Benjamin Richard Howard (born January 15, 1979) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. Howard played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

in 2002 and 2003 and for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

in 2004.

Career

Howard graduated from

Jackson Central-Merry High School Jackson Central-Merry Middle and High School also known as (JCMMS, JCMHS, JCM 6-12 or JCM) is both a middle school and high school located in Jackson, Tennessee, United States. The school was active as a high school from 1970 to 2016, during whic ...

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...

, in 1997. The

selected him in the second round of the

1997 MLB draft The 1997 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1997. A total of 1607 players were drafted over the course of 92 rounds. First round selections ...

. The Padres did not add Howard to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

after the 2000 season, leaving h im exposed in the Rule 5 draft. He was not chosen. In 2001, Howard pitched for the

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park se ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

, and the

Mobile BayBears The Mobile BayBears were a Minor League Baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which played in the Southern League, served as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres (1997–2006), Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2 ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Southern League. While he pitched for Lake Elsinore,

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

Darren Balsley Darren Balsley (born October 27, 1964) is a baseball coach. He was the pitching coach of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball from 2003 to 2019. Balsley was a minor-league pitcher before he decided to go into coaching. He went to Moun ...

helped Howard improve his pitching mechanics, decreasing the number of

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

he permitted. In 2002, while at

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

with the Padres, Howard was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by teammate

Mike Darr Michael Curtis Darr (March 21, 1976 – February 15, 2002) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played from 1999 through 2001 for the San Diego Padres. He was the son of Mike Darr, Sr., who pitched in one game for the Toronto Blue J ...

when the vehicle was involved in a single-vehicle crash. Darr and another passenger, his friend Duane Johnson, were killed. Darr was

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

of alcohol. He and Johnson, who was sitting in the front seat, were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected from the vehicle. Howard, sitting in the back seat, was wearing his seatbelt and suffered minor injuries. Howard began the 2002 season with Mobile, and started for them on

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

against the

Jackson Generals The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (1964–2020), Southern League (SL) as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliat ...

in Jackson, Tennessee. The Padres promoted Howard to the major leagues for the first time to make his debut in April 27, 2002, but the game was

rained out Rainout, washout, rain delay, and rain stopped play are terms regarding an outdoor event, generally a sporting event, delayed or canceled due to rain, or the threat of rain. It is not to be confused with a type of out in baseball, though a basebal ...

. He made his debut the next day. Howard spent the and seasons with the

. He had a 1-3 win-loss record and a 3.63 ERA in six starts for the Padres in 2003, but spent the majority of the season with the Triple-A

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

, where he had a 7-9 win-loss record and a 4.55 ERA. The Padres traded Howard to the

for

Blaine Neal Blaine Neal (born April 6, 1978) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. Neal played with the Florida Marlins (–), San Diego Padres (), Boston Red Sox (), and Colorado Rockies (2005) of Major League Baseball (MLB). He bats l ...

on April 3, 2004. Howard split the season between the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, and the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

. He was granted free agency by the Indians' on July 16, 2006. Howard spent all the season playing for the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. Howard signed a minor league contract with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in January . After being released in late March, he was signed to a minor league contract with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

and was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

."Ben Howard."
''Nashville Sounds''. March 30, 2008. Howard was released on August 12, 2008, while playing for the

Huntsville Stars The Huntsville Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1985 to 2014. They competed in the Southern League as the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics from 1985 to 1998 and Mil ...

of the Southern League.

Personal life

After he retired, Howard returned to Jackson and had two children. He coaches in their coach-pitch

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

league.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Ben 1979 births Living people Florida Marlins players San Diego Padres players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Illinois Fort Wayne Wizards players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Lake Elsinore Storm players Portland Beavers players Albuquerque Isotopes players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Iowa Cubs players Nashville Sounds players Huntsville Stars players People from Danville, Illinois