Power ally

WASHINGTON -- It is not a figment of imagination, wishful thinking, or a cute marketing scheme. Ryan Howard has heard it over and over -- he's the National League's David Ortiz.

Does he buy it? He says he doesn't, but Howard must think the comparison is uncanny. Why wouldn't he? He's a big, strong, lefthanded power hitter. Devastating. One-man wrecking crew. Both players carry their respective teams. Both prime MVP candidates. Both were chasing Jimmie Foxx -- Ortiz surpassing Double X for the Red Sox' season mark for home runs, and Howard remaining tied with Foxx for the most homers by a Philadelphia player (Foxx hit 58 for the 1932 A's).

Howard, in his second full season, leads the National League in home runs, RBIs (146), and is batting . 314. Ortiz leads the American League in homers (54), RBIs (137), and is hitting .286.

And wouldn't you know it, this Baby Papi-like figure loves watching Ortiz.

``I'm a big fan of David Ortiz," said Howard earlier this week from the visitors' clubhouse at RFK Stadium, where the Phillies were preparing to play the Nationals. ``Am I the National League David Ortiz? Nah. There's only one David Ortiz. It's fun watching that guy play and he does it night in and night out. That's what's amazing about him. He's faced with big situations just about every night and he comes through. He makes the game fun to watch."

Respectful like Ortiz, Howard may learn in time he can't do every interview and answer every question. In fact, he recently denied interview requests from Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, and other national outlets, only to accommodate them.

What the 26-year-old Howard has learned from Ortiz is to turn tedious into fun. To turn something he doesn't feel like doing into something he'll be glad he did 20 years from now when he's out of the game.

``I saw [Ortiz] at the All-Star Game and he told me, `Just keep doing it,' " Howard said. ``[Ortiz] said not to let anyone hold me down. Everybody always makes the comparison and I'm out there playing every day and I don't really think about it all that much, but everyone else makes the comparisons with David. I always check out the highlights every night and he's usually in them, so I like to check out how he's doing."

The 6-foot-4-inch, 250-pound Howard has watched Big Papi (6-4, 230 pounds) handle the limelight and make everyone around him feel comfortable. How he smiles and jokes and seems to love life. Who would not want to be perceived as someone who loves what he's doing, shows everyone respect, and enjoys it all?

``It's been a learning process," Howard said. ``It's the other part of the game, the off-the-field stuff, that you have to know how to handle. When you sign to come play major league baseball, you have to be able to deal with what comes with it.

``That's why I love Ortiz's approach to it. He has so much fun. I'm sure he has a lot of people tugging at him for different things, but he turns it all into fun. You only do this once in your life. You might as well have fun doing it and everything that comes with it. What's the alternative? I think David embraces all of it and knows he's going to get the attention. It's really a learning experience. I come to the ballpark every day with the idea I'm going to get the most out of it and I think that's the way everybody should approach the game."

Howard has had his fun with fans. A story earlier this week claimed a Phillies fan was hanging on Howard's car as Howard tried to leave Citizens Bank Park with his twin brother and an old friend, a former track star in high school. Howard started to drive off but the fan ran alongside the car trying to keep up.

Howard stopped and made a deal with the guy: Race my best friend and if you win, I'll autograph everything you've got. So Howard used himself as the finish line about 50 yards away. When the race was over, with the outcome unknown, Howard signed everything.

After Howard hit three homers in an 8-7 victory over the Braves Sept. 3 in the first game of a doubleheader, a fan jumped onto the field and kneeled at the plate before Howard was about to dig in for his next at-bat. The big guy laughed.

``I haven't been here that long, but his maturity is off the charts," said 43-year-old Jamie Moyer, a veteran lefthander acquired by the Phillies from Seattle Aug. 19. ``For a kid that young to have that, to be so even-keeled, to understand what he is and how important he is to his teammates and the responsibility that brings. That's what impresses me about him. In that respect, and the obvious physical abilities, I do see David Ortiz in him. That's a good comparison."

