The 2005 Philadelphia Sports landscape had little resemblance to Philly’s glory days of the early 1980s, which saw the likes of Julius Erving and Mike Schmidt raise championship banners. The Flyers would not take the ice because of the NHL lockout, the 76ers were firmly entrenched in the mediocrity that would prompt fan-favorite Allen Iverson to request a trade in the coming years, and the Eagles were on the verge of one of the most disappointing performances in NFL history after a Super Bowl loss during the previous season. Housed in the new-at-the-time Citizens Bank Park, the Philadelphia Philles were sowing the seeds to bring a championship back to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.
The Phillies built one of Major League Baseball’s most talented young middle-infields in Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, but the Fightins lacked the clean-up hitter that all premier teams need as Jim Thome headed into the twilight of his career. Philadelphia found their “Big Piece” in Ryan Howard, a hulking first-baseman that dominated the minor leagues while waiting for his chance to terrorize MLB pitching.
Howard would go on to win the National League Rookie of the Year in 2005 then follow up his freshman campaign with an historic ’06 season that netted him league Most Valuable Player honors. With Howard locked in to the fourth slot, the Phillies became the league’s most feared offense and, in ’08, they would bring back a world championship to the Philly faithful, ending a 25-year drought for the city.
The 140th pick in the ’01 MLB Draft became the fastest player in Major League history to reach both the 100- and 200-home-run marks in his relatively short but brilliant career. The “Big Piece” has lost some of his luster since the Philles’ glory days of the late 2000s, as he struggled mightily in the past couple years; nonetheless Ryan Howard was voted the Readers’ Choice favorite local athlete because memories of his right-field-upper-deck shots and opposite field home runs will be forever engrained in the South Philly consciousness.
Flyers forward Claude Giroux scored second in the voting while Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin tackled the third slot. — J.F.
