of the top six totals in baseball history.
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Maris is now seventh, but that's not why Howard has been chasing him in near-solitude. It isn't that nobody cares. It's more ... nobody wants to care. Not again. The last time this happened, records weren't the only thing broken. Hearts shattered, too.
When Sosa and McGwire staged their captivating duel in 1998, we were naïve and even stupid to believe 100 years of baseball could be erased and replaced with Wiffle Ball by two hulks who, it wasn't noted at the time, were once 30 pounds lighter. McGwire and Sosa were heroes, and then along came Bonds, and while nobody liked him enough to grant him hero status, we were still grateful to watch the greatest power hitter of all time.
But then came the whispers, followed by rumors, then news stories and finally a federal investigation into steroids and baseball. This was bad, bad stuff, and when our heroes were exposed as cheaters, we were exposed as fools.
Now it's Ryan Howard, fast approaching 60 home runs. He entered Tuesday with 56, giving him 19 games to pass Ruth and Maris. Ten years ago his pursuit of 62 would have been the biggest story in sports. Today it is more curious than captivating. For example, we know how big Ryan Howard is now. How big was he three years ago?
Funny you should ask ...
In 2003 the Phillies listed Howard at 6-feet-4 and 230 pounds. He was a solid prospect, hitting 19 home runs in 493 at-bats at Class-A Lakewood in 2002, then 23 in 490 at-bats at Class-A Clearwater in 2003.
Howard has more than doubled his homer ratio since, from one every 23.4 at-bats in 2002-03 to one every 11 at-bats from 2004-06. His body has changed, too.
