So It Begins

What's interesting about this week's three-game set between the Yankees and Red Sox, in New York, is that it will have little-to-no impact on the AL East race, even if New York wins all three. The Red Sox are eight games up at this point and even though it would give the Yankees an emotional lift if they can reduce the lead to five games, that would still be a big lead to overcome considering there will be only be 28 games left in the season. For the record, it's Dice-K against Pettitte tonight, Beckett vs. Clemens in game two, and Schilling against Wang in game three- a trio of good match-ups.

What really adds a curious wrinkle to all this (and those who know me know I love curious wrinkles) is that Seattle is clinging to a two-game lead in the Wild Card over New York and has a three-game lead over Detroit right now. Seattle has two more against the Angels before going to Cleveland for three, Toronto for three and then New York for three. That September 3-5 series could be huge.

Detroit, fresh off taking three of four from the Yanks at home, has a somewhat easy schedule the next few weeks. They have three in Kansas City, three in Oakland, then three at home against the White Sox before hosting Seattle for three September 7-9. It's the last time the Tigers and Mariners meet up in 2007, and for that matter, it's the last time Seattle, New York, and Detroit play one another at all. The Yanks still have another three games, in Boston, September 14-16 before finishing out their season with Toronto, Tampa Bay and Baltimore.

It's hard to say who has the upper hand right now because even though Seattle has the lead, they've lost three straight and are at a really tough part of their schedule. The Yankees end up with a cakewalk, but have to survive a few tough match-ups themselves to get there. That's why I wouldn't be surprised if Detroit ends up leapfrogging everybody into October.

First Team, All-Pleasant-Surprise

The polar opposite of this team, these guys enjoyed unexpected levels of success in 2007, and so did their lucky fantasy owners. Chances are, the guy in first place has several of the following players.

Catcher - Jorge Posada (.331, 16, 77)
Somebody forgot to tell this guy 36-year-old catchers don't post career highs in batting average. And even if they do, they don't hit 55 points above their career average. Six more doubles will give him 41 for the season, which would also be a career best. He's having an anti-Johnny-Damon year.

First Base - Carlos Pena (.272, 30, 86)
I'll admit, I didn't think Prince Fielder would be doing what he's doing this year, but at least with Cecil Junior, the handwriting was on the wall. With Pena, the wall handwriting was in Japanese, because that's where his career was heading (emphasis on the was part). With Mark Teixeira in Atlanta, Pena and Justin Morneau are about all the AL has to write home about at first base this year.

Second Base - Brandon Phillips (.284, 25, 77, 25 steals)
He still doesn't walk enough for as much as he strikes out, but methinks the Reds will live with it, provided he keeps going 30-30. Like Pena, he's not that far removed from being a can't-miss prospect. He's grown up since his days in Cleveland and his production is finally catching up with his hype. Has or will set new career bests in every category this year.

Shortstop - Hanley Ramirez (.332, 23, 65, 41 steals)
It's hard to call the 2006 Rookie of the Year a pleasant surprise in 2007, but here me out. Raise your hand if you thought HR would be (a) top-5 in the league in batting average, (b) top-20 in the league in homeruns, (c) top-2 in the league in runs scored, (d) top-5 in stolen bases, and (e) the third most valuable fantasy player overall, and most valuable shortstop in the game. Didn't think so. He'll go first, second, or third in just about every draft in 2008.

Third Base - Ryan Braun (.334, 25, 66)
You could make a pretty good case for A-Rod here, but at least people had heard of him before the season started. Braun should be the unanimous pick for ROY and is doing things very few first-year players ever have. He's hitting over .460 against lefties, is a better hitter on the road, and his first half looks a whole lot like his second half. The strikeouts (one every 4.4 at-bats) are a little high, and the 20 errors in 81 games could be a sign that corner outfield is in his future. But with those numbers, who cares?

Outfield #1 - Magglio Ordonez (.355, 25, 116)
With all due respect to Pena, Magglio is probably the most pleasant surprise of the year. The MVP race in the AL could be a dead heat between him and A-Rod, and with good reason. He's leading baseball in hitting, number two in RBI, and number three in OPS. Now bad for a guy picked, on average, 116th in ESPN drafts.

Outfield #2 - Eric Byrnes (.298, 18, 71, 37 steals)
If "looking smooth" was a category, Byrnes would be in trouble. But he sure would get plenty of points if "playing hard" was included too. He too will probably put up career bests in every offensive category and is a major reason why the D-Backs are in first in the West.

Outfield #3 - Aaron Rowand (.314, 21, 73)
Yes, these really are Aaron Rowand's numbers. You, like me, probably didn't realize this because he plays on the same team as Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Pat Burrell. Can you imagine if the Phillies had a few starters and a closer?

Designated Hitter - Jose Guillen (.295, 19, 81)
It's funny how a season or two in DC can make everybody forget that you used to be a pretty good player. Guillen is returning to his 2003 and 2004 days where he was a legitimate, dangerous hitter. And like Byrnes, he's a big reason why Seattle has been such a nice surprise out West.

Starting Pitcher #1 - Erik Bedard (13-5, 3.16 ERA, 221 K's)
I seriously laughed out loud on opening day when O's color man Jim Palmer said Bedard was a "sleeper Cy Young candidate." Five months later, it's no joke.

Starting Pitcher #2 - Kelvim Escobar (15-6, 2.77 ERA)
For years, Angels fans have been wondering what kind of numbers Escobar could put up if he actually stayed healthy for a full season. Well, here you go. He's a close second to Dan Haren for the AL ERA crown, and trails the league leader in wins by just one. Speaking of that guy...

Starting Pitcher #3 - Tim Wakefield (16-10, 4.16 ERA)
There are plenty of pitchers who warrant mention here: Brad Penny, Fausto Carmona, Tim Hudson, James Shields to name just a few. But why not go with a 41-year-old knuckleballer? He's tied with teammate Josh Beckett for most wins in baseball. And in case you're wondering, it's been just 4 years since a 40-year-old won 20 games. Jamie Moyer won 21 in 2003. Before him, fellow flutter-baller Phil Neikro won 21 in 1979. It's only happened a total of 7 times, though (a 40-year-old winning 20).

Closer - Jose Valverde (40 saves, 2.65 ERA)
He's baseball's first to 40 this year after a simply awful 2006. The difference hasn't been control or homeruns. He's lowered his opponents' batting average against by a full 76 points this year, primarily because he's been getting ahead of people. Like Byrnes, he's been a major contributor to Arizona's success.

More Shameless Plugs

My book, the final version of which is now available on Amazon, was featured in a Howard County Times article a few days ago. Here's a link to that story.

First Team, All-Disappointment

Yes, most teams will only have about 30 games left after this weekend. But it probably doesn't matter what these guys do the rest of the way. Their '07 seasons were nothing short of hugely disappointing for the fantasy owners who picked them.

Catcher - Brian McCann (.276, 15, 76)

Don't get me wrong, these aren't bad numbers for a catcher. But considering he went .333, 24, 93 last season (in only about 40 more at-bats than he has right now), this is a major let-down. Plus he's striking out more, walking less, his OBP is down 65 points, and his SLG is down 110 points. Perhaps people anointed him the next Mike Piazza a bit too soon. And Joe Mauer isn't too far behind in this category either, but in his defense, he's been hurt.

