An All-American in basketball at Ohio State, Howard was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA.
He instead signed with the Dodgers organization, and after a handful of appearances in 1958 and 1959 he succeeded Carl Furillo as Los Angeles' right fielder in 1960; he was named the Minor League Player of the Year in 1959 by The Sporting News after hitting 43 homers in the Pacific Coast League.
He was named the NL's Rookie of the Year after batting .268 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI, and was nicknamed "Hondo" by teammates after a John Wayne film.
He belted 98 homers in the following four seasons, most prominently in a 1962 campaign in which he batted .296 with 31 home runs and finished among the NL's top five players in RBI (119) and slugging (.560).
He won the NL Player of the Month award in July with .381 average, 12 HR, and an incredible 41 RBI.
As an outfielder starting 127 games (completing just 91), Howard was credited with 19 outfield assists (the league leader, Johnny Callison, starting 147 games had just five more).
The season ended with the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants tied for first place, necessitating a three-game pennant playoff; Howard had only a single in 11 at-bats and struck out three times against Billy Pierce in the first game, including the final out; but he had a run and an RBI in the second contest, an 8–7 win.
The Giants took the pennant in three games, but Howard would later finish ninth in the MVP voting.

In 1963 his production dropped off to a .273 average, 28 homers and 64 RBI; but the Dodgers won the pennant, and his upper-deck solo home run off Whitey Ford broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, helping Los Angeles to a 2–1 win and a sweep of the New York Yankees.
He again hit over 20 home runs in 1964, and on June 4 his three-run home run in the seventh inning provided all the scoring in Sandy Koufax's third no-hitter, a 3–0 defeat of the Philadelphia Phillies; Howard had also homered for the final run in Koufax's first no-hitter on June 30 two years earlier, a 5–0 win over the New York Mets.
But the team's 1962 move into pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium hurt power hitters, and speedier outfielders like Willie Davis were seen as more in line with the club's future; Howard's .226 batting average in 1964—combined with regularly high strikeout totals—led to his trade to Washington in a seven-player December deal which brought future All-Star starter Claude Osteen to Los Angeles.
In 2005 Howard recalled welcoming the trade despite going from a pennant contender to a weak expansion team, noting, "I was essentially a fourth outfielder in L.A., hitting 25 home runs a year in the biggest baseball park in America and doing it on 400 at-bats."
He added, "What could I do if I get 550 at-bats?
I had my best years here."
An All-American in basketball at Ohio State, Howard was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA. He instead signed with the Dodgers organization, and after a handful of appearances in 1958 and 1959 he succeeded Carl Furillo as Los Angeles' right fielder in 1960; he was named the Minor League Player of the Year in 1959 by The Sporting News after hitting 43 homers in the Pacific Coast League. He was named the NL's Rookie of the Year after batting .268 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI, and was nicknamed "Hondo" by teammates after a John Wayne film. He belted 98 homers in the following four seasons, most prominently in a 1962 campaign in which he batted .296 with 31 home runs and finished among the NL's top five players in RBI (119) and slugging (.560). He won the NL Player of the Month award in July with .381 average, 12 HR, and an incredible 41 RBI. As an outfielder starting 127 games (completing just 91), Howard was credited with 19 outfield assists (the league leader, Johnny Callison, starting 147 games had just five more). The season ended with the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants tied for first place, necessitating a three-game pennant playoff; Howard had only a single in 11 at-bats and struck out three times against Billy Pierce in the first game, including the final out; but he had a run and an RBI in the second contest, an 8–7 win. The Giants took the pennant in three games, but Howard would later finish ninth in the MVP voting.
In 1963 his production dropped off to a .273 average, 28 homers and 64 RBI; but the Dodgers won the pennant, and his upper-deck solo home run off Whitey Ford broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, helping Los Angeles to a 2–1 win and a sweep of the New York Yankees. He again hit over 20 home runs in 1964, and on June 4 his three-run home run in the seventh inning provided all the scoring in Sandy Koufax's third no-hitter, a 3–0 defeat of the Philadelphia Phillies; Howard had also homered for the final run in Koufax's first no-hitter on June 30 two years earlier, a 5–0 win over the New York Mets. But the team's 1962 move into pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium hurt power hitters, and speedier outfielders like Willie Davis were seen as more in line with the club's future; Howard's .226 batting average in 1964—combined with regularly high strikeout totals—led to his trade to Washington in a seven-player December deal which brought future All-Star starter Claude Osteen to Los Angeles. In 2005 Howard recalled welcoming the trade despite going from a pennant contender to a weak expansion team, noting, "I was essentially a fourth outfielder in L.A., hitting 25 home runs a year in the biggest baseball park in America and doing it on 400 at-bats." He added, "What could I do if I get 550 at-bats? I had my best years here."
Frank Howard (baseball)