September 22, 2006: Ryan Howard equals Philadelphia single-season records with 58th home run

In 1932 the MVP winners in both the American and National Leagues plied their trade in Philadelphia. A’s first baseman Jimmie Foxx won the AL award by blasting 58 home runs, more than any other hitter in the city’s professional baseball history. A mile away, Phillies outfielder Chuck Klein gained the NL’s accolade by slugging 29 of his 38 home runs at the Baker Bowl to set the single-season record for home-field homers by a Phillies player in Philadelphia.1

Both home run records endured for 74 years. On a September night in 2006, in Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard tied both with one swing of the bat.

An electric and excited sellout crowd of 44,737 on September 22 witnessed the historic feat during the Phillies’ 5-2 win over the Florida Marlins.

The last time the Marlins were in town, in late July, the Phillies were at a low point in their season. After a promising 22-15 start, Philadelphia’s loss to Florida on July 28 had dropped the team eight games under .500 and 7½ games behind the Cincinnati Reds for the NL’s wild-card spot.

Phillies general manager Pat Gillick started housecleaning after that game to shake up the underachieving club. He traded third baseman David Bell to the Cincinnati Reds. Two days later two more veterans, starter Cory Lidle and outfielder Bobby Abreu, were shipped to the New York Yankees. And after the July 28 loss, the Phillies – looking for their first postseason appearance since they won the NL pennant in 1993 – won 33 of their next 52 games, elevating them to within striking distance of a playoff spot.

The 26-year-old Howard was a force throughout the season. He blasted 28 home runs by the All-Star break and won the All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby. Howard kept it going in the second half of the season, hitting 14 more homers in August. An upper-deck shot off Pedro Astacio of the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium on August 31 gave him 49 for the season, one more than Mike Schmidt’s previous team record of 48, set in 1980.

When Howard homered off Wandy Rodríguez of the Houston Astros on September 17, he had 57 for the season – just one less than Foxx in 1932. His 28 round-trippers at Citizens Bank Park put him one behind Klein’s home-field-homer mark. Howard was still at 57 when the Phillies, trailing the Dodgers by a half-game in the wild-card race, hosted the Marlins in the opener of a three-game series on September 22.

Phillies left-handed starter Cole Hamels had also played a big part in the team’s resurgence. The 22-year-old Hamels, Philadelphia’s first-round draft pick in 2002 out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, reached the majors a month into the 2006 season, He made his debut on May 12 in Cincinnati, twirling five scoreless innings against the Reds. After a bumpy first 2½ months, Hamels caught the wave of the post-housecleaning surge, winning 6 of his next 10 starts with an ERA well below 3.00.

In the top of the first inning, Hamels retired Hanley Ramírez and Dan Uggla on a strikeout and groundout, but 23-year-old All-Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera – who already had two hits and two intentional walks in two games against Hamels – stroked a double to deep center field.2 Josh Willingham struck out, leaving Cabrera stranded at second.

The Phillies struck quickly in the first. Jimmy Rollins smacked rookie right-hander Ricky Nolasco’s first pitch down the left-field line for a double. Shane Victorino pushed a bunt down the third-base line, advancing Rollins to third, and Chase Utley hit a flare to center that plated Rollins. The single was the first of three for Utley. He had been in a slump that saw his average drop from .330 on August 3 to .300 coming into this game. “Anytime you get results, it’s good,” Utley said.3

Nolasco walked Howard after Utley’s single, but retired the next five batters in order.4

Marlins first baseman Wes Helms hit a leadoff double in the second and Ramírez doubled with one out in the third. In each inning, Hamels was able to pitch out of trouble to keep the score 1-0.

The top of the order was up again as the Phillies batted in the third. Rollins pushed an infield single toward third and Utley blooped one into center, giving them both two hits in two at-bats. Howard stepped to the plate, and this time the Marlins decided to pitch to him.

He worked the count to 3-and-1, then connected on a Nolasco fastball and powered the ball into the left-field stands for his 58th home run of the year and 29th at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies had a 4-0 lead.

“Fortunately, he left a fastball middle-away and I was able to take it that way,” Howard said after the game.5 The crowd called him out of the dugout for a curtain call. “I hear it. It’s a good feeling. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a crowd that excited,” Howard said.6

When things settled down, the Phillies tried to tack on more runs. David Dellucci and Chris Coste singled and Abraham Nuñez walked to load the bases, but Hamels struck out, leaving the runners stranded.