First Base - Carlos Delgado (.245, 18, 70)

On pace to post career worsts in just about every offensive category, despite hitting in one of baseball's best lineups. Streak of 10 straight seasons of 30+ homeruns is almost a lock to be broken.

Second Base - Marcus Giles (.229, 4, 38, 10 steals)

Remember when he was a top-tier second sacker? Just two years ago he hit .291, went 15-15 and scored 104 runs. Not any more. His brotherly reunion with Brian in San Diego has the Pads wishing they had Sandy and Roberto Alomar instead.

Shortstop - Rafael Furcal (.279, 5, 43, 13 steals)

There must be something about former Atlanta infielders this season. He started the season banged up and I have to wonder if he's been playing at about 80% ever since. The 13 steals is tied for 48th best in baseball, behind speedsters like Rajai Davis (he was sent to the Giants from Pittsburgh in the Matt Morris deal), Nick Punto, and Willie Harris.

Third Base - Alex Gordon (.244, 11, 42, 13 steals)

Not a terrible season for the average rookie, but for Gordon, who drew preaseason comparisons to a young A-Rod, these numbers simply won't do. A .173 April followed by a .195 May certainly didn't help. Former third base fantasy cornerstones Scott Rolen and Eric Chavez also get honorable mentions in this category. How the mighty have fallen.

Outfield #1 - Vernon Wells (.259, 15, 74)

Wells may be one of the most unpredictable fantasy players in the game, considering this is the second time since 2003 he's likely to go from a .300+, 30+, 105+ season down to a sub-.275, sub-25, sub-90 year. He is tied for 12th in baseball in doubles, and may still score 100 runs, so a better 2008 could be in the forecast. But his OPS (.745) is lower than Mark Ellis, Shannon Stewart, and teammate Aaron Hill right now, so who knows.

Outfield #2- Andruw Jones (.221 ,24, 83)
He turned 30 at the beginning of the season, yet his homerun totals are going to drop for the third straight year and he's probably going to post a career-worst batting average (he hit .231 in his first full season, 10 years ago). With a .263 career mark, Jones has never pretended to be a high average hitter, but he has the 5th lowest batting average in all of baseball in 2007 and with a .241 August, isn't showing any real signs of turning this thing around.

Outfield #3 - Johnny Damon (.266, 8, 47, 20 steals)

Interestingly Wells, Jones, and Damon are #'s 129, 130, and 131 in baseball in OPS right now and Carlos Delgado is #128. Damon, like Furcal, probably hasn't been playing at 100% for too many games this season, but you have to be really bad to be the Yankees' leadoff hitter and not score 100 runs. If he doesn't, that would break a 9-year streak, and that includes time he spent with the Kansas City Royals.

Designated Hitter - Travis Hafner (.253, 18, 72)

Like Jones, he turned 30 this season. Like Delgado, his numbers are inexplicably down across the board, with the exception of walks. He's only on pace to hit 23 homeruns, 22 doubles, and drive in 93. Last year, in just 31 more at-bats than he has now, he hit 42, 31, and drove in 117. His OPS, which had gone way up for 3 straight years, could fall an unthinkable 300 points in 2007.

Starting Pitcher #1 - Bronson Arroyo (7-13, 4.55 ERA)

He's third in the National League in losses, he's allowing almost 3 baserunners every 2 innings, and more than an earned run every two innings. His ERA is up a run and a quarter from last year, and he's on pace to walk a career high in hitters, while averaging almost 2 fewer hitters retired, per start.

Starting Pitcher #2 - Barry Zito (9-11, 4.74 ERA)

He is 5th in the league in walks, and is likely to see his strikeout total drop for a third straight year. He also has just 13 quality starts in 26 chances, although he has put together a string of 3 straight. All this, after signing the richest contract in pitching history.

Starting Pitcher #3 - Felix Hernandez (10-6, 3.90 ERA)

For a guy who allowed 8 baserunners, 0 runs, and struck out 18 in his first 17 innings of the season, these numbers are a huge letdown, considering it's almost September. He's had just 9 quality starts in 21 tries since then, and he's not on pace to improve all that much from a year ago. His WHIP is actually higher and his batting average against is up more than 25 points. I know he's just 21, but the title of "King" was bestowed a bit too early, in my opinion.

Relief Pitcher - Take Your Pick!

BJ Ryan, Huston Street, Tom Gordon, Chris Ray, Mike Gonzalez and Brett Myers have all had injury-plagued seasons, while Bob Wickman, Brian Fuentes, Armando Benitez, Jorge Julio, Solomon Torres, Brad Lidge, Dan Wheeler, and Akinori Otsuka all lost their jobs (Lidge is the only one to get it back). And you wonder why some people just punt saves every year.

O No!

Are you kidding me?

Golden Boys

In honor of their 50th anniversary of the award, Rawlings has named its all-time Gold Glove team. These are supposedly the best fielders ever at their respective positions. Almost a million people voted and the starting 9 has exactly 100 career Gold Gloves between them (and still counting in some cases). So here are your winners...

Pitcher - Greg Maddux (16 Gold Gloves, 50% of the vote)
Catcher - Johnny Bench (10 Gold Gloves, 59% of the vote)
First Base - Wes Parker (6 Gold Gloves, 53% of the vote)
Second Base - Joe Morgan (5 Gold Gloves, 27% of the vote)
Third Base - Brooks Robinson (16 Gold Gloves, 61% of the vote)
Shortstop - Ozzie Smith (13 Gold Gloves, 56% of the vote)
Outfield - Willie Mays (12 Gold Gloves, 23% of the vote)
Outfield - Roberto Clemente (12 Gold Gloves, 21% of the vote)
Outfield - Ken Griffey Jr. (10 Gold Gloves, 9% of the vote)

Assuming Maddux and Junior get in, every guy on this list is a Hall of Famer except for Wes Parker, who hit .267 in 9 seasons with the Dodgers in the 60s and 70s. "This is my Hall of Fame," Parker said, when asked about the honor.

In terms of guys who may have been snubbed, Jim Katt has just as many Gold Gloves (16) as Maddux, but owns a lower career fielding percentage (.947 to .971). Ivan Rodriguez has more career Gold Gloves (12) than Bench, but finished second. Keith Hernandez (11) and Don Mattingly (9) both had more career Gold Gloves than Parker, but finished third and second respectively. And Robbie Alomar had twice as many Gold Gloves (10) as Morgan, but finished second while Ryne Sandberg (9) finished third.

I wish I had known abut this before today, because I definitely would have voted (and probably not for Bench, Parker, or Morgan).

An Amazing Mess

Sports Illustrated is reporting a former clubbie for the New York Mets, Kirk Radomski, who has already pleaded guilty to providing steroids to dozens of players, has now given investigator Senator George Mitchell a list of names which will "blow your mind."

