I think we’ve finally found someone more excited about MLB’s Home Run Derby than Chris Berman. From the Philadelphia Daily News’ Marcus Hayes.
In the last 3 ½ weeks, Ryan Howard, a National League All-Star who won the Home Run Derby, has hit .360 with 10 homers and 28 RBI. In his first full season with the Phillies, he leads the league with 41 homers and 106 RBI, and he is making an MVP run.
Howard has been this good with a morbid threat hanging over him.
Howard yesterday confirmed that, about 4 weeks ago, he was made aware of a letter to him whose sender threatened to shoot him and cripple him.
“He said he wouldn’t kill me; he’d put me in a wheelchair,” Howard said.
The letter, according to Howard, was postmarked Scranton, where Howard starred as recently as last season for the Phillies’ Triple A team. Howard said the sender was a Mets fan who opined that Mets third baseman and Derby finalist David Wright deserved to win instead of Howard.
“It didn’t bother me,” Howard said. “If he’s writing letters like that, that dude’s got bigger problems than me.”
Tommorow : Bill Giles thinks the letter writer was “just trying to help”.