Frank Howard, the hulking slugger who won over a generation of Washington baseball fans with his towering home runs and genteel personality, has died at 87, the Nationals announced this afternoon.

Affectionately known to fans as “Hondo,” “The Capitol Punisher” and “The Washington Monument,” Howard played 16 seasons in four major league cites and spent another two decades coaching and managing for six other organizations. But his legacy was defined by the seven seasons he spent with the Washington Senators from 1965-71, blasting homers into the upper deck at RFK Stadium and becoming every local baseball fan’s favorite player for life, including one young D.C. native who would eventually own the city’s next big league club.

“Growing up a baseball fan in Washington, D.C., Frank Howard was my hero,” Nationals managing principal owner Mark Lerner said in a statement released by the team. “The towering home runs he hit into the stands at RFK Stadium gave him the nickname ‘Capital Punisher,’ but I’ll always remember him as a kind and gentle man. The entire Lerner family would like to offer our thoughts and condolences to Frank’s family during this difficult time. The world of baseball has truly lost a giant.”

Standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 255 pounds, Howard would’ve been a physically imposing hitter in today’s game. In the 1960s and ’70s, he was a jaw-dropping presence in a sport not known for producing many players of that stature.

Signed by the Dodgers out of Ohio State in March 1958, Howard made his major league debut that September. The outfielder became a full-time big leaguer in 1960 and won National League Rookie of the Year honors, then finished ninth in the MVP race two seasons later.

There won't be any ceremony to commemorate the occasion. No formal mention of the achievement or announcement on the scoreboard. Nor should there be, because it's not exactly a major accomplishment under the circumstances. And yet it's not insignificant that today Davey Martinez will manage his 411th game for the Nationals. What's significant about 411 games in the dugout? Well, believe it or not, it's the most games anyone will have managed in club history. Yep, that's right. Even though...

For a generation of Washington baseball fans, there always has been no bigger figure in this town than Frank Howard. And that's only in part because of Hondo's 6-foot-7 frame. Howard has long been remembered as by far the best to ever play for the expansion version of the Senators that called D.C. home from 1961-71. He wasn't good enough to merit serious consideration for the Hall of Fame, but he was good enough to merit a statue outside Nationals Park, alongside permanent Cooperstown...