According to this story, Radomski (the guy wearing the dark t-short, holding up the pair of pants) has been Mitchell's "holy grail" of sorts this entire time and the fact that he is now playing nice means (a) he could get a lighter sentence September 7 because he faces up to 25 years and (b) this could be a huge break in the Mitchell case.

Radomski worked as a clubbie for the Mets from 1985 to 1995, but according to the feds, was a supplier to former and current players from 1995 to 2005.

No specific players are named in the story, and it's not clear if the names he allegedly provided were names of just New York Mets. But in that 20-year span, some big names have put on a Met uniform, like Hall of Famers Gary Carter and Eddie Murray, former MVPs Keith Hernandez, Kevin Mitchell, Jeff Kent, Rickey Henderson and Mo Vaughn, former Rookies of the Year Darryl Strawberry, Mike Piazza, and Hideo Nomo, former Cy Young Award winners Dwight Gooden, David Cone, Frank Viola, Bret Saberhagen, Orel Hershiser, Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez, former and current managers Clint Hurdle, Ron Gardenhire, John Gibbons, Lee Mazzilli, Ray Knight, Willie Randolph, and Larry Bowa, current General Manager Billy Beane, current pitching coaches Roger McDowell and Mike Maddux, current hitting coach Dave Magadan, and All-Stars Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Jesse Orosco, Randy Myers, Rick Aguilera, John Franco, Gregg Jefferies, Howard Johnson, Lenny Dykstra, Todd Hundley, Vince Coleman, Bobby Bonilla, Jeromy Burnitz, Tony Fernandez, Fernando Vina, Brett Butler, Edgardo Alfonzo, Pete Harnisch, Jason Isringhausen, Carl Everett, Carlos Baerga, John Olerud, Preston Wilson, Al Leiter, Robin Ventura, Melvin Mora, Kenny Rogers, Armando Benitez, Mike Hampton, Matt Lawton, Kevin Appier, Roberto Alomar, Gary Matthews Jr., Jose Reyes, David Wright, Cliff Floyd, Mike Cameron, Scott Erickson, and Carlos Beltran.

Again, these are just some of the guys who wore a Met uniform between '85 and '05. Out of those 67 players, Matt Lawton is the only one we know for sure who's ever tested positive (Gary Matthews Jr. was implicated, but denied the allegations and it's been all-but-forgotten at this point).

Imagine what it would do to the game though, if just a quarter of those guys, or a quarter of any other team's high-profile players from the last two decades appear on Radomski's so-called "list." Baseball might never be the same.

The 40 (And 41) Club

Last night, A-Rod became the first hitter in baseball this year to hit 40 homeruns, but Prince Fielder isn't far behind him, after launching number 39 himself. Aside from those two guys, only Adam Dunn and Ryan Howard are even to 30 homeruns right now and they're the only two projected to make it to 40, so it's looking like a down-year for big flies to say the least.

It's actually been 12 years (1995) since baseball had just 4 players hit 40 or more homeruns (Albert Belle, Dante Bichette, Frank Thomas, Jay Buhner). In the 11 seasons since then, there have been at least 10 players in the 40-club 8 times with a high of 17 in 1996 (Mark McGwire, Brady Anderson, Ken Griffey, Albert Belle, Andreas Gallaraga, Juan Gonzalez, Jay Buhner, Mo Vaughn, Gary Sheffield, Greg Vaughn, Todd Hundley, Frank Thomas, Sammy Sosa, Ellis Burks, Vinny Castilla, and Ken Caminiti). In the three seasons that didn't have at least 10 players hit 40 (2005, 2004, 2002), they came awfully close (9, 9, 8).

And while we're talking about 40, let's talk about 41- the number of consecutive hitters Bobby Jenks had retired before giving up a lead-off single to Joey Gathright last night. Jenks tied the record, but didn't break it, and probably would have if he didn't have an 8 day lay-off between appearances (which happened to coincide with the Sox 8 game losing-streak).

"I messed that one up myself," Jenks said after the game. He apparently shook off his catcher on the pitch that ended up being a base-hit. That may be, Bobby, but your team sure didn't do you any favors either.

There's Only 6 Weeks Left...

...in the 2007 regular season, and I'm not sure if people fully realize what a special year Alex Rodriguez is having, and is on pace to have. I sure wasn't aware of it.

Right now, A-Rod is projected to hit .304 with 51 homeruns, 151 RBI, 146 runs, and 21 steals.

Just for starters, nobody has enjoyed a 50-150 season since Sammy Sosa in 2001 and we all (*) know (*) about (*) what (*) some (*) people (*) think (*) about (*) numbers (*) put (*) up (*) in (*) the (*) late (*) 90s (*) and (*) early (*) 00s. Asterisks aside, Sosa had exactly zero stolen bases that year, meaning he was just a dangerous slugger, not necessarily a dangerous base-runner.

Prior to Slammin' Sammy (who did it again in 1998 and added 18 steals, to boot) you have to go back 69 years to Jimmie Foxx's 1938 season. And was it ever a season. He hit .349 with 50 homers, and 175 RBI. BUT, he stole just 5 bases, and scored (just, ha!) 139 runs. Foxx had an eerily similar season 6 years before, in '32 when he went .364, 58, 169, and 151 runs. But he only had 3 steals that year.

Hack Wilson's RBI-record-setting 1930 season also surpassed the 50-150 threshold, and did so by a wide margin. Hack went .356, 56, 190, and scored 146 runs. But again, he only stole 3 bases (noticing a theme?).

The list wouldn't be complete without a Bambino sighting or two, so here we go. Babe Ruth went 50-150 in 1927, knocking 60 over the fence, driving in 164, and scoring 158 times. But if you guessed he wasn't much of a base-stealer, you were right, at least not that year. He swiped just 7 bags in '27, although he did snag 17 in 1921, the same year he went .378, 59, 171, 177.

And that's it. That's the 50-150 list: Sosa twice in the steroid era, Foxx twice and Wilson once in the 30s, and Ruth twice in the 20s. And not one of those guys stole 20 bases in the same season.

So if A-Rod keeps up his current pace, he'll (a) become the first player to hit 50, drive in 150, and steal 20 in the same year (b) become just the fifth player to hit 50, and drive in 150 in the same year and, if he picks it up just a little (c) become just the third player to enjoy a 50-homer, 150-RBI, 150-run season.

Lest we forget this all could happen in the same season he became the youngest to 500 career homeruns. And people still hate this guy...go figure.

Somebody Help Me Out Here

Johan Santana was lifted before the top of the 9th of today's game against Texas after 112 pitches, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, and a franchise record 17 strikeouts (and after striking out the side in the 8th)!

Now, I understand it was a 1-0 game and that the top of the order (albeit the Texas Ranger order) was coming up. But I also understand the Twins are 6.5 out in the Central, 7.5 out in the Wild Card, and that Johan could have tied a major league record if he fanned all three guys he faced in the 9th. Why would he not go back out there? Between the three of them, Ramon Vazquez, Ian Kinsler, and Brad Wilkerson were, at that point in the game, 0-8 with 3 K's.

Maybe it was Santana's call. But I doubt it. And if it wasn't, I think it's pretty selfish.

