Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979, in St.
Louis, Missouri) is a baseball player who plays for
the Philadelphia Phillies. Howard was the 2006
National League MVP and the fastest player to reach
100 home runs in Major League Baseball history. He
graduated from Lafayette High School in 1998 and
attended Southwest Missouri State University (now
Missouri State University). Howard is six feet, four
inches tall and 250 pounds. He bats and throws
left-handed.
One of the game's most feared sluggers, Howard's 58
Home Runs and 149 Runs Batted in 2006 led Major
League Baseball. As with many Philadelphia players
who have played near the end of Veterans Stadium
before its destruction and almost all "Phan
Phavorites" at Citizens Bank Park, Howard has a fan
club known as "Howard's Homers", with the group
sporting Homer Simpson masks. Also, on occasion, a
fan club called "Ryan's Lions" appears at games,
dressed as lions.
