Days after tying Frank Howard’s record for most home runs in D.C. baseball history, Ryan Zimmerman has officially passed him.
The Nationals first baseman hit a 3-run shot Sunday against the Colorado Rockies to surpass Howard with 238 home runs.
Zimmerman’s homer went 341 feet into right field, right alongside the foul pole and into the bullpen area. Shortly after Zimmerman reached home, he went back up from the dugout and greeted Nationals fans with a tip of his cap and was greeted to a standing ovation.
The home run was Zimmerman’s 23rd this year. He tied Howard’s record on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers when he hit two home runs.
Zimmerman said then he has talked with Howard on multiple occasions.
“Just the stories he tells and the kind of guy he is, it’s pretty cool to do something he did while he was here,” Zimmerman said. “Obviously playing here my entire career, things like that are pretty special.”
Howard spent seven seasons with the Washington Senators from 1965-1971. Zimmerman, 32, has spent his entire career with the Nationals since being their first ever draft pick in 2005.
“Ryan Zimmerman — this guy is something very special,” Howard said in a statement provided by the Nationals. “I’ve met him three or four times, and you don’t have to be a Rhodes scholar to know this guy is the ultimate professional, the pro’s pro. Besides his outstanding athletic ability, he carries himself with dignity on and off the field. He has tremendous presence, and he is class personified.
“If he continues putting these kind of numbers up for another six, eight, 10 years, this young man is going to walk into Cooperstown, New York, and into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. He is the epitome of what organizations look for in their personnel: quiet, unassuming, but the aura about him is one of dignity and class. You want to know how I feel about it? Nobody is happier for him than me. The sky is the limit.”
The Nationals trail the Rockies 6-4 midway through the fourth inning.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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