Approximately a week and a half ago, former Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard was honored with a retirement ceremony at Citizens Bank Park, in front of the fans that cheered him on for over a decade.
From 2006-2011, there were few hitters more feared in all of Major League Baseball than Howard. A 3-time All-Star, he was a vital part of the perennial championship contending Phillies team, especially the club that won it all back in 2008.
Unfortunately, the 2006 NL MVP began to falter after a successful 2011 season. He began to suffer injuries, causing his performance to fall drastically even when he was healthy.
Even when the 2005 NL ROY award winner was healthy, like in 2014, his .223 average with 190 strikeouts proved that he was a shadow of his former self which is quite unfortunate given that he was on track for a Hall of Fame career.
After the Phillies declined his player option for the 2017 season, he had 2 unsuccessful minor league stints with the Braves and Rockies, though he'd never see major league action ever again. He ended his career a .258 hitter with 382 home runs.
A lot of the late-2000s and early-2010s superstars suffered the same fate as Howard. Guys like Brandon Phillips, C.J. Wilson, and Josh Hamilton simply couldn't keep up the momentum, and they ended up faltering.
As someone who still collects and has respect for Ryan Howard, I pray that his final few seasons in the major's don't end up defining him as a person. Before the injuries became overly intense, Howard was one of the best players in the game, and the Phillies would not have won the 2008 World Series without their renowned slugger.
I don't find his cards in the dime bins all that often, but I have amassed a Ryan Howard PC of 61 total cards. Without further adieu, here are my 5 favorites.
#5 2015 Panini Prizm Red, White, & Blue Mojo Parallel
However, I'm in love with the funky Prizm parallels, and I expect them to be available and relatively cheap at the show.
Though Howard was well past his prime in 2015, Panini still included him in the Prizm set. I'm not very familiar with the past Prizm Baseball products, but it appears that the parallels are fairly similar.
In the 2019 release, there are red, white, and blue as well as mojo refractors. However, the combination of the 2 makes this card worthy of the top 5.
#4 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter
Furthermore, seeing this simple yet stunning base card of Ryan Howard from 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter gets me excited about this year's A&G product, another set that I'm looking to track down at The National. This year, the non-sports cards include dogs, horses, and plants. Sign me up!
This card also demonstrates how much Allen & Ginter has changed since the inaugural set in 2006. Although the premise is virtually the same each year, the difference between the first set design and the 2018/2019 base cards is like night and day.
In some ways, I long for the older Topps Allen & Ginter sets, for the simple set designs were absolutely incredible. However, I love the direction that Topps is taking the set. Nonetheless, cards like the one above will forever be timeless.
Unless I'm missing something, Topps hasn't produced a 3D insert set since the beginning of the 2010s with the 3D cards in Lineage as well as the 2020 insert. Though there aren't any Red Sox included in the 20-card set, there are a reasonable number of players that I collect, including Howard.
The insert set design, especially the stars in the background, fits perfectly with the 3D theme. On its own, the card is on the simple side, but the 3D cardstock allows the colors to pop and creates something incredibly unique, especially since we rarely see 3D cards anymore from any Baseball card company
#2 2011 Topps Lineage Stand-Ups
While I expect the original versions of these cards to be quite expensive, it would be awesome to find a vintage Stand-Ups insert for a reasonable price at The National this year. I don't want to get my hopes up, so I'll instead focus on the replicated insert from 2011 Topps Lineage, a set that recreated a ton of past Topps oddballs.
The yellow and green background holds true to the original cards, and the photo of Howard is expertly chosen. Apart from the batting helmet, the picture looks like something from the original 1964 set.
I'm rarely a fan of facsimile signatures, but they appeared on the original cards as well, so I suppose it's not too major of a deal.
#1 2016 Topps Archives Red Parallel
2016 marked the end of Howard's 13-year MLB career, all of which was spent with the Philadelphia Phillies. By that point, he was barely hanging around, for he hit .196 in his final MLB season.
Don't get it twisted, Howard was a far better player throughout his career than he was in 2016. As far as I know, this is the last card of his that I ever pulled. I always enjoy when the color of a parallel or refractor matches the team's uniform, and this red parallel numbered 1/50 from 2016 Topps Archives, does exactly that.
I recall pulling this card during the summer of 2016 when Archives was first released. Now, roughly 3 years later, Howard was honored, deservingly so, with a retirement ceremony in front of the fans in Philadelphia.
He may not have ended his career on a high note, but I'll always collect cards of Ryan Howard.
When I came back to the hobby, Howard was one of the biggest names in the hobby. He was also fun to collect. I remember trying to get a 2007 or 2008 Co-Signers autograph of his with Prince Fielder. Never got my hands on a copy, but I bet right now is a great time to look for it.
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