Hershiser's History?

Brandon Webb did it again last night, tossing his third straight shutout and running his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 42. As you probably know, the record is 59, set back in 1988 by Dodger righty Orel Hershiser, meaning with two more shutouts, Webb would set a new record of 60.

He is the first pitcher since Hershiser to have a consecutive scoreless innings streak of more than 40, and just the 21st in history to have one that long (that's what she said).

Based on the D-Backs' schedule, he's supposed to throw Wednesday, at home, against the Milwaukee Brewers, who could be without Prince Fielder if the league upholds his 3-game suspension. Fielder's status for that game has the potential to be huge in the scope of this streak because obviously Webb would prefer not to have to face the NL's homerun leader 3 or 4 times if he doesn't have to.

If he manages to keep his streak alive after that appearance (he doesn't have to throw a shutout either, he just can't give up any runs), his next start would be Monday the 27th at light-hitting San Diego, and then if necessary he'd pitch again September 1st, at home, against the Colorado Rockies.

Odds are, somebody will break his streak before he gets to Orel, but then again, the odds of him getting to 40 weren't great either, so who knows.

And speaking of streaks, Bobby Jenks still hasn't allowed a baserunner, partially because he hasn't pitched since last Sunday. As it stands right now, he has tied the major league record for consecutive hitters retired, at 41. The White Sox have lost 6 in a row and have two more games left this weekend, at Seattle. So the question is, what's more likely to happen, the White Sox winning a game or somebody reaching base against Jenks?

Why Bud Selig Is An Unequivocal Joke

When viewed with the context of Roger Goodell's handling of the Michael Vick fiasco, and to a lesser extent, David Stern's handling of the Tim Donaghy nightmare, it is now unmistakably clear that Bud Selig is the worst commissioner in pro sports. Selig announced today he feels it is "unnecessary to take further action" against Jason Giambi, an admitted steroids-user. Way to show baseball fans around the globe you're taking this issue seriously, Bud.

The fact that Giambi cooperated with steroids investigator Senator George Mitchell, coupled with two charitable donations he plans to make totaling $100,000 (which is four-tenths of one percent of his 2007 salary, or roughly $256 to someone who earns $60,000 a year) is evidence he's learned his lesson, according to our commissioner, whose tough talk about restoring the integrity of the game was clearly just that.

What sort of message does this send to the millions of fans who want answers about players like Giambi, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and pretty much anybody who put up career numbers in the late 90s and early 00s, only to return to Earth shortly afterward?

And furthermore, does a drug user (let's not forget, that's what steroids are) escape the legal system unscathed if he cooperates with detectives and makes a small charitable donation? No. He or she has to pay the penalty, which in some cases, involves jail time. Can somebody please explain to my why this is any different?

Giambi shouldn't get jail time, but he should have been punished the same way any other steroid-user gets punished nowadays: 50 games for a first offense under the new policy adopted in November of 2005. Admitted use, while more admirable, should be no different than "getting caught" via a positive test. And it's worth noting Giambi only "admitted" using steroids and HGH to a grand jury. He's issued a few vague apologizes and has urged baseball to do the same, but has never said exactly what he's apologizing for.

The true crime in all of this is that it sets a precedent of complete and utter amnesty for anyone else implicated in the Mitchell investigation. Let's say Mitchell has the goods on Barry Bonds, has it right now and is ready to release it tomorrow. Selig has no way of disciplining Bonds any differently than he did Giambi, provided Bonds is willing to make a meager donation. He could potentially get him on the, "Giambi cooperated, you didn't" technicality, but that difference alone wouldn't justify something as serious (and appropriate) as a lengthy suspension, asterisks, or a ban. People would cry racism. And they might be right.

The bottom line is this. Bud Selig had his chance. He had his chance to prove that this Mitchell investigation, which has been somewhat loosely defined and ambiguous to begin with, actually meant something. Unfortunately for baseball and its fans, it does not.

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

I don't get much sports news from The Onion, but I found this article quite entertaining.

Erin Andrews Is Not Unattractive

In the words of the immortal Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Actually, I do have just one other thing to say while we're on the topic of E-A. There's a YouTube video of her that was, at one time, apparently one of the most popular on the web. It's nothing more than a compilation of still photos set to music, yet it's been viewed almost 400-thousand times.

You can find that, here.

Back, Back, Back...Braun!

Someone forgot to tell the middle of Milwaukee's line-up about this year's apparent power outage throughout baseball because Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are now the most dangerous right-left combo in the game (yes, even better than Manny and Papi).

Aside from the Sox and Brewers, only a few other teams warrant mentioning in this category. The Twins have reigning MVP Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter, but even though they're both having great years, they can't quite compete with the rest of the field. It's the same story for Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, plus they're both hitting under .265. I love David Wright, but Carlos Delgado is posting career lows in just about every category for the Mets. If Pat Burrell hadn't had such a God-awful first half, he and Ryan Howard might be more in the mix for the Phillies. Mark Teixeira and Chipper Jones don't really count because they're switch hitters, plus Andruw Jones is still hitting under .215 for the Braves. And when it comes to complimenting Albert Pujols, Chris Duncan is no replacement for Jim Edmonds in his prime, plus Albert's numbers, good as they are, are still down a little bit for the Cardinals.

That leaves the Brew Crew and the Sox, who make this list simply because Manny and Papi have had this honor locked down for most of the decade, and have appeared in 15 All-Star games, combined.

To begin with, let's look at their numbers, entering play Wednesday.

Fielder: .288, 37 HR, 89 RBI, 1.000 OPS
Braun: .354, 23 HR, 60 RBI, 1.080 OPS
Ortiz: .313, 19 HR, 71 RBI, .969 OPS
Ramirez: .292, 19 HR, 78 RBI, .882 OPS

That's no contest. And the difference is even more stark when you consider Braun wasn't called up until late May. But numbers can be deceiving, and part of being a feared middle of the order means you deliver in key spots, something David Ortiz has been known for throughout his career. Unfortunately for Beantowners, this doesn't help make the case for your boys, either.

Combined, Braun and Fielder are hitting .289 with 10 homeruns and 81 RBI with runners in scoring position. Manny and Papi are at an even .300 with 9 homeruns and 106 RBI, but that's in 81 more at-bats. If you take that out of the equation, Braun and Fielder average a homerun every 16.6 AB's with runners in scoring position while Manny and Papi average a jack with men in scoring position every 27.4 AB's. As for RBI with men in scoring position, Braun and Fielder average one every 2.0 AB's. Manny and Papi, one every 2.3 AB's.

But even scoring position numbers can lie. It's easy to hit when you're up or down by 7 runs. But what about when it's close and late (defined by stat-keepers as 7th-inning-on, and your team up a run, tied, or having the tying run on deck)? Surprisingly, this is when the beer makers walk away with it. Close and late this season, Braun and Fielder are hitting .350 with 8 HR and 18 RBI in 100 AB's. Just for good measure, Braun's late and close OPS is .830, while Fielder's is a preposterous 1.249. Manny and Papi are hitting just .207 late and close, with 2 HR and 9 RBI, in 106 AB's (Ortiz has no late and close homeruns this season). Manny's OPS in that time is a Jason-Kendall-like .566, while Papi's is .724.

