RIP Frank Howard

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

The piece that Brian linked us to appears on the front page of today's Washington Post. Another good read about Howard appears in the Sports Section of today's Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...-dies-tribute/
For those who may not be able to accesss this piece due to a paywall, here are my favorite two bits from it:

Yet read what Howard told my colleague Dan Steinberg in 2016, when he was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Nationals Park. After his playing days, Howard spent more than two decades as a major league coach, including stints managing the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets. His central message to his charges wasn’t a batting tip. It was a life tip.

“I used to tell them, what does it cost us to treat our fellow Americans — or as far as that goes, our fellow human beings — what does it cost us to treat them with some general respect, some consideration, a little courtesy?” Howard told Dan. “You know, when I was coaching all those years, I used to talk to the players I had, and I said, look, I know you want your privacy. I know you want to get home to see your wife, your girlfriend, your kids. But take 10 minutes to sign some autographs. Give some kid a pat on the rear end and say, ‘I want to hit one for you tomorrow.’ Whether you do or not is immaterial. It’s just a small way of telling the fans we appreciate them. We get so wrapped up in trying to win a ballgame that we forget to thank them for their support. It’s common sense more than anything else.”

He could say all that because he lived it.
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What happened that night (last game of 1971, before the team moved to Texas) is one of the indelible events in Washington baseball history. In the sixth, Howard launched a pitch from Yankees lefty Mike Kekich into that territory reserved for him — upper deck in left field. Howard was never a showman. On that night, he tossed his hat into the crowd. He blew a kiss as a curtain call.

And afterward — after the fans had stormed the field in search of sod souvenirs, after the umps had called the game a forfeit by the home team with two outs in the ninth — Howard further endeared himself to a town that was about to venture into the baseball wilderness.

“What can a guy do to top this?” he asked. “A guy like me has maybe five big thrills in his lifetime. Well, this was my biggest tonight. I’ll take it to the grave with me. This was Utopia. I can’t do anything else like it. It’s all downhill the rest of the way.”

Yep. That’s who Hondo was. Genuinely great guy.