#170 Frank Howard - Washington Senators

Frank Oliver Howard

Washington Senators
Outfield-First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'7"  Weight:  255
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 1958-64; Washington Senators 1965-71; Texas Rangers 1972; Detroit Tigers 1972-73

World Series Appearances:  Los Angeles Dodgers 1963
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 National League 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 deal, Howard's power numbers improved and he hit a career high 44 home runs in both 1968 and 1970, leading the league 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 (1977-80), Mets (1982-83), Brewers again (1985-86), Mets again (1994-96), Mariners (1987-88), Yankees (1989, 1991-93) and Devil Rays (1998-99).  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.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #602
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Vintage Sports)

On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show.  The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year.  I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova.  I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.

I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set.  My second stop was the aptly named Vintage Sports table.  I always appreciate a dealer with clear signage explaining their pricing method, and Vintage Sports had a marker in their selection of 1969 Topps cards laying out that cards without a sleeve were $1 and cards with a sleeve were $2.  I had one "high number" in a sleeve, and that was a whopping $4. 

I found 28 commons needed before moving on to my third stop.  This was the 7th of 28 total cards bought from Vintage Sports, and the 43rd of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day.  Sleeved, this card cost less than $2 after a dealer discount - an absolute bargain for someone of Howard's stature.

The Card / Senators Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Topps reprinted this card in its 2002 Topps Archives set.  The back of the card highlights his big power year in 1968.  His record setting 10 home runs in six games, as depicted by the cartoon, came early in the 1968 season, between May 12th and May 18th.

Accuracy Index:  Howard's card scores a +5.  Although the photo used is similar to the one used on his 1967 Topps card, the two pictures were taken at different times, given Howard is wearing different glasses in each photo.

Inserts:  Howard is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.

1969 Season
From his SABR biography, written by Mark Armour:  

After the Senators' 10th-place finish [in 1968], new owner Bob Short took over in January 1969 and decided to replace [manager Jim] Lemon (#294) after his single season. To replace Lemon, Short lured Ted Williams (#650) out of his eight-year retirement, surprising everyone around the game. For Howard, this would be another turning point, perhaps the most important one. Williams believed he knew how to make Howard a better hitter. "He called me into his office one day in the spring of '69," Howard recalled. "He said, 'Bush! Come on in here.' I’d only been in camp a couple of days, and I’m thinking, 'Gee, I'm not in his doghouse already, am I?'"

"Can you tell me how a guy who hit 44 home runs only got 48 walks?" asked Williams. After Howard offered some explanation, his manager got to the point. "Well, let me ask you. Can you take a strike? I’m talking about if it's a tough fastball in a tough zone, first pitch. Or if it's a breaking ball, you're sitting on a fastball … Can you take a strike? You know, try to get yourself a little better count to hit in?" Howard said he could. "Well try it for me."

Howard increased his walk total from 54 to 102, while his strikeouts fell from 141 to 96. He took advantage of more hitter's counts, and ended up hitting .296 with 48 home runs and 111 RBIs. He led the league with 330 total bases, and finished among the leaders in on-base-percentage (.402) and slugging percentage (.574). He hit a home run off Steve Carlton (#255) in the All-Star Game, held at his home park of RFK Stadium.

1960 Topps #132

1963 Topps #123

1970 Topps #550

1973 Topps #560

1984 Topps #621

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1960 Topps #132
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17):  1960-1973, 1981, 1983-1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Topps Living #687
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  455 in the Beckett online database as of 12/31/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#169 Tigers Celebrate Their Victory / #171 Glenn Beckert - Chicago Cubs

#5 1968 A.L. Home Run Leaders - Frank Howard / Willie Horton / Ken Harrelson

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1969 Topps set.  League leader cards can be found at the beginning of each Topps set issued in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Building the Set / Card #79
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the second of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards.  (This card was marked $2.50, but goes down as $2.08 in my tracking schedule.)  If I stick to composing posts five times a week, which may slip through the summer months, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!

The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Senators Team Set / Tigers Team Set

A number of the league leaders cards in the 1969 set lack serious star power, and this card is no exception.  The same three teams featured on the A.L. RBI Leaders card (#3) are repeated here, with Frank Howard (#170) and Ken Harrelson (#240) making their second appearances, and Willie Horton (#180) replacing Jim Northrup (#580).  As shown on the back, Northrup had 21 home runs in 1968, and four of those were grand slams, which helped propel him onto the RBI Leaders card.

All three sluggers shown here hit their career high marks in 1968 for home runs.  44 home runs were a career high for Howard, and he'd match the total while leading the league again in 1970.  Horton also reached his career high with 36 home runs, and this would be the closest he'd ever come to leading the league.  He'd finish within the top 10 in five different seasons between 1965 and 1979.  Harrelson, most likely wearing a Senators uniform in this photo, would hit 30 home runs in 1969, then only six more home runs in 1970 and 1971.

#4 1968 N.L. RBI Leaders / #6 1968 N.L. Home Run Leaders

#3 1968 A.L. RBI Leaders - Ken Harrelson / Frank Howard / Jim Northrup

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1969 Topps set.  League leader cards can be found at the beginning of each Topps set issued in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Building the Set / Card #78
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

Here we go!  In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the first of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards.  (This card was marked $2.50, but goes down as $2.08 in my tracking schedule.)  If I stick to composing posts five times a week, which may slip through the summer months, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!

The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Senators Team Set / Tigers Team Set

A number of the league leaders cards in the 1969 set lack serious star power, and this card is no exception.  This is the only time Ken Harrelson (#240) would lead the league in RBIs, eclipsing Frank Howard (#170) by three.  Harrelson sat on 109 for the final week of the season, as his last RBI came during the game of September 21st, with seven more games to go.  This is also the only time Harrelson would finish in the top 10 of the cartegory during his nine-year playing career.  Howard crossed the 100-RBI plateau on September 12th, and then he'd add just four more over the final weeks of the season.  He had at least 100 RBIs in four different seasons, and would lead the league with 126 in 1970.

90 RBIs was a career high for the Tigers' Jim Northrup (#580), and like Harrelson, 1968 was the only year he'd finish in the league's top ten for the mark.  Curt Blefary (#458), Bobby Knoop (#445) and John Roseboro (#218) all had 39 RBIs in 1968 and just missed the cut for inclusion on the back of this card.

#2 1968 N.L. Batting Leaders / #4 1968 N.L. RBI Leaders