What years did Frank Howard play?

Frank Howard played in Major League Baseball from 1958 to 1973.

Was Frank Howard a pitcher?

No. Frank Howard was a position player (Outfielder).

How many home runs did Frank Howard hit?

Frank Howard hit 382 career home runs with 1774 hits.

Frank Howard

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1958-1973)

AVG .273

HR 382

RBI 1,119

H 1,774

OPS .851

PIV 30,024

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'7" / 255 lb
Born: 8/8/1936 in Columbus, OH, USA
Died: 10/30/2023 in Aldie, VA, USA
MLB Debut: 1958-09-10
Last Game: 1973-09-30
Awards: 4× All-Star · Rookie of the Year

Full name: Frank Oliver Howard

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Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,895	6,488	864	1,774	245	35	382	1,119	8	782	1,460	.273	.352	.499	.851	30,024

Career AVG .273 vs. league average .250 across their career seasons — +9.3% above league average.

Career OBP .352 vs. league average .317 across their career seasons — +11.2% above league average.

Career SLG .499 vs. league average .375 across their career seasons — +33.0% above league average.

Career OPS .851 vs. league average .692 across their career seasons — +23.0% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1958	LAN	NL	8	29	3	7	1	0	1	2	0	1	11	.241	—	—	—	—	0.0
1959	LAN	NL	9	21	2	3	0	1	1	6	0	2	9	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1960	LAN	NL	117	448	54	120	15	2	23	77	0	32	108	.268	.255 (+5%)	.323 (-1%)	.387 (+20%)	.711 (+10%)	777.4
1961	LAN	NL	92	267	36	79	10	2	15	45	0	21	50	.296	.258 (+15%)	.328 (+6%)	.399 (+29%)	.727 (+19%)	872.3
1962	LAN	NL	141	493	80	146	25	6	31	119	1	39	108	.296	.257 (+15%)	.326 (+6%)	.393 (+42%)	.719 (+26%)	2323.9
1963	LAN	NL	123	417	58	114	16	1	28	64	1	33	116	.273	.246 (+11%)	.308 (+7%)	.371 (+39%)	.680 (+25%)	1793.0
1964	LAN	NL	134	433	60	98	13	2	24	69	1	51	113	.226	.250 (-10%)	.312 (-3%)	.377 (+14%)	.690 (+6%)	459.0
1965	WS2	AL	149	516	53	149	22	6	21	84	0	55	112	.289	.245 (+18%)	.310 (+15%)	.371 (+28%)	.682 (+22%)	2229.6
1966	WS2	AL	146	493	52	137	19	4	18	71	1	53	104	.278	.248 (+12%)	.309 (+12%)	.376 (+17%)	.685 (+15%)	1504.3
1967	WS2	AL	149	519	71	133	20	2	36	89	0	60	155	.256	.242 (+6%)	.306 (+10%)	.357 (+43%)	.663 (+28%)	2704.8
1968	WS2	AL	158	598	79	164	28	3	44	106	0	54	141	.274	.236 (+16%)	.298 (+13%)	.340 (+62%)	.638 (+39%)	4084.4
1969	WS2	AL	161	592	111	175	17	2	48	111	1	102	96	.296	.248 (+19%)	.320 (+26%)	.369 (+56%)	.689 (+42%)	5140.4
1970	WS2	AL	161	566	90	160	15	1	44	126	1	132	125	.283	.253 (+11%)	.325 (+28%)	.385 (+42%)	.711 (+35%)	4623.1
1971	WS2	AL	153	549	60	153	25	2	26	83	1	77	121	.279	.249 (+12%)	.316 (+16%)	.365 (+30%)	.682 (+23%)	2573.1
1972	TEX	AL	95	287	28	70	9	0	9	31	1	42	55	.244	.243 (avg)	.310 (+10%)	.353 (+4%)	.664 (+7%)	470.6
1972	DET	AL	14	33	1	8	1	0	1	7	0	4	8	.242	—	—	—	—	470.6
1973	DET	AL	85	227	26	58	9	1	12	29	0	24	28	.256	.256 (-1%)	.325 (avg)	.378 (+22%)	.703 (+12%)	468.2
Career · 17 seasons			1,895	6,488	864	1,774	245	35	382	1,119	8	782	1,460	.273	—	—	—	—	30,494