Hamels retired the Marlins in order in the fourth, and the Phillies sent the top of the order to the plate for the third time in the bottom of the inning. Rollins and Victorino were retired, but Utley walked, and Howard reached on an error by second baseman Uggla to put runners on first and third. With the lefty- swinging Dellucci due up, Marlins manager Joe Girardi replaced Nolasco with left-hander Renyel Pinto.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel countered by bringing in righty Jeff Conine to pinch-hit. Conine was an original Marlin, acquired from the Kansas City Royals in the 1992 expansion draft, and he had played in over 1,000 games in two stints with Florida. He was a two-time All-Star and a key player on both the 1997 and 2003 World Series champion Marlins. The 40-year-old first baseman-outfielder had joined the Phillies from the Baltimore Orioles in an August waiver trade. With the chance to expand Philadelphia’s lead, Conine bounced back to Pinto to retire the side.

The Marlins broke through for their first run in the fifth. Ramírez – headed for NL Rookie of the Year honors – doubled with one out, his second two-bagger of the day and the fourth surrendered by Hamels. After Uggla grounded out, Hamels’ nemesis Cabrera was up. Cabrera swung at the first pitch and broke his bat, but was still able to drop a single into right to plate Ramirez.

Matt Herges took the mound for the Marlins in the sixth. Rollins worked the count full before flying out to deep right-center, and Victorino struck out. Utley grounded a single up the middle. The Marlins decided they wanted no part of Howard; even with first base occupied they issued an intentional walk.

The move backfired as Conine – who had remained in the game in right field – stroked a single to center to score Utley, increasing the lead to 5-1. “You’ve just got to get the guy out in front of [Howard] and the guy out behind him, and I didn’t do that,” said Herges.7

Hamels started the seventh inning by striking out Chris Aguila and Ramírez, but Uggla broke his 0-for-19 slump with an infield single. With Cabrera due up, Manuel pulled Hamels and brought in righty Geoff Geary. “I figured it was time to get him,” Manuel said.8 Geary retired Cabrera on a grounder to first.

Geary returned for the eighth inning and surrendered a one-out double to Helms. Cody Ross was retired on a bouncer back to the mound, but Miguel Olivo pushed Geary’s first pitch to right for a single. Helms scored, and the Marlins narrowed the deficit to 5-2.

With the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, the Marlins again intentionally walked Howard, as the slugger continued toward a team-record 37 intentional walks in 2006.9 Conine followed with a double, but right fielder Chris Aguila fielded the ball quickly and his throw, relayed by shortstop Hanley Ramirez, caught Howard at the plate to end the inning.

Tom Gordon retired the Marlins in the ninth for his 33rd save and the Phillies’ 80th win of the season. They won five of their remaining nine games but fell short in their quest for a wild-card spot.

Howard’s 58th home run was his last of the season. He remained tied in the record books with Hall of Famers Foxx and Klein and, just like his counterparts, won the MVP Award.10

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Laura Peebles and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI200609220.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2006/B09220PHI2006.htm

Notes

1 Destiny Lugardo, “Top 6 Home Runs of Ryan Howard’s Career,” Phillies Nation.com, January 15, 2022, https://www.philliesnation.com/2022/01/top-6-home-runs-of-ryan-howards-career/.

2 Cabrera went on to hit .579 in 19 career at-bats against Hamels.

3 Rob Parent, “Utley, Howard, Hamels Deliver for Hot Phillies,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 23, 2006: D1.

4 Howard drew 108 walks in 2006, the fourth most in the NL.

5 Parent, “Utley, Howard, Hamels Deliver for Hot Phillies.”

6 Marcus Hayes, “Howard Earns Fish’s Respect,” Philadelphia Daily News, September 23, 2006: 42.

7 Clark Spencer, “Howard Overpowering Again,” Miami Herald, September 23, 2006: 1D.

8 Hayes, “Howard Earns Fish’s Respect.”

9 Of the intentional walks, 32 were after the All-Star break, and 34 were from right-handed pitchers. Todd Zolecki, “The Protection Question,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 25, 2007: E4.

10 In 2007 Howard hit 47 home runs as the Phillies broke their postseason drought by winning the NL East Division title. It was the first of five consecutive postseason appearances for Philadelphia, including two pennants and the 2008 World Series championship. Howard played all 13 seasons of his career with the Phillies; his 382 home runs rank second on the franchise’s all-time list after Schmidt’s 548.