Howard and Ortiz cover an extraordinary amount of the plate. On Tuesday night, Nationals pitcher Ramon Ortiz got Howard to swing and miss at strike three on a fastball tailing away. Howard strikes out a lot (179, second in the majors to Adam Dunn's 191 ), although Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, ``I think he'll be a guy who will get down to 120 or 130 strikeouts but with his power and his ability as a hitter, that's a manageable number."

Howard has hit a number of outside pitches to left field for homers or extra-base hits. For Howard, it was a simple change of bending his knees more. For Ortiz (who has struck out 117 times), the big change that launched his power surge was crouching over the plate more.

``They're both big, aggressive, attacking hitters, and having said that, I think they're similar because they both have very good plate discipline," said Phillies general manager Pat Gillick. ``They're a tough out. Our guy since the All-Star break has had much better plate discipline than he had in the first half, so he's made tremendous strides."

Teams are built around these players. If Howard, a first baseman, were in the AL, he'd be a DH. If Ortiz were in the NL, he'd be a first baseman because he'd have to play somewhere. Howard's emergence -- he was last season's NL Rookie of the Year -- allowed the Phillies to trade slugging first baseman Jim Thome to the White Sox last November. In fact, former Phillies great Mike Schmidt called Howard the modern-day Willie Stargell, a Hall of Famer who hit 475 career homers for the Pirates from 1962-82.

Howard said the reason he's able to deal with his celebrity is, ``I don't think about it. I don't think about everything being said or written around me. I just think about that day. And when that day is over, I think about the next day. That way I'll never get overwhelmed by anything."

Ortiz and Howard have what Gillick calls a ``great disposition. Ryan doesn't get too high or too low."

One big difference between Howard and Ortiz is their paychecks. Ortiz earns $6.5 million a season while Howard earns the major league minimum of $355,000. Is Howard the biggest bargain in baseball history? He has another year to go before he's eligible for arbitration, so Gillick has a dilemma in an offseason in which he might have to lock up star second baseman Chase Utley to a long-term deal.

Do the Phillies sign Howard to a futures deals like the Red Sox did with Coco Crisp and Josh Beckett, or do they deal with the consequences of an exorbitant deal once Howard is close to hitting free agency? Howard's agent, Larry Reynolds, has been pushing Gillick for the big money now. Gillick, a shrewd GM, hasn't bitten yet.

It is hard to imagine Howard surpassing this season's numbers, though Manuel, a former hitting coach, thinks Howard is showing signs of becoming more than just a power hitter. Howard's two singles Tuesday on line drives against the Nationals underscored Manuel's point. In the top of the ninth Tuesday, after Utley's two-out RBI single cut the Phillies' deficit to 4-3, Howard came up in a moment made for him in a game the Phillies needed to stay level with Los Angeles in the wild-card race.

Trying to replicate a David Ortiz moment, Howard, who has hit a homer to tie or put the Phillies ahead 28 times this season, flew to deep center. If there is one place Big Papi has it all over Howard, it is precisely that moment.

``Obviously, David has done it over a longer period of time, but this is Ryan's second year. We're seeing something we've never seen before," said Phillies closer Tom Gordon.

Although Howard has 11 game-winning homers, none has been a walkoff. But Papi wasn't Big Papi in his second year (then with the Twins). And not coming through really bothered Howard, who almost single-handedly has the Phillies back into wild-card contention -- Philadelphia is two games behind the Dodgers after last night's 3-1 loss to the Nationals -- as the final weekend of regular-season play begins tonight.

``He understands his responsibility," Manuel said. ``He knows we depend on him."

``You're shocked when he doesn't come through," Gordon said. ``We've seen it so often that we feel so confident when he comes up in that situation. And yet we know everyone's human. Ryan's done more than his share."

Which is why, when all is said and done, Howard is the National League MVP. He is the National League David Ortiz. Baby Papi. And maybe, in time, the Biggest Papi.