Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies has hit his 23rd home run of the season in the Phillies' 4-0 win over the Florida Marlins in Miami. That home run gave him his 200th home run of his career. Howard has become the fastest player to hit 200 career home runs in baseball history. Howard achieved this record in his 658th game of his career. The player who previously held the record was Ralph Kiner, who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He hit his 200th career home run in his 706th game.
This is a good feat for Howard. Howard has worked hard to get to the major leagues. Howard was very good in the minor leagues after being drafted by the Phillies in 2001. Howard got his first full season was 2005 and they still had first baseman Jim Thome. After the 2005 season, the Phillies traded Thome to the Chicago White Sox, who just won the World Series at the time. This cleared the way for Howard to be the everyday first baseman for the Phillies and he didn't disappoint.
Howard won the National League MVP award in 2006, which some people didn't see him as deserving of the award. The Phillies weren't contenders, and sluggers Albert Pujols was a little critical of it. Pujols won the World Series in 2006 and felt like the winner of the award should be a player on a team that makes the playoffs and contends for a championship. Ironically, two years later, Pujols won the 2008 National League MVP in a year where the St. Louis Cardinals didn't make the playoffs. Also, the Phillies won the World Series behind the bat of Howard, in addition to Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins.
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