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Frank Oliver Howard
Los Angeles Dodgers
Outfield
Born: August 8, 1936, Columbus, OH
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent, March 5, 1958
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1964; Washington Senators 1965-1971; Texas Rangers 1972; Detroit Tigers 1972-1973
As a Manager: San Diego Padres 1981; New York Mets 1983
A prolific power threat throughout his 16-year big league career, Frank Howard was the 1960 N.L. Rookie of the Year, a World Champion with the Dodgers in 1963 and a four-time All-Star with the Senators in the late 1960s/early 1970s. As the regular right fielder for the Dodgers in the early 1960s, Howard had one of his best seasons in 1963, leading the eventual World Champions in home runs with 28 while hitting .263. He hit .300 in that World Series, with a key home run off Whitey Ford (#330) in Game 4.
Traded to the Senators in December 1964 as part of a seven-player trade, Howard's power numbers improved and he hit a career high 44 home runs in both 1968 and 1970, leading the A.L. both times. His career-high 126 RBIs in 1970 also led the league. He followed the Senators to Texas when they became the Rangers, and upon his retirement he held almost every offensive record for the Senators/Rangers franchise which have since all been surpassed by Jim Sundberg, Toby Harrah or Juan Gonzalez. Upon his retirement, his 382 career home runs were 8th most in MLB history among all right-handed batters. In 1,895 games, Howard hit .273 with 1,119 RBIs, and after playing part-time with the Tigers in 1973 at the age of 36, he still wasn't ready to retire.
Howard signed in Japan to play for the Taiheiyo Club Lions in 1974, but a mighty swing in his very first at-bat hurt his back and he'd never play again. Howard served as a coach for the Brewers (1977-1980), Mets (1982-1983), Brewers again (1985-1986), Mets again (1994-1996), Mariners (1987-1988), Yankees (1989, 1991-1993) and Devil Rays (1998-1999). He briefly managed the Padres (1981) and Mets (1983), compiling a record of 93-133 over two seasons. Still extremely popular in the Washington, D.C. area, Howard was one of the prominent former players to take part in a pre-game ceremony prior to the first ever Nationals game in 2005.Building the Set
August 5, 2020 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #136
In early August, I hit an eBay slump and lost out on every single card I had placed a reasonable bid on from a dealer breaking up a 1965 Topps set. It seems to me a lot of former and new collectors have returned or entered the hobby as an escape from the pandemic, and I'm noticing card prices for these 1965 Topps cards continuing to increase. I had bid on several cards up for auction from this set break, all graded EX+ or NM, with my highest bids being around $2.50. Every single card went for much more than that, with final winning bids ranging from $8.50 to $18. Again, these were all commons and from the relatively prevalent first series of the set.
Surprised by the outcome of those auctions, I turned to the always reliable Dean's Cards and the easier approach of clicking Buy It Now on four cards from the first series I felt were reasonably priced. This Howard card was the most expensive at $20, but I'm happy to add this nearly pristine 55-year-old card to our set.
The Card / Dodgers Team Set
I'm fascinated whenever a player gets traded in the offseason and Topps makes the effort to disclose the trade on a card released shortly after the fact. The single sentence on the back of his card alerts the collector that Howard was no longer with the Dodgers. I actually prefer this old school approach and if this were a 2020 Topps card, Howard would have presumably been photoshopped into his new Senators uniform.
I'm used to seeing Howard pictured wearing glasses, and this is his first Topps flagship set appearance in which he's sporting spectacles. That's his #25 partially visible in the photo as well. This card was reprinted (albeit with a 1975 Topps style back) for the 2016 Topps Archives 65th Anniversary Edition set.
1965 Season
In his first season with the Senators, Howard moved over to left field and won the team's triple crown with his .289 average, 21 home runs and 84 RBIs. He fell a few strikeouts short of leading the team in that category as well, as he had 112 strikeouts to Don Lock's (#445) 115. He battled injuries throughout the year, but still appeared in 149 games for his new manager and former teammate Gil Hodges (#99).
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #132
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1960-1973, 1981, 1983-1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Heritage Senators Final Season Autographs #WSFS-FH
362 - Howard non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/13/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #39 Gerry Arrigo - Minnesota Twins
Next Card: #41 White Sox Rookie Stars
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