Ryan Howard

On March 11, 2007 Tim Gradoville, a back up catcher on the Phillies 40-Man roster gave me an early birthday present (Birthday is March 12th) by gifting me a couple tickets to a Phillies Spring Training game at Brighthouse Networks Field in Clearwater, Florida against the Detroit Tigers. I brought my Dad with me. After the game, Tim invited my Dad and I down by the players parking lot, just outside of the Phillies clubhouse. The previous year, a friend of mine that was working for the Clearwater Threshers gave me a broken helmet. In 2006, Tomas Perez had been hit in the head by a pitch and cracked the ear flap. Tomas wore number 9. I had told my friend I was going to take the number 9 sticker off and flip it upside down, as Ryan Howard wears number 6, then see if he'll sign the helmet. After the game on March 11th, Ryan emerges out of the Phillies locker room and walks in our direction. Ryan was kind enough to sign and personalize the helmet as I requested. Ryan was having a rough Spring and was really struggling at the plate. After signing the helmet, he was talking to my Dad and I about his struggles. My Dad then goes on to give Ryan pointers on how to break out of his slump. I found this amusing as Ryan was not only a professional baseball player, but just came off an MVP season by hitting 58 home runs! Looking back, watching my Dad talk to Ryan Howard about how to hit is one of the funniest and coolest baseball moments of my life.