The Phillies did right by Ryan Howard on Sunday by honoring his 13 years in Philadelphia before the final game of the season. Everyone entering the stadium received Howard’s head on a stick for full participation in the ceremony. Mike Schmidt also made an appearance.
This all had the potential to be quite awkward considering Howard still has an option left on his contract which it is obvious will not be picked up. But the Phillies and the fans did a great job honoring the former MVP and All-Star. Howard spoke to the crowd and got pretty choked up; a lone tear could be seen streaming down his cheek as he realized his time in Philly was done.
Howard did not have the final game he envisioned, though. He went hitless in the game, but the Phillies still beat the Mets so I am sure that made his final goodbye a bit easier. Several guys went hitless as well, but Maikel Franco and Andres Blanco finished strong with 4 and 3 hits, respectively.
Plus, Jerad Eickhoff pitched very well, allowing only 1 run over 6 innings.
So the Phillies finish a very up and down season in 4th place with a record of 71-91. The Phillies offense finished dead last in all of baseball with only 610 runs scored. As such, and as is seemingly a Phillies tradition, Phillies hitting coach Steve Henderson got the ax right after the game.
There may be more fallout in the days to come. In the meantime, here is the full Photo Album from the game and pre-game ceremonies.
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Photos by Jenn Zambri
