Howard Prager

Howard I. Prager

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 190 lb.
• High School University of Texas at Arlington
• Born April 6, 1967 in Austin, TX USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

First baseman Howard Prager played in the minor leagues from 1989 to 1995. He spent two full seasons and part of a third at Triple-A, but never ascended to the majors.

He was taken by the Houston Astros in the 31st round of the 1989 amateur draft, one pick after pitcher Bill Wertz, and was signed by scout Cotton Nix. He started off with a bang, hitting .335/.416/.514 with 8 home runs, 58 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 73 games for the Auburn Astros his first season. He led the New York-Penn League in OPS (.930) and RBI and was second in batting average (behind Marc Tepper's .347), OBP (behind Billy White's .425) and slugging (behind Gary Scott's .520). He was named the All-Star first baseman. After a down sophomore campaign (.248/.366/.314, but with 61 BBs to just 49 Ks), he rebounded to hit .303/.397/.475 with 11 home runs, 72 RBI and 11 steals in 123 games between two clubs in 1991.

He departed the Astros chain following the 1992 campaign and joined the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 1993, hitting .263/.343/.402 in 63 games for the Louisville Redbirds; he hit .286/.375/.450 with 11 home runs and 49 RBI in 122 games on the year as a whole. He returned to Louisville for 1994 and 1995 (also serving as a replacement player during the 1995 strike), but was used in a reserve role, posting batting averages of .239 and .255, respectively. He made 2 relief appearances both years, tossing a scoreless inning in each.

Overall, Prager hit .279/.378/.420 with 49 home runs, 310 RBI, 43 stolen bases, 307 walks and 386 Ks in 670 games over 7 seasons. At Triple-A, he batted .253/.354/.419 in 203 games.