| Pat Howell | |
| Position: | Center fielder |
| Birth Date: | 31 August 1968 |
| Birth Place: | Mobile, Alabama |
| Bats: | Both |
| Throws: | Right |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | July 10 |
| Debutyear: | 1992 |
| Debutteam: | New York Mets |
| Finalleague: | MLB |
| Finaldate: | October 4 |
| Finalyear: | 1992 |
| Finalteam: | New York Mets |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .187 |
| Stat2label: | Home runs |
| Stat2value: | 0 |
| Stat3label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat3value: | 1 |
| Stat2league: | CPBL |
| Stat21label: | Batting average |
| Stat21value: | .264 |
| Stat22label: | Home runs |
| Stat22value: | 0 |
| Stat23label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat23value: | 5 |
| Teams: |
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Patrick O'Neal Howell (born August 31, 1968) is a former professional baseball player. He played part of one season in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets in 1992, primarily as a center fielder.[1] He also played one season in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 1998. Howell's strength as an athlete was blazing speed. He stole a lot of bases in the minor leagues and exhibited brilliant defense as a centerfielder wherever he played, including in the major leagues as a member of the New York Mets. However, he was not a strong hitter.[2]
Howell was born in Mobile, Alabama and attended Vigor High School in Prichard, Alabama.[3]
The Mets initially drafted Howell in the 9th round of the 1987 amateur draft.[4] After playing with their minor league baseball system for five seasons, he made his major league debut in 1992.[5] He got a hit in his first big league at bat against the Astros' Pete Harnisch. That season, he batted a .187 with no home runs and 1 run batted in in 79 at bats over 31 games.[1]
After the 1992 season, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Darren Reed. After playing one season in their farm system without returning to the majors, he became a free agent and re-signed with the Mets.[1] After one season with the Mets, he left the affiliated minors, playing in the Mexican League from 1995 to 1997.[5]
In 1998, Howell crossed the Pacific to play for the Brother Elephants in Taiwan, batting .264 in 24 games.[2] He returned to the United States in 1999 with the Duluth–Superior Dukes in the Northern League.[5] He played the next four seasons with the Nashua Pride of the Atlantic League before suffering a knee injury in July 2004.[5] He tried to come back the following year but did not play professionally again.[2] [5]
As a minor leaguer, Howell batted .249 with 20 home runs and 290 runs batted in 1133 games.[5]