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
3	10	2	3	1	0	1	1	0	2	.300

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1963	WS	LAN	3	10	2	3	1	0	1	1	0	2	.300

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1892 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	943	3213	430	905	186	583	.282
Away	949	3264	434	868	196	534	.266

Last 10 Games — Batting

Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO
1973-09-30	DET	NYY	W	5	0	1	0	0	0	1
1973-09-26	DET	BAL	L	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
1973-09-25	DET	BAL	L	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
1973-09-22	DET	BOS	W	3	1	1	0	1	0	0
1973-09-21	DET	BOS	W	3	0	2	0	0	0	0
1973-09-20	DET	BAL	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1973-09-19	DET	BAL	W	4	1	1	1	0	1	0
1973-09-15	DET	MIL	W	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1973-09-10	DET	MIL	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1973-09-09	DET	BOS	W	3	0	1	1	0	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	334	261	2298	195	47	201
OF	1435	1409	2114	82	57	12

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1958	LAN	OF	8	8	12	1	0	0
1959	LAN	OF	6	5	10	0	0	0
1960	LAN	1B	4	1	19	3	1	2
1960	LAN	OF	115	112	177	8	3	1
1961	LAN	1B	7	5	43	4	2	2
1961	LAN	OF	65	61	79	6	6	0
1962	LAN	OF	131	127	187	19	6	4
1963	LAN	OF	111	107	190	4	8	0
1964	LAN	OF	122	121	183	2	4	0
1965	WS2	OF	138	138	204	5	4	0
1966	WS2	OF	135	134	216	5	4	1
1967	WS2	1B	4	2	15	1	0	0
1967	WS2	OF	141	140	210	5	3	1
1968	WS2	1B	55	51	416	41	11	38
1968	WS2	OF	107	105	160	11	8	1
1969	WS2	1B	70	47	455	31	10	38
1969	WS2	OF	114	112	147	3	4	0
1970	WS2	1B	48	42	429	25	6	37
1970	WS2	OF	120	118	172	6	5	4
1971	WS2	1B	68	48	414	58	4	40
1971	WS2	OF	100	100	141	7	1	0
1972	TEX	1B	66	55	440	27	9	39
1972	TEX	OF	21	21	25	0	1	0
1972	DET	1B	10	9	55	5	3	5
1972	DET	OF	1	0	1	0	0	0
1973	DET	1B	2	1	12	0	1	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
First Base	334
Left Field	923
Right Field	533
Designated Hitter	76

Awards & Honors

Year	Award	Notes
1970	TSN All-Star	OF
1969	TSN All-Star	OF
1968	TSN All-Star	OF
1960	Rookie of the Year
1960	TSN Rookie of the Year

College History

School Name	City	State	Years Attended
The Ohio State University	Columbus	OH	1956, 1957

Award Voting History

Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1970	Most Valuable Player	AL	5th	91.0	336	1
1969	Most Valuable Player	AL	4th	115.0	336	0
1968	Most Valuable Player	AL	8th	63.0	280	0
1965	Most Valuable Player	AL	29th	2.0	280	0
1962	Most Valuable Player	NL	9th	32.0	280	0
1960	Rookie of the Year	NL	1st	12.0	24	12

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Frank Howard (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Frank Howard

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Frequently Asked Questions about Frank Howard

What years did Frank Howard play?: Frank Howard played in Major League Baseball from 1958 to 1973.
Was Frank Howard a pitcher?: No. Frank Howard was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Frank Howard hit?: Frank Howard hit 382 career home runs with 1774 hits.