A World Series steal from 15 years ago still sparks trash talk
Theo DeRosa
Not even Ryan Howard remembered the moment. And you’d think he would.
The former Phillies first baseman was hardly aware of his only career postseason stolen base — in the World Series, no less — until it came time to discuss it with the pitcher who allowed it.
On the first episode of their new podcast, “The 6-1-1,” Howard and longtime Philadelphia teammate Jimmy Rollins chatted with lefty CC Sabathia, the man on the mound when Howard made his surprising move.
“How do we forget that Ryan Howard stole second standing up in the World Series?” Rollins said.
Howard ended his 13-year career with just 12 stolen bases in the regular season, although eight of them came in 2009 — the year Howard, Rollins and the Phillies faced Sabathia’s Yankees in the Fall Classic.
With the Yanks up 2-1 in Game 4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Howard led off the fourth inning with a single to center field. On a 2-1 pitch to Jayson Werth, he made his move, surprising pretty much everyone — including Sabathia and Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who bobbled the ball and didn’t get off a throw to second base. The steal was a key one — Howard came around to score on a two-out single to tie the game.
“Speed kills,” Howard chided Sabathia. “Speed kills.”
The 6-1-1 Podcast is available on MLB.com, MLB.TV, all podcast platforms and YouTube.
