Former star first baseman and 2006 National League MVP Ryan Howard doesn’t see the window closing for this Phillies group the way it did for him and his teammates in 2011 when he tore his Achilles on the final play of a Game 5 National League Division Series loss.
Neither Howard nor those Phillies, the winners of five straight NL East titles and the 2008 World Series, were ever the same after that season. Like that 2011 team, the 2024 Phillies lost in the NLDS as they were bounced a round earlier than the previous year, two rounds earlier than the year before that. But Howard believes the current Phillies, led by stars like Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler and others, still have bright days ahead of them.
“It’s been the same parallel,” Howard said Thursday. “I think they’ve got a little bit longer runway than we did with the youth on their team. So I think it’s continuing to kind of add some of those pieces, but the nucleus is there. These guys, they know how to win. They’ve done it”
Howard was back in South Philadelphia for his induction into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class. He spoke with Phillies Nation about the honor and the current Phillies ahead of the ceremony at Live Casino.
“It’s always fun coming back,” he said. “I come back pretty regularly, do a lot of stuff. My wife is from here. To be able to be back in this capacity has been great. To be able to be recognized by the city, to be able to be recognized by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame is always special. It hasn’t really hit me yet.”
Howard was inducted along with 16 others, including former teammate Chase Utley. They both were present for the event and gave speeches to the audience. Phillies public address announcer Dan Baker introduced both players at the podium.
“That’s really cool,” Howard said of being inducted with Utley. “Being able to have him here and be here for each other, both going in at the same time, is a really cool experience.”
Howard and Utley, with All-Stars like Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley, were the key cogs of the greatest era in Phillies history from 2007 to 2011, making Citizens Bank Park the place to be in Philly. The group’s decline left a postseason drought that the Phillies did not snap until 2022 when the team made a surprise run to the World Series.
While they haven’t captured a World Series championship like Howard and company did in 2008, the recent Phillies have brought major-league success back to Philadelphia. And although they’ve disappointed in the playoffs the last two years, Howard believes the right selection of players is in place to keep pushing in October.
The Phillies certainly don’t have a young roster, but their stars should not fall off like many did following the 2011 season. And there is some younger reinforcement on the way, such as pitcher Andrew Painter. In Howard’s eyes, there’s always room to add — he expects them to be interested in free agent Juan Soto — but he thinks the roster is good enough to compete for a championship.
“I think they’ve got the pieces that they need for the most part,” he said.
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