Ryan Howard made a guest appearance on 'The Office,' which features a character named Ryan Howard (UPDATE)

UPDATE, 4/5: Ryan Howard, of the Phillies, made his Office appearance on Thursday in the episode "Promos" (Dunder Mifflin's Howard did not appear). In his meeting with Jim and Darryl, he proposed branching out from his baseball career into filmmaking and acting. He presented a hefty "half-biopic, half-superhero movie" script entitled "The Big Piece." In it, a mild-mannered baseball player (Howard) hits a home run into space, and when the ball returns to him covered in space dust, he gains superpowers. You can learn more about Howard's movie, and see the rest of the episode, on NBC.com. 

ORIGINAL, 3/18: In March 2005, Ryan Howard was preparing to begin his year in Triple-A with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. The same month saw the premiere of the Scranton, Pa.-set The Office, which included a character named Ryan Howard (played by B.J. Novak). Eight years later, the former Howard is a Rookie of the Year and MVP winner, and the latter has remained on The Office (eight seasons as a main character and one as recurring) for its entire celebrated run, which is ending this year.

The two Howards' worlds will collide on April 4, when the Phillies slugger makes a guest appearance on the show as a potential client for Jim and Darryl's sports marketing agency. But how do the two namesakes stack up? Here's a tale of the tape:

-- Dan Wohl / MLB.com