RIP Frank Howard, 1936-2023

[G-Fafif]

Our manager for the pivotal final four months of the 1983 season has died at 87.



https://www.mlb.com/news/frank-howard-dieshttps://www.mlb.com/news/frank-howard-dies

[Edgy MD]

Craig Swan's terror and Ron Darling's nude nightmare.



Also famously known as the most enthusiastic participant in the Run the Bases events.



Immortalized in motion in bronze at Nationals Park.



https://live.staticflickr.com/8589/28701809470_e1a2362c06_b.jpg>

[MFS62]

Two immediate memories:

When he played against us for LA at the Polo Grounds, he hit a home run that cleared not only the roof of the upper deck but the light tower on top of the roof.

When I saw a game at RFK stadium, I asked the usher why two far upper deck seats were painted blue and why the grass in one area of left field was worn out. His answer to both was "Frank Howard". The seats were where he hit wo monstrous home runs and the field was where he stood when playing the outfield.



RIP



Later

[Edgy MD]

Drank the good stuff and smelled good doing it.



[media=youtube]8KPd6gjBIME[/media]



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[metirish]

From the NY Times





A humble muscleman well liked by teammates and friendly to fans, Howard could laugh at his failings. He once told how the great hitter Ted Williams, who became the Senators' manager in 1969, helped him show more patience at the plate. Still, Williams couldn't contain his frustration.



“Somebody was explaining to a visitor that some of the outfield seats in R.F.K. Stadium had been painted white to mark where some of my long home runs had landed,” Howard told The New York Times in 1981. “Ted turned to the guy and said, ‘All the green seats are for the times he struck out.'”



Great stuff





Frank Howard, Towering Slugger Whose Homers Were, Too, Dies at 87 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/sports/baseball/frank-howard-dead.html?smid=nytcore-android-sharehttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/sports/baseball/frank-howard-dead.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

[Frayed Knot]

First HR in Texas Ranger history after the second version of the Washington Senators moved to the D/FW area acc to the FOX folks.

[Edgy MD]

I like that first-homer-for-the-Rangers factoid. Frank was coming off of four straight All-Star seasons in Washington, and there was a lot of speculation that he wasn't going to report to Texas. Despite carrying more weight at the end of his career, he reported and had two more decent seasons, mostly with Detroit.



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Obviously players didn't stay in the same kind of shape back then, but he's kind of an interesting comp to use for Aaron Judge.

[roger_that]

I enjoyed him on the 1962 Dodgers, who could field not one, but two outstanding outfields:



RF: Howard, Fairly

CF: W. Davis, Snider

LF: T Davis, Moon



And they were all pretty good in 1962.



Each of the six made multiple All-Star teams. Gotta be a record of some sort.

[metirish]

[DocTee]

Didnt he participate in a CPF chat several years ago? Or am I conflating him with someone else?

[ashie62]

Frank Thomas I believe



Frank Howard a Washington Senators Icon

[MFS62]

=roger_that post_id=140252 time=1698750618 user_id=128]
I enjoyed him on the 1962 Dodgers, who could field not one, but two outstanding outfields:

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I met Frank Howard, and he was so nice.



The local minor league team is a Tigers affiliate and it brings former Tigers in, usually with a bobble head and autograph night. The bobblehead is really cool, but I wanted Frank to sign my Mets book. I asked him how he liked coaching with the Mets, and he looked up and said, "Best years of my life!" By contrast, Richie Hebner said, "Hated it."



He looked a little frail. Usually the former Tiger throws out the ceremonial first pitch. Howard went out to the mound with a kid and had the kid throw it. I work with some of the people in the front office, and they said Howard was extraordinarily gracious the whole night.

[Edgy MD]

Frank appears at the 2019 World Series and takes a brief moment to catch up with Nationals coach and former Mets protegé Tim Bogar.

[G-Fafif]

First George Bamberger Spring Training's intrasquad game was the Jumbo Franks vs the Small Freys. Frank Howard's squad bowed to Jim Frey's, meaning Hondo's staff paid for a coaches' dinner prepared by player-coach Rusty Staub (who later acknowledged he never did much formal coaching the one year he carried the title).

[Edgy MD]

Played one game in 1974 for the Taheiyo Club Lions.



https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4a/67/dc/4a67dc9420301f5179abcebf0e14a3bd.jpg>

[G-Fafif]

The more we talk about him, the more he's https://www.bdcwire.com/13-best-bill-brasky-quotes-from-saturday-night-live/Bill Brasky, who may have been inspired by Frank Howard.

[G-Fafif]

An appreciation of Howard's Mets days and other days https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2023/11/06/interim-pleasures/here.