OK, we got all that out of the way. Now for a 6-4, 242-pound dose of reality. Ryan Howard also has 31 home runs this season and has knocked in 108 runs and leads the National League in game-winning runs batted in and go-ahead runs batted in. This is in stark conflict with an oft-stated assertion and general assumption that he never hits when it counts, but the curse of every electric slugger, it seems, is that reality and perception are further apart than Joe West and the rule book.