Most of us laughed, thinking the drinks had taken hold of his good sense. But it underscored how grossly unappreciated Howard remains by some, despite the amazing season and postseason he's had. Here was a writer who has watched countless baseball games this year and still didn't see what should be painfully obvious by now - that Howard is one of the best first basemen in the game, not to mention one of the all-time great Phillies in the club's long, if-not-so- storied, history.
The sad thing is, this scribe isn't alone. While the Phillies were out in L.A., I got texts from two friends/fans. One criticized Howard for striking out too much, the other joked that he's great with the bat so maybe he should try hitting the ball to Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins since he's not so hot at making the throw to second base.
These are petty, pointless criticisms when measured against everything the man has achieved. Against the Dodgers in this NLCS, Howard has three hits (including a double and a home run) and three RBIs. The homer was especially impressive - an opposite-field shot that cleared the left-field wall at Dodger Stadium without any trouble. If not for the Phillies' bullpen's ineffable implosion and Utley's Chuck Knoblauch-like throwing issues, that dinger might have been the winning run and pushed the Fightin's to a two-games-to-none lead in the NLCS.
"I think I just tried to react to the pitch," Howard said of his solo shot. "The plan was to try to hit the ball. I guess if that was the plan, it worked."
That's been the plan all postseason, one he has executed consistently and well. So well, in fact, that Howard is now the all-time RBI leader in Phillies postseason history. And yet, there are those of us who continue to take him for granted.
