Ryan Howard’s big smile, even bigger home runs are giving kids a new baseball hero

Growing up, Philadelphia’s slugging first baseman Ryan Howard collected baseball cards of his favorite stars, Griffey, Bonds and Gwynn. These days it’s his card kids across the nation are begging to get their hands on.

In his sixth year with the Phillies organization, Howard has risen from a top prospect, to the 2005 Rookie of the Year, to an All-Star who will be talked about for the Most Valuable Player award in the National League this year.

For someone who’s been tearing up major league pitchers, baseball was not Ryan’s only focus as a kid from St. Louis. On the soccer field, he played nearly every position from forward to fullback, but when he had an orange ball in his hands, that was when he was the most happy.

"Actually, basketball was my first love, but I was just always better at baseball," Howard said. "I guess it was kind of like a Michael Jordan type thing where his first love was baseball, and he just got better at basketball."

Baseball would eventually become his biggest passion as he played in the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association, better known as SLABA. Ryan compared his league to the American Legion played throughout the country.

"I think our competition level was better than the Legion around St. Louis," Howard said. "The majority of the guys that wound up getting the big time scholarships for school were playing SLABA."

Practicing on the diamond and playing games were not enough for Ryan so his parents, Ron and Cheryl, gave their young baseball player a chance to hit balls inside the house. They probably should have thought twice about their decision.

With only a net to protect the walls from being crushed with balls, Howard would take pitches from the soft-toss machine and sometimes miss his target. The result was plenty of holes in the drywall, though Ryan claims he did not miss the net "too many times."

Whether it was putting holes in drywall or causing damage to other parts of the house, Howard’s older brother Chris has the stories to prove strength was never Ryan’s problem.

"Ryan has just always been gifted, and he was always strong," Chris Howard said. "My mother says to this day we sabotaged the bathroom wall because when Ryan was about two or three he stood up and grabbed the soap dish and pulled it out of the wall."

When Howard graduated from Lafayette High School in 1998 he went to Southwest Missouri State, now known as Missouri State. The coach and the campus were two things that really drew him to become a Bear, and his college success made him a fifth round draft pick of the Phillies in 2001.

In the minors, Howard became one of the Phillies’ best prospects as he earned back-to-back most valuable player awards from 2003-04 in the Florida State and Eastern Leagues. He made his major league debut with the Phillies on Sept. 1, 2004, but it was not until the following year that Ryan would get his chance to prove his worth.

Regular first baseman Jim Thome went down with an elbow injury in early July, and it quickly became a blessing in disguise for the Phillies. Howard became the starter after being a backup for Thome and continued his Rookie of the Year award-winning pace.

"For me, I just wanted to fill in and play well," Howard said. "I just wanted to kind of carry my own weight and try to do what I could to help the team win."

Ryan did more than his share as he led all rookies with 22 home runs. He helped keep the Phillies in the Wild Card chase until the final regular season game with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in September and October.

This year, opposing pitchers have been turning their heads quite often to watch a Ryan Howard home run ball sail over the fence. This year, Ryan smashed former Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt’s club home run record of 48. Before breaking that record he passed the man he replaced at first base, Jim Thome, for the left-handed home run record of 47.

Howard was also named an All-Star this year and took part in a thrilling Home Run Derby. In the final round against fellow young superstar, New York Mets third baseman David Wright, Ryan won the contest in walk-off fashion as he drilled a "Win 500 Free Flights" sign from MasterCard.

When asked to be in the Home Run Derby, Ryan had to think twice about it, but he obviously made the right decision.

"The whole experience was everything I thought it would be and more with the media, the fans, the game itself and the Home Run Derby," he said. "At first I was a little hesitant to be in the Home Run Derby cause I really don’t hit home runs in batting practice, but then I decided since it was my first All-Star game and I was invited, I should try to follow in the footsteps of my idols growing up and participate."

Baseball cards of those idols sit in boxes in Howard’s parents’ basement as Ryan and his twin brother Corey loved collecting their favorite players along with watching the Cardinals when they were growing up.

"Oh yeah, we used to do all that stuff," Howard said. "We used to have the little books that had the stickers, and you had to get the guys’ pictures and put it in under his name. My brother and I used to collect cards and all kinds of stuff."

As he continues to bust baseballs for home runs and play the game with his contagious smile, kids will collect Ryan Howard cards for years to come. Just like the strong slugger did with his baseball heroes.