PHILADELPHIA -- It's Game 6 of the World Series on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium and the Phillies have largely gotten to this point without any offense from their slugging first baseman Ryan Howard, who hasn't hit a homer in the Fall Classic.
He's 3-for-19 (.158) -- two doubles, a single, a lone RBI and a pair of walks -- in the first five games. His 12 strikeouts ties Willie Wilson for the most in World Series history. Wilson, the center fielder for the Royals, did it in their six-game loss to the Phillies in 1980.
This begs the question of whether the Phillies can claw their way back from a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Yankees if their cleanup hitter doesn't rev it up in the final games.
"Yes, we can," said Phils manager Charlie Manuel on Tuesday, "but we can win it easier if he hits."
Howard was a monster in the first two rounds of the playoffs this year, hitting two homers and knocking in 14 runs in victories over the Rockies and Dodgers. It was the opposite last year as the Phillies defeated the Rays in five games to win their second World Series. Howard struggled in the first round against the Brewers, hitting .182 (2-for-11) with an RBI and a homer, but once reaching the World Series he hit his stride with three homers and six RBIs.
This year, the Yankees pitchers, particularly left-handers CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, have made the lefty-swinging Howard look like mincemeat.
"I think we're making some pretty quality pitches against him," said Pettitte, 3-0 this postseason heading into his Game 6 start against old rival Pedro Martinez. "There haven't been a whole lot of balls left in the middle of the plate there for him to hit. So really, that's it.
Swing and a miss
Most strikeouts by a hitter in a series in World Series history
Player
Team
Opp.
Year
PA
K
R. Howard
PHI
NYY
2009
21
12
W. Wilson
KC
PHI
1980
30
12
L. Gonzalez
ARI
NYY
2001
30
11
D. Miller
ARI
NYY
2001
23
11
D. Berryhill
ATL
TOR
1992
24
11
W. Garrett
NYM
OAK
1973
36
11
E. Mathews
MIL
NYY
1958
31
11
D. White
FLA
CLE
1997
36
10
V. Coleman
STL
MIN
1987
30
10
R. Gedman
BOS
NYM
1986
30
10
D. Crandall
MIL
NYY
1958
29
10
G. Kelly
NYG
WAS
1933
33
10
"As hot as he was coming into a series, we're just not giving him a whole lot of balls in the zone to hit. If we have left a couple in the zone, we've been fortunate enough to get him out. He's missed them, popped them up or whatever."
Chase Utley, the left-handed swinger who hits just above Howard in the batting order, has six hits in the series, five of them homers to tie Reggie Jackson's 32-year-old single World Series record. Howard, though, has had a penchant for whiffing after Utley homers.
The Yankees are doing it by loading Howard down with a lot of sliders, staying away from those fastballs over the plate that he has a penchant for jacking out.
"I think we've made good pitches to him," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We've changed speeds on him, we've moved the ball around on him. He's an extremely dangerous hitter, and if you don't make pitches, you're not going to get him out, and he proved that in the first two rounds. But our guys have done a good job of just moving the ball around on him."
Howard, who was unavailable for interviews Tuesday because the Phillies didn't work out, has hit 222 homers in a little more than five regular seasons. But he's also whiffed 888 times -- 199 in both 2007 and '08, and 186 this past season, adding 20 more in the playoffs.
Manuel has seen the act before and knows how it's generated. Pitchers get him out, but the nearly 30-year-old Howard does a competent job of helping them along.
"Ryan Howard is more than just a power hitter," Manuel said. "When he's really good, he's a very good polished-looking hitter. But at the same time, when he's struggling, I think it's a little bit of both. It's the pitcher and the fact that he's not following the ball.
"I can tell you exactly what gets Ryan in trouble: It's kind of up to him. The pitcher doesn't have nothing to do with it. Basically he's just [not] completely following the ball. [When] he's staying on the ball, following the ball, usually things come around for him."
The time for things to come around for Howard is basically now, or it will have to wait until the 2010 season. Spring Training in Clearwater, Fla., is just three months away.
Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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