Howard's end

We interrupt the trade chatter and the latest disappointingloss in order to strap on the rose-colored glasses with a hypothetical.

Ready?

Let’s say the Phillies figure out the mess that has placed them in the middle of a 1-5 road trip, they relearn how to score runs and get into the playoffs for a fourth season in a row. Hey, it could happen, after all they benefited from the Mets’ collapse in 2007, overcoming a deficit worse than the one they face now. Anyway, so if the Phillies get into the playoffs and Ryan Howard continues to produce at the current rate, is he the MVP again?

Like mentioned before, this is a hypothetical and since there are two-and-a-half months remaining in the season, there still is a lot to be determined. However, the one thing that is guaranteed is that Howard will hit at least 40 home runs and top 120 RBIs this season.

Let’s put those numbers in perspective for a moment before we get into the real reason why Howard could be the MVP.

Currently, Howard is one of four players in Major League Baseball history to reach the 40-120 plateau in four consecutive seasons. If Howard were to get there again this year, he would join Babe Ruth as the only players to club 40 homers and drive in 120 runs in five consecutive seasons.

For even more historical perspective on Howard’s numbers, he has 714 RBIs in 824 career games which comes to an average of 140 RBIs per 162 games. Considering that Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew and Jim Rice maxed out at 140 RBIs in a season and that Howard’s career-high is 149, it shows Howard’s historical and uncanny consistency.

Howard hit four homers in four games last weekend at Wrigley Field, one that bounced out onto Sheffield Avenue that witnesses say was the longest hit in the ballpark this season, and appears to be getting into that zone he finds during the last few months of every season.

Oh yeah, that late-season surge. Though they say there is no way to apply a metric to how “clutch” a hitter is, maybe we can try with Howard, so here it goes:

Of Howard’s 243 career homers, 96 of them have come during the final two months of the season, while 247 of his 714 RBIs have come during the same time period. Yes, that’s 40 percent of his career home run total and 35 percent of his RBIs when the games seem to matter the most.

Homers and RBIs don’t do anything for you? OK, try this—Howard’s OPS in September is 1.112 with a .314 batting average, and his second half OPS is 1.047.

That points to the fact that Howard gets going when a lot of players start to wind down. You know how they compare Howard to other big sluggers that faded out during their early 30s with injuries and broken down bodies? Guess what? They were wrong. Hey, I was one of those guys and once put Howard in the same class as guys like Mo Vaughn, Greg Luzinski and Boog Powell—big fellas who piled up the numbers early and faded soon after their 30s. I’ll admit it, I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Howard is an athlete. He’s big, but not built like those other guys and he’s never been injured. He had a sinus infection, but never an injury. Not once.

None of this explains why Howard could be an MVP in 2010, though. To start, his strikeouts are down a bit and as a result his batting average is right around .300. His slugging is down slightly, but he’s on base for a career-high in hits, doubles and runs.

Howard’s also on pace to lead the National league in RBIs for a fourth straight season. No one in Major League Baseball history has ever led the league in RBIs for straight seasons.

Howard will have competition, of course. Count on Albert Pujols being in the mix, along with Joey Votto from Cincinnati, David Wright from the Mets and Corey Hart from Milwaukee to name a few. However, special recognition goes to players who carry their teams into the playoffs and if the Phillies get there it likely will be because Howard takes them there.

Yes, the Phillies need some pitching and some support for Howard since Jayson Werth appears to have gone into the tank. Still, Howard is the man for the Phillies. He’s been the team’s best hitter and the go-to guy in the clubhouse, as well. In the quiet din of the clubhouse after games, Howard has assured the traveling media that they could rely on him for quotes and insight. No, it doesn’t sound like much, but that’s leadership that often goes unnoticed. See, Howard does the dirty work of dealing with the press so his teammates can go about their business. Pete Rose famously did that for the Big Red Machine and the 1980 Phillies, allowing Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt to become MVPs.

The difference in this case is that Howard is the MVP. He’s been rewarded with the big, fat contract and as a result has kept the team on his back. If the Phillies rally to get back to the playoffs, Howard will have earned that salary and he’ll probably have the numbers to show it, too.

Bonds to chase Babe in Philly?

Here's this weeks edition of my column for the CSN E-mail blast. To subscribe for the blast, click here.

The next week is shaping up to be one of the more memorable weekends in Philadelphia sports in quite some time. At least from a national perspective, that is.

Aside from the potential Game 7 for the Flyers in the opening round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres, as well as the afterglow of a strong draft for the beloved Eagles, the Phillies’ games and Citizens Bank Park could be in the national spotlight.

Huh? A 10-14 team struggling with its relief pitching and nearly every other aspect of the game – how are they going to find anything more than the ire of a handful of folks that call into sports radio shows?

It’s not them, it’s someone else. Like Bonds.

Barry Bonds.

With the dramatic, ninth-inning homer he slugged off former Phillie Billy Wagner last week, Barry Bonds, baseball’s Public Enemy No. 1, stands at 711 home runs in his now checkered big league career. Whether or not Bonds slugged the majority of those homers with the aid of illegal substances remains an issue for former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, commissioner Bud Selig and their steroids investigation. This weekend, Bonds has a chance to tie or surpass Babe Ruth’s mark of 714 career home runs.

Babe Ruth, of course, is one of the most storied and beloved ballplayers to ever live. In the wake of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, it was Ruth and all of his home runs that not only saved the game of baseball, but also became the stuff of legend.

Bonds, not to rehash all of the building controversy, has always been the antithesis of Ruth. According to published reports as well as first-hand accounts from folks who have dealt with Bonds throughout the years, he has been rude, curt, mean and selfish. And that’s to the people who are close to him.

Ruth, according to legend, was always the life of the party. Where Bonds is surly, Ruth was gregarious.

Regardless, Bonds and Ruth could share the spotlight this weekend in Philadelphia.

The Giants have three more games until they arrive in Philadelphia, with only one at home against before the team hits the road, so obviously Bonds will not pass the Babe at the relatively friendly confines of San Francisco’s ballpark (whatever company it’s named for now). Still, after two games in Milwaukee and then the three in Philly, the Giants return home for a week. Therefore, it would not be too surprising if Bonds has some sort of injury when his team comes to Philadelphia even though Sunday’s game is scheduled to be telecast nationally on ESPN.

Bonds, of course, is taping a reality show for ESPN.

Anyway, Major League Baseball has already issued a statement that it will not formally acknowledge Bonds’ 715^th home run, which is the correct move since Henry Aaron, not Babe Ruth, holds the record for the most home runs. However, that doesn’t mean the fans in the stands at the Bank won’t acknowledge the deed if it occurs here.

Certainly, the national media will have a field day figuring out how the fans in Philly will react if Bonds passes Ruth, so to take the tired, old Philly fan clichés out of the mix for a change, here’s my suggestion for how the fans should react to Bonds:

Don’t react at all. Don’t boo, don’t cheer, don’t guffaw. Just stand there and be quiet. Turn your back if you feel that’s necessary, but truly respond with no emotion whatsoever.

How cool would it be to see Bonds circle the bases after a milestone homer in total silence?

It’s also worth noting that Babe Ruth's last game was played at the Baker Bowl, the Phillies old stadium that was located in North Philadelphia at Broad and Lehigh Ave. on May 30, 1935. As a player for the Boston Braves, the 40-year-old Ruth struck out in the first inning and then hurt his knee playing first base in the bottom half of the inning.

He walked off the field and never played again.