By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies spent the final weekend of the 2016 season honoring Ryan Howard, who in 12 seasons with the team hit 382 home runs, led the team to five National League East division titles and helped bring home the 2008 World Series title.
This morning, Philadelphia's city council elected to spend some time honoring Howard, for both his on and off-field contributions during his decade plus tenure with the club:
Recognizing, congratulating, and honoring Ryan Howard for his 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies; and commending his dedication to philanthropy throughout the City of Philad
Lost opportunity: I totally wanted to tell @ryanhoward that I have an adorable cat named after him but didn't want to creep him out pic.twitter.com/3rwWaxy7HD
— jennifer kates (@jenniferkates) October 20, 2016
Excited to honor Ryan Howard for his incredible 12-year career with the Philadelphia Phillies and all he's done for the City of Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/uu3AfmGZtb
— Allan Domb (@TeamDomb) October 20, 2016
Howard was present for the ceremony, as he received a small liberty bell trophy from the city council.
Howard has opened a training center in Center Philadelphia in July and has been involved in trying to get area children to read more during his time with the club, specifically with his "Stand up for Literacy" event.
The Phillies are expected to exercise a $10 million buyout on Howard's $23 million option for 2017, which will make the 36-year-old a free-agent for the first time in his career.