Braun and Fielder seem to feed off each other. They're already homered in the same game 7 times this season, and 4 times this month alone. Braun turns 24 in November, and Fielder won't be 24 until next May. Yikes!

Fielder's across-the-board improvement from last year seems to suggest he's the real deal, while we won't know for sure about Braun until at least next year, even though he's doing things now that most rookies simply don't do, like being the fastest to 20 homeruns since Pujols, while hitting over .350. So Kevin Maas comparisons are likely way off-base here.

Whether this duo is ready to supplant Manny and Papi on the perennial "most feared" list remains to be seen. Those guys happen to be suffering down seasons this year, but remain on Hall-of-Fame tracks (Manny moreso than Papi, right now). But the Rookie of the Year and MVP front runners in the NL sure have lots of folks in Wisconsin feeling awfully optimistic about the future.

20-20 Vision

A season in which a player hits 20 homeruns and steals 20 bases can, in no way, be interpreted as a poor one, no matter what that player hits. It shows he has a mix of power and speed which not too many players possess. Then again, if it seems like a whole bunch of players have already reached, or are approaching 20-20 seasons, it's because there are. And in many cases, they are part of baseball's new group of young superstars.

Here's a list of guys who are already there, as of last night's games:
1. Hanley Ramirez (21 HR, 37 SB)
2. David Wright (22 HR, 25 SB)
3. Jimmy Rollins (21 HR, 22 SB)
4. Brandon Phillips (21 HR, 22 SB)

Here are the guys who are almost there:
1. Eric Byrnes (18 HR, 31 SB)
2. Grady Sizemore (19 HR, 29 SB)
3. Chris B. Young (19 HR, 19 SB)
4. Gary Sheffield (24 HR, 18 SB)
5. Alfonso Soriano (18 HR, 18 SB)
6. Corey Hart (18 HR, 18 SB)
7. Carlos Beltran (20 HR, 15 SB)

And here are some players who still have a decent shot at it:
1. Russell Martin (12 HR, 18 SB)
2. Bobby Abreu (12 HR, 15 SB)
3. Alex Rodriguez (39 HR, 14 SB)
4. Mike Cameron (14 HR, 14 SB)
5. Curtis Cranderson (16 HR, 14 SB)
6. Ian Kinsler (14 HR, 14 SB)
7. B.J Upton (16 HR, 13 SB)
8. Torii Hunter (23 HR, 12 SB)
9. Gary Matthews Jr. (14 HR, 12 SB)
10. Alex Rios (20 HR, 11 SB)

All 21 players probably won't get there, but a significant percentage of them will. So how does the potential number of 20-20ers this year compare to the last few years? Well, just 7 did last year (Soriano, Rollins, Damon, Cameron, Byrnes, Sizemore, and Wright). The year before, only 4 did (Abreu, Soriano, Sizemore, A-Rod, Bay). And in 2004 the number was back up to 9 (Beltran, Abreu, Corey Patterson, A-Rod, Jeter, Matt Lawton, Cameron, Reggie Sanders, and Hunter).

The last time at least 10 players went 20-20 in a season was all the way back in 2001 when 15 guys did it. But remember, stolen bases were much more in vogue then, and as you'll see, a few of the guys on that list are definitely surprises (Guerrero, Abreu, Cameron, Jose Cruz Jr., Beltran, Roberto Alomar, Raul Mondesi, Jeter, Corey Koskie, Ordonez, Ryan Klesko, Durham, Paul O'Neil, Shawn Green, and Preston Wilson).

I think we're well on a pace to trump that year in, not only the number of 20-20 performances, but most importantly, the quality of players achieving it.

There's No Jinxing Jenks

Thanks to a 1-2-3 9th yesterday against the Seattle Mariners (it took him all of 7 pitches), Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks is now one out away from setting the major league record for consecutive batters retired, at 42.

If he gets the lead-off man in his next outing, it will mean he hasn't allowed a hit, walk, error, hit by pitch, or catchers' interference in 14 innings of work.

The Sox play at Oakland, Tuesday night.

Based on this photo, it seems Jenks wishes this streak meant anything for his miserable team, which fell to 13.5 back of the first place Detroit Tigers after Sunday's loss.

Dealing

Josh Beckett and John Lackey are making most of the headlines this morning because they both notched their 15th wins of the season last night. They're the top stories (along with Rick Ankiel) because baseball fans and baseball writers remain inexplicably enamored with a statistic that doesn't measure a pitcher's skill and dominance with the same precision as less sexy stats like WHIP, OPS against, quality start percentage, and K:BB ratio. And that's wrong.

To earn a win, you only need to pitch 5 innings, leave with a lead, and have it hold up. This really means you need to be on a team that scores a lot of runs, plays good defense, and has an excellent bullpen. I'd say the Red Sox and Angels get check-marks in all three categories, no thanks to Beckett, Lakcey, or any of their other starting pitchers.

My point is, while they've definitely both enjoyed tremendous seasons and easily rank among the game's best right now, they're not alone. So why do they deserve extra credit for things they cannot, and do not control? If Joel Pineiro was Boston's closer and had coughed up of 4 of Beckett's wins this year, but his other numbers were exactly the same, Beckett's 11th win of the season yesterday would have been completely under the radar. It baffles me, but I digress (for the record, Chris Young has the best WHIP in baseball at 1.00 while Beckett is 10th at 1.11 and Lackey is 30th at 1.24; Young also leads in OPS against at .520 while Beckett is 9th at .639 and Lackey is 25th at .688; nobody has a higher quality start percentage than Dan Haren at 92%, Lackey is 15th at 71%, Beckett is 16th at 68%; and C.C. Sabathia's 5.92 is the best K:BB in the game, Beckett is 3rd at 4.83, Lackey is 25th at 2.93.)

Instead, I want to focus on two other pitchers who have been (with all apologies to Dick Vitale) dominant with a capital "D" of late, but haven't received the same praise. I'm talking about Brandon Webb and Bobby Jenks.

Webb is more than halfway to Orel Hershiser's seemingly unreachable record of 59 consecutive scoreless innings, running his total to a club record 33 after last night's shutout against the Nationals. Here's how hard this is to do. A guy leads off the inning with a perfect bunt base hit, the next guy hits a groundball to your second baseman whose only play is to first (runner moves up to second), and the next batter hits one to your third baseman, who throws it away. A run is in and a ball hasn't left the infield.

Throwing one shutout is hard enough in baseball. Webb's thrown back to back shutouts now, en route to tossing 33 straight over the course of 5 starts. That goes above and beyond hard. And putting 59 consecutive goose eggs up on the scoreboard is, as Webb desrcibed it, "probably around Cal Ripken territory...one of the most difficult ones to reach."

For Webb, it's always been about control. He fanned 10 and walked 1 last night, and over the course of his streak, he's struck out 29 and waked just 6. For the season he has 155 K's and 56 walks (thus the 2.77 ERA and 1.21 WHIP), but back in his 16-loss season of 2004, he walked a worst-in-baseball 119 hitters. The sinker was sinking almost too much. Now though, it appears he has it more than under control.

