Description: This auction is for the following Frank Howard (Deceased) Dodgers autographed 8x10 photograph. PLEASE NOTE MR. HOWARD SIGNED THIS PHOTO WITH A RARE INSCRIPTION. IT IS SIGNED “Frank "Hondo" Howard, 1960 N.L. R.O.Y." This Frank Howard autograph was obtained during a private autograph signing with Frank Howard. The photographs from the private signing are for the auction display only and are not included in the auction. BIO: Frank Howard MLB 1958-1974 one of the most physically intimidating power hitters in the sport nicknamed “The Capital Punisher” at 6 feet 7 inches. Howard would typically tip the scales at between 275 and 290 pounds. Howard hit 382 home runs during his career and was named the National League's Rookie of the Year in 1960. He was a 4xAll-Star (1968–1971), 2x AL home run leader (1968, 1970), 1963 World Series Champion, 1970 AL RBI leader and Washington Nationals Ring of Honor. Frank Howard nicknamed "Hondo", "The Washington Monument" and "The Capitol Punisher" is a former MLB player, Coach and Manager who played most of his career for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Senators/Texas Rangers franchises. His 382 career home runs were the eighth most by a right-handed hitter when he retired; his 237 home runs and 1969 totals of 48 home runs and 340 total bases in a Washington uniform are a record for any of that city's several franchises. Howard's Washington/Texas franchise records of 1,172 games, 4,120 at bats, 246 home runs, 1,141 hits, 701 RBI, 544 runs, 155 doubles, 2,074 total bases and a .503 slugging percentage have since been broken. Howard attended South High School in Columbus, Ohio, and Ohio State University, where he played college baseball and college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was an All-American in both basketball and baseball. He averaged 20.1 points and 15.3 rebounds in 1957, and was drafted the following year by the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA. Howard instead signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, and won The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award in 1959 after hitting 43 homers in the Pacific Coast League. After a handful of appearances in 1958 and 1959 he succeeded former Brooklyn Dodger All-Star Carl Furillo as Los Angeles' right fielder in 1960. He was named the NL's Rookie of the Year after batting .268 with 23 home runs and 77 runs batted in (RBIs). His teammates gave him the nickname "Hondo" after the character in a John Wayne film. Howard hit 98 home runs in the following four seasons, most prominently in a 1962 campaign in which he batted .296 with 31 home runs and finished among the NL's top five players in RBIs (119) and slugging (.560). He won the NL Player of the Month award in July with a .381 average, 12 home runs, and an incredible 41 RBIs. As an outfielder starting 127 games (completing just 91), Howard was credited with 19 outfield assists (the league leader, Johnny Callison, starting 147 games had just five more). The season ended with the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants tied for first place. In the three-game pennant playoff that followed Howard had only a single in 11 at-bats and struck out three times against Billy Pierce in the first game, including the final out; but he had a run and an RBI in the second contest, an 8–7 win. The Giants took the pennant in three games, but Howard ended up ninth in the MLB Most Valuable Player award voting. In 1963 his production dropped off to a .273 average, 28 homers and 64 RBIs; but the Dodgers won the pennant, and his upper-deck solo home run off Whitey Ford broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, helping Los Angeles to a 2–1 win and a sweep of the New York Yankees. He again hit over 20 home runs in 1964, and on June 4 his three-run home run in the seventh inning provided all the scoring in Sandy Koufax's third no-hitter, a 3–0 defeat of the Philadelphia Phillies; Howard had also homered for the final run in Koufax's first no-hitter on June 30 two years earlier, a 5–0 win over the New York Mets. But the team's 1962 move into pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium hurt power hitters, and speedier outfielders like spray-hitting Willie Davis. were seen as more in line with the club's future. Howard's .226 batting average in 1964—combined with regularly high strikeout totals—led to his December trade to the Washington Senators, an expansion franchise that replaced the original Senator team, which had relocated to Minnesota and become the Minnesota Twins. The seven-player deal included future All-Star pitcher Claude Osteen to Los Angeles to further strengthen its already powerful starting rotation. In 2005 Howard recalled welcoming the trade despite going from a pennant contender to a weak expansion team, noting, "I was