Full name:	Dann Paul John Howitt
Born:	February 13, 1964 in Battle Creek, MI
Height:	6' 5''
Weight:	205 lb.
Dan Howitt	played in the major leagues for 6 years.
His lifetime	batting average was .181.

 

 

Where Are They Now: Dan Howitt
This week 10 years ago, former Mariner became answer to trivia question

By DAN RALEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The first pitch came screaming in and missed the plate by a wide margin. Strike one.

The second offering, another bullet, was even more off target. Strike two.

Unnerved by this sudden generosity at his expense, Dann Howitt of the Mariners glanced back at the umpire in protest.

"Hall of Fame pitcher, son," was the response.

Ten years ago this week, Howitt was face to face with the great Nolan Ryan, scuffling to survive a first-inning at-bat against the Texas Rangers' right-hander before unwittingly becoming the answer to baseball trivia:

Who got the last hit off Ryan?

On Sept. 22, 1993, a crowd of 40,184 showed up at the Kingdome to see the retiring Ryan make his final Seattle appearance. Sadly, this would be his last outing anywhere, the 46-year-old's trusted arm giving out after just 28 pitches.

Howitt was an angular 6-foot-5 player who had bounced around, a playful guy whose big-league career would end the following year. On this night, Howitt was the Mariners' left fielder and fifth batter in the lineup.

Swinging from the left side, he stepped in against Ryan with the bases loaded, no outs and a run in.

With the count 0-2 and the ump having firmly established the pecking order, Howitt next heard from the Mariners dugout.

"I remember Lou (Piniella) screaming at me, 'Swing the (expletive) bat!' " the Michigan native said.

No chance on the third pitch. It sailed under Howitt's chin, sending him sprawling.

Ryan wasn't sharp at all. He had walked the three previous batters.

"I'm lying on my back and Pudge says, 'I really don't know what he's throwing today,' " Howitt recalled, referring to Ivan Rodriguez, then the Rangers catcher. "It was about 98 mph. It was the hardest pitch I'd seen all year."

Swinging a black Louisville slugger, Howitt fouled off the next offering, a low outside fastball. He guessed Ryan would throw it again. He guessed right.

Howitt hit the next pitch over the left-field fence, his off field, for a grand slam.

"I ran around the bases before he could take it back," Howitt says of Ryan.

He was met at the plate by the Mariners' three baserunners, Rich Amaral, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Buhner. The first two gave him high-fives. Buhner provided his own customized greeting.

Fellow screwballs, Buhner and Howitt were known to sit in the clubhouse before games and jab each other in the face for sport, to see who could take it. After all, these were two guys who answered to the nicknames Bone and Shark, respectively.

Howitt got an unexpected love pat after his homer.

"Buhner popped me in the jaw and I started looking at stars," he said. "I almost dropped on the spot."

Howitt let his head clear on the bench. Amaral sat down next to him and adroitly summed up the moment.

"You have any idea how cool you are right now?" his teammate chided him.

After throwing four pitches to Dave Magadan, Ryan walked off the field when he felt his elbow pop. He held up his hat to the Kingdome crowd but never looked up.

"He didn't show any pain, so we didn't think anything about it," Howitt says. "Then the trainer called and said he was done. Not just then, but for good."

After the game, Howitt headed to Pioneer Square with his teammates to celebrate his good fortune.

"Magadan said, 'This will be the best chance you ever have to get a free drink,' " he recalls.

A decade later, Howitt, 39, lives in Louisville, Ky., with his second wife, Jodie. He has two young sons who reside with their mother in Oregon. He works for C2 Facility Solution, a high-tech company that documents building blueprints and puts them online. He good-naturedly refers to himself now as a computer geek.

Howitt has been out of baseball for six years. Ironically, he left the game because of a Ryan-like arm injury, suffered after he volunteered to pitch the end of a blowout loss for Class AAA Colorado Springs.

Playing for the Oakland A's, Chicago White Sox and Mariners, he had just 242 big-league at-bats, with five homers among his 47 hits.

None was bigger than his grand slam off Ryan. He keeps the bat and ball from that career moment stored in his basement.

Some people belittled Howitt's efforts, suggesting it was shame a player so marginal would get the final hit off such a great pitcher. Ryan, however, was appreciative and showed it.

On more than one occasion, the Hall of Fame pitcher spotted Howitt eating in his favorite Dallas restaurant and waved to him from across the room.

And each time, Ryan picked up his check.