Redemption!

After a long and somewhat contentious year for 1B Ryan Howard, the Phillies slugging 1B finally, truly, and completely won over the passionate, raucious blue-collar fanbase of Philadelphia. Howard was a much maligned player for most of this season as he started off the first two months of the season on one of the deepest slumps in recent memory for any player of his stature. It took Howard until July 4th to permanently drag his average over the .220 mark. Howard looked completely lost for long stretches of the season. The rabid fanbase quickly turned on the big slugger. Many said he should be platooned as he simply could not hit left-handed pitching. Many said he should be traded for anything they could get. Some of the more rabid fans even used the blogs to lambast Howard on a daily basis. This blogger specifically focused all of his frustration and anger and an underperforming ballclub at what Harry Kalas calls "The Gentle Giant". I went so far as to track his daily strikeout totals as they spiraled towards shattering his own MLB single-season record. Quietly though, things began to change. Ryan kept plugging away and the repeated slumps got less and less frequent as the season wore on. As other players wore down, Howard came on stronger and stronger, posting MVP-type numbers over the 2nd half the season. Howard had a historic September during which he carried the team for the entire month, refusing to lose the division. Howard hit a smoking .352 with 11 HR/32 RBI for the month. Then came October and with it the old Ryan Howard. Many of us quickly jumped on the familiar and easy target. He can't field. He lacks concentration in the field. He's too easily neutralized by a good lefty. We spouted all these easy attacks, ripping him in all aspects of the game. He had an atrocious 2-11 with 5 K in the NLDS

and the attacks were vicious. Then came the NLCS and with it, Ryan began to woke up. He batted .300 but slugged an abysmal .350 due to breaking ball after breaking ball down in the zone. The book on Howard is well known and the Dodgers followed it religously. The World Series started off the same way in Games 1 and 2 as Ryan just looked lost at the plate. Then came Game 3 in Philadelphia. Howard smashed his first HR of the postseason and with it ended weeks of frustration. Game 4 brought us the Ryan Howard we all cheered on in September. Howard crushed 2 HR and picked up 5 RBI including 3 on a crucial 4th inning shot that broke the game open. Howard was the hero of game 4 and he finally won over the toughest fans in baseball. Tonight is a possible clinching Game 5 and we'll cheer Ryan on as he leads the Phillies towards a long awaited championship.