Next, we go to Jenks, who's complied a streak that is arguably even more impressive than Webb's, in that his tied a league record. Big And Wide has retired 38 straight hitters. That's a perfect game, plus 11 more outs, out of the bullpen. After blowing a save against the Indians back on July 17, then retiring 3 hitters to force extras, Jenks has posted 12 straight 1-2-3 outings. And these haven't been meaningless mop-up innings. He got saves in 8 of those appearances, a win in another, and 3 times he was protecting a 1-run lead.

Manager Ozzie Guillen called it "amazing" saying Jenks' streak is even more impressive than fellow Sox hurler Mark Buehrle's no-hitter earlier this season, because Jenks is facing a new team each time out.

Interestingly, Jenks is now tied with another, shall we say, "rotund" pitcher for the league record- David Wells. Wells came into his infamous hung-over perfect game in 1998 having retired 10 straight Royals the start before. After going 27 up and 27 down against the Twins, Boomer retired Red Sox leadoff man Darren Lewis in his next start before allowing Darren Bragg to single to left field, thus ending his streak at 38 straight hitters (those Red Sox Darrens in the late 90's will get you every time).

If Jenks goes 1-2-3 in his next outing (the Sox host the Mariners today at 2:05) he'll have tied Jim Barr's major league record of 41 in a row, set 35 years ago when pitched for the San Francisco Giants. Unlike Jenks, Barr was a starter as well.

But the Sox aren't great this year so it could take Jenks a few days to potentially tie and break the record. Unfortunately, if he's going for history Tuesday, he probably won't be the biggest story of the day in baseball, or even in his own city. That's because Carlos Zambrano will be gunning for his 15th win against the Reds that night.

Rick Yank-iel

Don't let the headline mislead you. He's not going to the Yankees to be their new setup man. But Rick Ankiel did hit two more homeruns last night against the Dodgers, en route to another Cardinals' win, 6-1.

For those of you keeping score, he now trails current all-time home run leader Barry Bonds by just 755 round-trippers. Ankiel should pass Bonds some time in 2012 if he keeps up his current pace of one homerun every 4 at-bats.

In all seriousness, this guy is one hell of an athlete. He's physically gifted, but even stronger emotionally to have come back from the breakdown he suffered in 2000.

And what I like about him now is, he's grounded.

After the game he told reporters quite simply, "don't hold me to days like this."

What's not to like about this guy?

So Hot Right Now

With all due respect to Hansel, the New York Yankees ' hitters are some of the hottest around. In fact, almost half their lineup ranks in the top 20 for fantasy production over the last month, which may explain how they've pulled to within 5 games of the Red Sox.

Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano, Bobby Abreu, and Alex Rodriguez are hitting a combined .341 with 32 homeruns, 106 runs scored, 115 RBI, and 9 steals over that time and they rank 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 17th respectively in 5x5 fantasy production.

There are definitely some surprising names on that list like number 5 Jermaine Dye (.327, 12, 23), number 11 Corey Patterson (.352, 13 RBI, 14 steals), and number 31 Pat Burrell (.395, 6, 22). Then there are the usual suspects like Carl Crawford, David Wright, Ryan Howard, Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols.

The three hottest pitchers in the land recently have all been the topics of recent posts of mine: Erik Bedard, Scott Kazmir, and Tim Hudson. Others include less-well-known starters helping their teams make the playoff push like Orlando Hernandez, Fausto Carmona, and Doug Davis.

With the playoff race as tight as it is, it's probably going to come down to the performances of these under-the-radar guys, and others to determine who gets in and who's left out.

The Big Three, Minus Two

I was looking back at an old post of mine from March, about former Oakland Athletics teammates Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, and Mark Mulder. The gist of that particular blog entry was, statistically speaking, those guys were much better as teammates than they've been since. I also mentioned the fact that all three really had quite a bit to prove this season.

Well, almost 5 months to the day later, it seems two of them still have a lot to prove (arguably even more than they did back in spring training), while the third guy, Tm Hudson, has quietly enjoyed an excellent season.

Hudson is fresh off a win in his 7th consecutive decision. His 13 total wins are tied for second in the National League and his 3.01 ERA is good for 5th. Opponents are slugging just .320 against him, which is 3rd best in baseball behind San Diego's pair of aces, and no big league starter has given up fewer homeruns than he has (4), which is remarkable considering he gave up 25 a year ago. That, coupled with his renewed command (38 walks in 164 2/3 innings, compared to 79 in 218 1/3 a year ago), has really been the difference for Huddy in '07. And even with two sub-par seasons with the Braves prior to this year, he still owns the 5th best winning percentage among active pitchers (Santana, Pedro, Oswalt, and Halladay are in front of him, and not by much).

While Hudson has improved, Zito has regressed, big time. It's probably still too early to say his 7-year, $126 million dollar deal ranks among the worst of all time, but #75 has done next-to-nothing to silence his critics who said there was no way he deserved to be the richest pitcher in baseball history. With 37 more walks this season, Zito's base on balls allowed total will have risen for a third straight year. With just 8 wins so far, he's running the risk of setting a new career low (it's 11 right now), his 5.16 ERA would easily be a career worst (it's a full run and a half higher than his carer average), and he's allowing almost 3 baserunners every two innings. I guess the only silver lining at this point is that 2008 will almost certainly be an improvement, and it's not exclusively his fault the Giants are so bad.

Then there's Mulder. At first, we were expecting he'd be fully recovered from rotator cuff surgery by July. Here we are in mid-August and he's thrown as many big league innings as I have thus far. The latest word on his progress is that he threw a simulated game Monday, and he could re-join the red birds before September. Even though the Cardinals are 6 games under .500, they're only 5.5 back in the Central, so the '06 champs are not out of it, yet. But if they fall much further out of contention, their motivation to get Mulder back on the mound this year has to be virtually nil. I know this much. He won't be rushed.

I guess the story of the Big Three is really a microcosm of the fluid state of elite starting pitching in today's game. GMs would have killed for these guys five years ago. Now, the Braves have to be thinking, "it's about time" while the Giants are thinking "six more years of this?" and the Cardinals are thinking, "I wonder what he has left?" Kind of makes you wonder what the future has in store for today's aces.

Rick's Redemption

Forget the fact that his roster spot was created because of Scott Spiezio's admission that he has a substance abuse problem for which he is now seeking help. Rick Ankiel's return to the St. Louis Cardinals has to be one of, if not the most heart-warming and inspirational story of 2007 (perhaps it's a close second to Jon Lester's return to the Sox).

This guy was dubbed the next Steve Carlton about 10 years ago. He was a $2.4 million second-round pick in '97, and he made his big league debut just two years later. In 2000, he was considered a Rookie of the Year favorite thanks to his high-90's heater, and hard, swooping hammer. He finished a distant second to Rafael Furcal in the voting, but he did record 11 wins, and 194 K's in 175 innings. What we didn't know at the time though, was that his career as a pitcher was already over.

