Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) announced today the signing of Philadelphia Phillies All-Star first basemen Ryan Howard as the cover athlete for the MLB 08 THE SHOW, due to hit stores in early 2008 as the only officially-licensed first party baseball game exclusively for Playstation 3 (PS3), PlayStation2 and PSP (PlayStation Portable).

Being an XBOX 360 owner myself, I’m a little pissed I won’t be getting a chance to play this game. But Ryan totally deserves this honor. He’s a great cover model for a video game. He’s a big time masher and plays in a big time market. This will definitely help spread his name and grow awareness.
For More info about the game, click here.

How can you not admire a ball player who likes to give back to the community?

Just a few days ago, Ryan Howard gave batting tips to 7-12 year old kids while emphasizing the importance of having fun as well.

“Make sure you guys have fun out there,” Howard told the attentive group staring at him in awe. “The older you get, the more pressure you’re going to feel is being put on you. But if you go out and have fun every day, you won’t feel that because you’ll be doing something you enjoy.”

The Phillies official website, Phillies.com, recently posted a mailbag question in which a fan asked in Howard would stay long term. Here is the question, and response.

Will the Phillies attempt to sign Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels to long-term contracts? These two are very important players for the city of Philadelphia and the fans.
– Jesse W., Arendtsville, Pa.

The club will discuss parameters this offseason with Howard, as he enters the first of what could be four years of arbitration-eligibility. A percentage of players with less than three full years of Major League experience receive “Super Two” designations, allowing them an extra or fourth year of arbitration-eligibility, instead of the usual three. While they’ll discuss parameters with Howard — likely to be in the neighborhood of the six-year, $85 million contract given to Chase Utley last winter — there’s no urgency to get anything done. Howard can’t become a free agent until after the 2011 season.

Hamels can’t file for free agency until after the 2012 season. He’ll follow Howard into arbitration after this season. Importance to the organization aside, there’s still an economic model that the Phillies will follow. In that regard, the Phillies are no different than the 29 other clubs.

The Phillies got bounced out of the playoff picture rather quickly. That’s OK though. They made a big step forward this season, and should be a favorite going into 2008. The Phillies have a lot of young stars that are hitting their prime. They should be a very good team next year.

Now that Howard’s season is over, Lets go over his 2007 stats.

He ended the season with a sub par batting average of .268, 47 homeruns, 94 runs, and 136 RBIs. By now you know that he also struck out a record 199 times this year.

Howard may have been in a ‘junior year slump’, but whatever it was he’ll have plenty of time to correct it this offseason.

Well the Phillies are back in the playoffs, thanks to our favorite Phillie Ryan Howard.

The Phillies face an upstart Rockies team who only had 1 day of rest since their 13 inning battle with San Diego. It’s time to see what Howard is made of in the post season. We know he can mash in the regular season, but can he bring it with the pressure on.

Players start with a new slate in the playoffs.

For most strikeouts in a single season. Doh!

WASHINGTON — Ryan Howard went down swinging in the fourth inning on Sunday for the 195th time this season, tying a Major League record for the most strikeouts.

The Phillies slugger was fanned on a 2-2 slider from Nationals right-hander Joel Hanrahan, equaling the mark established in 2004 by the Reds’ Adam Dunn.

Howard, who has struck out 35 times in September, stormed to the mark in a hurry. The reigning National League Most Valuable Player fanned four times on Friday.

If Ryan Howard could get his bat going, the Phillies would have a much better chance at winning the division or wild card. At this point their 2.5 games back from both and Howard is hitting like .180 on the month. He does seem to come up big at certain times, like those 2 homeruns against STL, but really Howard needs to be consistent.

Without his bat, even if they do make the playoffs they won’t get very far. At quick glance, you might think Howard and Adam Dunn switched bodies. Howard is hitting .259 and has 40 homeruns and 189 strikeouts. He’s the complete opposite of what he was last year.

The Phillies are still fighting for that NL wild card spot. They’re 1.5 games behind San Diego. You would think that now is the time for them to creep up and take that spot, however, the Phillies play their next 10 games on the road. OUCH!

The Phillies really need Ryan Howard to keep his bat going. Howard just doubled in the winning run a few days ago, and now they need to see more of it.