essentially a fourth outfielder in L.A., hitting 25 home runs a year in the biggest baseball park in America and doing it on 400 at-bats." He added, "What could I do if I get 550 at-bats? I had my best years here." WashingtonShifted to left field in Washington, Howard was unquestionably the center of the offense, leading the team in homers and RBI in each of his seven seasons there. But under managers Gil Hodges, Jim Lemon, and Ted Williams, the Senators were a woeful bunch, achieving only one winning season in that time. In 1967 he hit 36 homers, third in the AL behind Harmon Killebrew and Carl Yastrzemski, as he entered the peak years of his career. During an amazing one-week stretch in the spring of 1968 (May 12–18), Howard hammered 10 home runs in 20 at bats, with at least one in six consecutive games; his 10 home runs are also the most ever in one week. He would go on to hit 13 homers in 16 games, a mark that still stands, matched only by Albert Belle in 1995. Howard finished the season leading the AL with 44 home runs, a .552 slugging percentage and 330 total bases, and was second to Ken Harrelson with 106 RBI; he made his first of four consecutive All-Star teams that year (notably, at the rather late-maturing age of 31 after winning Rookie-of-the-Year honors with the Dodgers at age 23 eight seasons before and placed eighth in the MVP balloting, although the Senators finished in tenth (last) place with a 65–96 record. His hitting accomplishments in 1968 were all the more impressive, considering that pitching dominated that year; 1968 has often been referred to as the "Year of the Pitcher". Howard wore #9 from the time he joined the Senators through 1968. When new owner Bob Short signed retired slugger Williams to manage the club, Howard happily surrendered #9 so the Hall of Famer could wear it once again; Howard donned #33 for the start of the 1969 season. Williams played a major role in teaching him to be more patient at the plate, asking the slugger, "Can you tell me how a guy can hit 44 home runs and only get 48 bases on balls?" He encouraged Howard to lay off the first fastball he saw, and work pitchers deeper into the count, advice which resulted in Howard's walk totals nearly doubling and 45 fewer strikeouts the first year. A year later Howard added 32 more walks to lead the AL with a whopping 132. Beginning in 1968 Howard appeared semi-regularly at first base in order to limit the wear and tear of playing the outfield daily. Against the Orioles on April 13, 1969, he had an atypically poor performance at the plate, striking out six times in the course of a doubleheader, including four times against Jim Palmer in the first game. He vented his frustration by breaking a bat over his knee. In 1969 Howard had career highs with 48 homers (one behind Killebrew's league lead), 111 runs (second in the AL to Reggie Jackson), a .296 batting average and a .574 slugging mark. On Howard's broad shoulders, the Senators had their best year ever, 86–76, but still finished far behind the Baltimore Orioles in the Eastern Division. He again led the AL with 340 total bases, the most ever by a Washington player, and added 111 RBI; his fourth-place finish in the MVP vote was the highest of his career.In 1970 he led the AL both in home runs (44) and RBI (126); his 132 walks in that year also topped the league, and remain a franchise record. On September 2, he received three intentional walks from flamethrowing southpaw Sam McDowell—two of them to lead off an inning. He came in fifth in the 1970 MVP race, and received one first-place vote. Howard hit the last regular-season home run for the Senators in RFK Stadium in his final at bat on September 30, 1971 off Yankees pitcher Mike Kekich. After waving to the cheering fans, Howard tossed his batting helmet into the stands, and after the game said "This is utopia for me." THIS IS AN AUTHENTIC HAND AUTOGRAPHED FRANK HOWARD 8x10 PHOTO. I ONLY SELL AUTHENTIC HAND AUTOGRAPHED MEMORABILIA. I do not sell reprints or facsimile autographs. When you bid on my items you will receive the real deal authentic hand autographed items. You will receive the same signed 8x10 photograph that is pictured in the scan. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me. I combined S&H when multiple items are purchased. I ship items internationally the price for international S&H varies by country. I currently have other rare autographed sports, military and historical signed items available. Please take a look at my other auctions of rare sports, military and historical autographed items.
Price: 59.99 USD
Location: MLB Collection
End Time: 2024-12-31T05:07:17.000Z
Shipping Cost: 7.8 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Sport: Baseball-MLB
Player: Frank Howard
Original/Reprint: Original
Product: Photo
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States