During Game 1 of the 2000 NL Divisional Series, Ankiel had a 6-0 lead going into the top of the 3rd when something happened: he couldn't throw a strike. Not only could he not find the zone, he couldn't even find the mitt. He threw 5 wild pitches in the inning, the first time any big leaguer had done that in 110 years. He also issued 4 of his 6 walks in the frame, and was yanked with 2 outs. The Cardinals won the game, but they'd lost Ankiel for good. In his next, and only other postseason start, (Game 2 of the NLCS against the Mets), he threw 2 more wild pitches, issued 3 more walks, and retired just 2 batters.

In the 2001 season, he was a shadow of his former self. After just 6 starts, which included 5 more wild pitches and 25 walks in 24 innings, the Cardinals sent him all the way down to Rookie Ball to clear his head and start fresh. It was during that time that Ankiel, who could always swing the bat (he hit .250 with 2 homers and 9 RBI in 68 AB's in 2000), dabbled as a DH in-between appearances.

After missing all of 2002 with arm problems, Ankiel spent all of '03 and most of '04 trying to mount a comeback. And he was called up late in the season, but in a relief role. In 5 September appearances he struck out 9 in 10 innings, and appeared to have overcome his wildness, but he just wasn't the same guy. That's when his pro pitching career officially came to a close, and he decided to try his hand at another comeback, as a full-time position player. He made it to triple-A in 2005, only to lose his entire 2006 to a knee injury, but even then he didn't give up.

Fast forward to August of 2007 when Ankiel, who was sitting on 32 homeruns in the Pacific Coast league, finally got the call...he was going back to the big leagues.

So last night, at home, in front of 42,000 fans, Ankiel belted a 3-run homerun off of Padres' reliever Doug Brocial to turn a 2-0 nail-biter into a 5-0 blowout.

Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa said aside from winning the World Series, it's the happiest he's ever been in uniform. I bet Ankiel might have been even happier.

Kazmir Is Here

After today's masterful performance in Detroit against the Tigers, it's probably time to recognize the fact that things are starting to click for Scott Kazmir.

The proof isn't just in his six consecutive quality starts, (four of which are against contenders New York, LA, Boston, and Detroit), although he is 4-1 with a 1.16 ERA, 45 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings (10.5 per 9), and 1.09 WHIP over that stretch. No, for Kazmir, the key number is 12, his walk total in those 6 starts.

This is a guy who has battled with mechanical and control problems his entire career. In his 521 big league innings, he's already issued 243 free passes. That works out to a Daniel-Cabrera-esque 4.2 per 9 (for the record, D-Cab is averaging an unthinkable 5.3 walks per 9). Add to that Kazmir's 538 career K's, and it's no wonder he's averaging less than 6 innings pitched per start. But not long ago (say, 6 starts), he made a major adjustment, and ever since he's been keeping it stupidly simple, and keeping the ball in the good part of the zone- down and on the black.

"I just wanted to go back to what I was doing last year: Throw it up there and let it go," Kazmir said after the first of his half dozen, money starts.

It's always a remarkable thing to see a 23-year-old with a little experience and a lot of talent go out there and do his thing. Do you think the New York Mets (now just 3.5 games up on the resurgent Braves) wish they hasn't traded him for Victor Zambrano three years ago?

It's Getting Interesting

With about 50 games left in the season, more than half the teams in baseball (16) are either in first place in their division, leading in the Wild Card chase, or within 5 games of the leader.

The tightest division remains the NL West where the hot Arizona Diamondbacks have a 2-game lead over the San Diego Padres, a 3-game lead over the surprising Colorado Rockies, and a 5-game lead over the seriously slumping LA Dodgers.

In the AL Central, the Indians and Tigers keep leap-frogging one another (the Tribe is up a half game right now), and in the NL Central, the Brewers are keeping the Chicago Cubs away with a chair, whip, and 1-game lead.

The LA Angels are 3 up on Seattle, the Mets are 4 up on the Phillies and 4.5 up on the Braves, and the Red Sox are 6 up on New York.

It gets even hairier when you look at the Wild Card situation. Right now, the M's have a percentage-points-lead over Detroit, with the Yanks just a half game out in the AL. In the NL, the Pads lead right now, but the Phillies (1 back), Braves (1.5 back), Rockies (2 back...seriously), Cubs (3 back) and Dodgers (3 back) are all very much alive.

Since the Wild Card format was born in 1995, there's never been more than 5 new playoff teams from one year to the next (and never fewer than 2). But there is actually a scenario where all 8 playoff teams in 2007 could be teams that missed the postseason in 2006. If things stay exactly as they are right now in the American League, we'd be halfway there, and that too has never happened before (a league sending 4 new teams to the playoffs). The Red Sox would need to win the East (which is likely), the Indians have to hold off the Tigers in the Central (which is probably a coin flip right now), LA would win the West (which is also likely), and the Mariners would somehow hold on to the Wild Card. Those four clubs would replace New York, Minnesota, Oakland and Detroit. In the NL, it's a little trickier, but only because of one division. The Mets would have to blow their 4 game lead over the Phillies, Milwaukee or the Cubs could take the Central, Arizona could win the West, and either Colorado , Atlanta, or the odd-man-out in the Central could get the wild card. Then we'd have four new NL teams from last year's Mets, Cardinals, Padres, and Dodgers.

My guess is, we have at least 4 new teams in the mix this year. Minnesota, Oakland, St. Louis, and the Dodgers or Padres will end up staying home. How it pans out from there is anybody's guess. But I do know this. These last 50 games should be good.

Things Are Looking Up(ton)

19-year-old Justin Upton, the first overall pick of the 2005 draft, made his big league debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks August 2 at San Diego. After going 0 for 6 to start his career, he's 7 for 11 since, with 3 doubles, a triple, and a homerun.

Last night in his home debut against the Pirates, he finished a single shy of the cycle and the talk is, he's already made fellow right field prospect Carlos Quentin expendable because Chris Young has center locked down, and the team just re-upped with Eric Byrnes. Personally, I think that's awfully early in a career to anoint a teenager your starting right fielder for the foreseeable future, but if this pans out the way the D-Backs are hoping, this could be one hell of an outfield for years to come.

Justin is definitely off to a hot start (albeit in 17 at-bats), unlike his older bro, BJ, who turns 23 in a few weeks. He's just now hitting his stride in this, his third season in the bigs, and fourth total since debuting in 2004. It took the second overall pick of the 2002 draft more than 300 AB's, and all of 2005 in the minors, to get it. But now, he does.

He has 36 extra base hits this season, he's 13 for 19 in stolen bases, and he's somehow hitting .323 with a .401 on base percentage despite a nearly 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Back when they were drafted, scouts said Justin's ceiling was a little bit higher than BJ's. It seems they still feel this way today. Based on what we're starting to see from these, still very young siblings, that's a scary thought.

So Who's Next?

