The funniest argument inspired by the World Series won by the Philadelphia Phillies wasn’t over a ball or a strike, a fair or foul ball, a safe-or-out call. It took place right here in Lawrence in front of a television.

Oliva and Langston, children of Chris and Krista Howard, saw Phillies slugger Ryan Howard, 28, on TV, and the sibling rivalry raged.

“One of them said, ‘There’s Uncle Ryan.’ ‘No, that’s not your Uncle Ryan, that’s my Uncle Ryan,'” recounted Chris, Ryan’s older brother. “I had to tell them, ‘You guys have the same uncle.’ That’s what happens when you have a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old. They don’t like to share at this point.”

Chris Howard, 12 years Ryan’s senior, is an associate athletic director at Kansas University, from which he received a bachelor’s in education, a sports-administration master’s and a law degree. His duties include fundraising and supervision of football and track and field.

A former combat medical specialist in the Army from 1990 to 1995, he served in Operation Desert Storm with the 24th Infantry Division.

He’s not taking credit for teaching his brother the left-handed power swing that has resulted in Ryan’s averaging 51 home runs and 144 RBIs the past three seasons.

“That’s 100 percent natural,” Chris said. “No one really taught him how to swing. As a kid, he would go in the back yard, and he would watch people like (Barry) Bonds and (Ken) Griffey, and he would imitate their swings. He would toss the ball to himself, and a lot of times he and his twin brother (Corey) would play with each other.”

And whose swing would Chris imitate in the back yard of the Howard family’s St. Louis home?

“I was imitating Bob Gibson (pitching) because I couldn’t hit the ball,” Chris said.

Chris flew to Tampa for the first two games of the World Series, joining his sister Karen, brother Corey and mother and father, but didn’t attend the games in Philadelphia because of job responsibilities.

Ryan had a rough first game of the World Series, going 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.

“I told him, ‘Enjoy this moment,'” Chris said. “There are a lot of great players who either a) have never gotten to the World Series or b) have never won a championship, so don’t get so uptight to the point where you can’t be productive out there.’ The first game he was a little jittery, so I said, ‘Relax. You’re one of the most feared hitters in baseball.’ I told him about how I heard people in the stands praying when he walked up to the plate. People were on edge.”

Ryan had a pair of hits in the second game, homered in the third and homered twice and drove in five runs in the fourth game of the five-game World Series.

Chris didn’t need to see that sort of production to know his brother’s place in the game. He learned just how good he was by watching former greats such as Hank Aaron and Cal Ripken approach him and let him know that as one of the game’s greats, he has a responsibility, and if he ever needs advice on how to handle that, just give them a call. So far, he’s handling it great and in the process building a reputation as one of the game’s good guys.