Ryan Howard's baseball career, and the course of Phillies history, could have gone a lot different, as Howard remembered in a discussion with former teammate Jimmy Rollins on Bleacher Report's Generations.
Howard appeared to be blocked in his path to the majors after the Phillies signed Hall of Famer Jim Thome in 2002, after the slugger had just crushed 52 home runs with Cleveland the season before. Thome hit 89 home runs in his first two seasons with the Phillies combined, 42 of them coming in 2004, when Howard got his first taste at the big-league level.
While Howard reached the majors that year, finding steady playing time, at least with the Phillies, seemed like a difficult task.
"When Thome signed, that was my first season of minor league ball," Howard said. "I had a decision to make right then and there, like 'man, they just signed Jim Thome. I'm never gonna make it,' or do I say 'Hey, they just signed Jim Thome, whether I get up with the Phillies or not, my goal is to get to the major leagues,' so I tried to bang out at much as I could in the minor leagues."
Howard found an unexpected opportunity in 2005 when Thome went down with an injury, playing in just 59 games that season. It would unknowingly be his last with the Philles after Howard burst onto the season in a Rookie of the Year campaign.
"When we got to that situation in 2005, I got called up because Thome got hurt," Howard said. "I just said to myself, 'I know wat I'm capable of doing.' I remember a reporter asking me if I had big shoes to fill because of Jim Thome, and I said 'no, there's no shoes to fill because there's only one Jim Thome, and I'm not Jim Thome'"
Howard certainly looked like peak Thome, hitting 22 home runs in 88 games, posting a .924 OPS on his way to becoming one of the most feared hitters in the National League.
Rollins, who let Howard move in with him after he was called up, saw Howard turning into a superstar before his eyes.
"Between Wawa and dishes being in my sink all the time, somewhere between that and the end of the season, I saw the confidence come in you," Rollins laughed.
Howard of course went on to help the Phillies in the World Series in 2008, and from 2006 to 2009, hit at least 45 home runs a season, leading the league twice (with 58 in 2006 and 48 in 2008). Thome was traded to the White Sox after Howard's rookie season.
"I just put my focus into just going up and having fun and exuding that confidence," Howard said. "So I was just trying to come up here and play my part and help the team win as much as I could, and the rest was history."
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