The last four days in baseball have really been a microcosm for the entire season; All-Star-caliber players reaching noteworthy career milestones. We had Barry Bonds hitting his 756th last night, Tom Glavine winning his 300th Sunday and Alex Rodriguez becoming the youngest to 500 on Saturday. But don't forget about Craig Biggio's 3,000th hit, Frank Thomas cranking his 500th homerun, or Sammy Sosa hitting his 600th homerun before that. That's 6 pretty big milestones already this season, and it's not even counting Ryan Howard becoming the fastest to 100 homeruns, Trevor Hoffman recording his record 500th save, or the Philadelphia Phillies suffering their pro-sports-worst 10,000th loss. I hope you like this stuff, because we could be in for a handful more before we reach October.

The real race right now, and it's shaping up to be a good one, is between sluggers Ken Griffey, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez. Junior is 11 bombs away from 600, Thome is 10 away from 500, and Manny is 11 away from 500. Barring injury, which is assuming quite a bit with this group, all three could reach their marks before the end of the season, although there isn't a single guy who's a lock to do it. Griffey has 26 bombs so far, Thome 18, and Manny 19. They all have about 50 games left, so they'll each need one every 5 games or so to get there.

In less exciting homerun chase news, thanks to a 2-dinger performance last night, Todd Helton is now 3 away from 300. By itself that's not impressive, but tack on his career .331 average (which ranks behind only Ichiro and Albert Pujols among active players) and it's suddenly a much more impressive feat.

I hope you're not sick of Barry Bonds yet, because he's a very doable 19 RBI away from 2,000 for his career. Only Aaron, Ruth, and Cap Anson are in that club right now. And with a sac fly or solo homerun tonight, Miguel Tejada will be halfway to Bonds, with 1,000 career RBI. Something tells me he's not going to catch Barry, though.

In more dubious Jim Thome news, he notched career punchout number 2,000 last night against the Indians' Jake Westbrook. Four more, and he'll move into third place on the all-time list behind only Reggie Jackson and Sammy Sosa. Jackson finished up 3 shy of 2,600 for his career (think about that for a second...that's more than 4 full seasons of nothing but strikeouts!) so it's looking like that record will be safe.

If you think that's painful, listen to this. Three more hit-by-pitches, and Craig Biggio will own the career record with 288. He's already said he's hanging them up at the end of the season, so if it's the last game on the schedule and he's sitting on 287, I hope somebody does the right thing and drills him.

For pitchers, Andy Pettitte is 6 wins away from 200, which for all intents and purposes, might as well be the new 250, assuming 250 is the new 300.

Speaking of 300, new club member Tom Glavine is just 3 losses away from 200 for his career. But he has no need to worry. Of the 23 pitchers with 300 "W's," only 6 of them (Christy Matthewson, Roger Clemens, John "Don't Call Me Kelly" Clarkson, Eddie Plank, Charley Radbourn, and Lefty Grove) had fewer than 200 "L's."

Pedro Martinez needs just two more strikeouts for 3,000 in his career. Just 14 pitchers have accumulated more and they're all Hall-of-Famers, except for Roger Clemens (who will be), Randy Johnson (who will be too), Bert Blyleven (who should be), Greg Maddux (who will be), and Curt Schilling (who might be).

And finally, if Roberto Hernandez and Mike Timlin make 4 and 10 more appearances respectively for the Dodgers and Red Sox (or really any big league team for that matter), they'll both reach quadruple digits. Only 11 other players have done that.

None of these milestones will be as big as the three we've seen reached since the weekend, but it's nice to know there are still plenty of reasons to watch, even if your team is out of the chase.

756*

To me, this is a sad day for baseball...not because it's Barry Bonds who's broken one of the game's most revered records. No, we knew that was going to happen eventually and Bonds is unquestionably a Hall-of-Famer. To me, the reason this is a sad day is because baseball and its fans are either grossly over-celebrating this achievement, or grossly under-celebrating it, and we may never know which is the case.

One of two things happened here. Either Barry Bonds did use illegal performance-enhancing drugs to enjoy freakish success in his late 30s and 40s and broke records he otherwise wouldn't have come close to breaking, or he didn't do anything wrong other than enjoying unprecedented late-career potency thanks to a rigorous workout regimen and a health-conscious diet. It's sad we don't have an answer to that yet.

Bonds insisted his record is "taint-free," again last night during a post-game press conference. I appreciate that, but with all due respect to Bonds, I'd like to hear high ranking baseball officials corroborate his story. And considering the fact that Bud Selig didn't even want his picture taken with Bonds, I wouldn't expect that any time soon. It's sad that every single story or discussion in the days and weeks to come will include the words "suspicion," "allegations," "knowingly," "cheat," "taint," "leaked grand jury testimony" and "steroids." It's sad because the game deserves better, and so does Bonds if he's actually clean.

It's sad that some people might try to turn this into a racial issue, which it simply is not. I bet you'll be able to find more Barry Bonds fans right now than Mark McGwire or Rafael Palmeiro fans, and probably more Hank Aaron fans than the other three combined.

And it's sad that some people are not celebrating this once-in-a-lifetime achievement with the same zeal as, say, Ripken's 2131, or McGwire's 62nd back before this whole mess started. That's not to say that I blame them, it's just sad that there's any doubt.

300

It's the hottest DVD in America right now, and it's how many career victories Tom Glavine has, thanks to tonight's 8-3 win, in Chicago, against the Cubs.

Glavine was vintage Glavine. He got ahead of hitters, got a few generous strike calls from the home plate umpire (earned by being in the zone all night), and changed location and speed with the veteran savvy of a savvy veteran.

Glavine is the guy every father should make his son watch the first time Sonny Boy asks how hard he was throwing on the radar gun in his high school game. He should sit him down, pop in tonight's game, or just about any of Glavine's other 299 wins, and show Junior that you can throw 85 and still make good big league hitters look bad. If that speed works against Alfonso Soriano and Derek Lee, 70 will work just fine against the J-V team.

In this generation, Glavine will probably be thought of after guys like Clemens, Maddux, and Randy Johnson (rightly so). But he ranks well above pitchers like Schilling, Pedro, Pettitte, Smoltz, and Mussina for, if nothing else, his consistency.

Glavine is now the 23rd member of the 300 club (Gerard Butler is not one of the other 22), and the big question is, will he be the last? As I've said before, there aren't too many pitchers right now with a decent crack at 300. Since my post a few weeks ago, Johnson's season has come to an end, without another win. So he'll need 16 next year, after major back surgery, and at age 44. It's possible, but it'll be tough. And I don't see Johnson pitching for anybody in 2009.

Mussina's 2006 made it look like he had a lot more career left than he appears to have left in 2007. He's 55 wins away and has never had 20 in a season, meaning he's going to need to pitch for at least 4 more seasons. Again, not impossible, but not likely.

Realistically, after Moose, it's Pedro who needs 94 more at age 35, and Pettitte who's the same age and 109 away. Personally, I don't think it's going to happen for any of those guys, meaning it may be Roy Oswalt, C.C. Sabathia, or Johan Santana who ends up getting close.

Or who knows? Maybe it's the 13-year-old who just finished up watching Glavine's 300th and now has a newfound appreciation for pitching rather than just lighting up the gun, who's going to be the next to join the list, some 30 years from now. That, friends, is what makes this game so great.