Mike Howard

Michael Frederic Howard

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 185 lb.
• High School: Sacramento High School
• Debut September 12, 1981
• Final Game April 5, 1983
• Born April 2, 1958 in Seattle, WA USA

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Biographical Information

Mike Howard was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 6th round of the 1976 amateur draft. He played in the Dodgers' chain, advancing to A ball, until taken by the Tidewater Tides in the AAA phase of the 1978 Rule V Draft.

Howard was the starting rightfielder on opening day for the New York Mets on April 5, 1983. Howard made the club out of spring training thanks to his ability to serve as the third catcher in an emergency. The entirety of his professional catching career at that point consisted of zero regular-season games, but he had caught some batting practice in the minors.

When opening day arrived, the Mets had forgotten to clear a roster spot for outfielder Mark Bradley. They stashed Bradley (on paper) on the roster of the AAA Tidewater Tides and told the switch-hitter Howard he was staying on the club and starting against lefty Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies. He got the game-winning hit off Carlton in the 2-0 win. He never played another day in the major leagues. As a result, his last plate appearance in the major leagues was an opening day, game-winning hit against Carlton. [1]

The Mets sent Gary Rajsich to the minors to make room for Bradley and kept Howard on the roster. He was on the club through April 25th when he was sent to Tidewater, with the Mets calling up catcher Ronn Reynolds. A couple of weeks later, the Mets brought up their top prospect, Darryl Strawberry, and he would take care of right field for the rest of the season, and for a number of years after that. For his part, Bradley did manage to stick with the team for the rest of the year, but hit only .202 in 104 at-bats.

The only other players known to have gotten the game-winning hit in their final major league plate appearance against a Hall of Fame pitcher were John Doherty against Rich Gossage on July 30, 1975 [2] and pitcher Mitch Williams against Trevor Hoffman in the second game of a doubleheader on July 2, 1993. [3] In both cases, the pitcher was just starting on his storied career, whereas Carlton was challenging for the all-time lead for strikeouts at the time Howard faced him. It should also be noted that Williams played for four more seasons after his hit off Hoffman, but he never had another plate appearance.