Former Cajuns Who Played MLB – Chris Howard

How many former Louisiana (formerly both Southwestern Louisiana Institute and University of Southwestern Louisiana) Ragin' Cajun baseball players went on to play Major League Baseball?

The answer is 13.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to look back at the respective professional careers all every one of them.

Yesterday, we looked back at Xavier Hernandez.

Today, we feature Chris Howard:

A native of San Diego, California, Howard became the fifth former UL/USL player to reach the Major League Baseball level.

Howard, a right-handed hitting catcher, played only one season for the Cajuns, but what a season it was.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Howard led the Cajuns in RBI's in 1988, totaling 73, which still ranks second in a single season to this day.

After being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 1988 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, Howard spent parts of four seasons in the minor leagues, before making his Major League debut on September 15, 1991, against the Kansas City Royals.

After 9 games with the Mariners with the Mariners in 1991, in which he went 1-for-6 at the plate, Howard spent 1992 back in the minors, before returning to the Mariners for a cup of coffee in 1993, going hitless in one at-bat.

In 1993, Howard's final season in the big leagues, he went 5-for-25 over the course of 9 games, including his first two MLB RBI's.

Over the course of three seasons in Major League Baseball, all of them short stints, Howard hit a .188 with 2 runs batted in.

Sure, he only played in 22 MLB games, but Howard reached a level of baseball many only dream of reaching.

Now 52-years old, Howard is currently the head coach of the Pennsylvania College of Technology baseball team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.