Two Well Deserving Gents and Various Records

Two well deserving gentlemen entered the immortal history books of baseball today. Craig Biggo became the 27th member of the 3000 hit club with a five-for-six performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Earlier in the day Frank Thomas became the 21st member of the 500 homerun club with a blast off of the Minnesota Twins. Both of these men have both played out their respective careers with grace and class, a rare quality nowadays; their numbers maybe impressive, but their attitudes and actions both on and off the field will surely seal their fate as hall of famers in Cooperstown.

Which record is more impressive though? Personally, I believe that the 3000 hit club is monumentally harder to join than the 500 homerun club, even though as of right now, there are more members in the 3K hit club. On top of that, Biggio is a second baseman, a position that is not renowned for sluggers and has accrued the most hit by pitches in his career. Thomas will surely enter the hall of fame on the first ballot due to the fact that he has never been connected or accused of using performance enhancing drugs. He is has also hit the most homeruns of any DH in history (248). But as every year passes, especially this year, the 500 homerun club will gradually become less prestigious, but still monumental.

Unless an individual has officially or by their own admission been linked to performance enhancing drug use, I still envision 500 homeruns a sure ticket to the hall. As of right now, Gary Sheffield (473), Manny Ramirez (481), Jim Thome (482), and Alex Rodriguez (492) will undoubtedly join the club this year or next year, which will bring the total to 25 men. In the future other potential members may include Andruw Jones (354), Vladimir Guerrero (352), Albert Pujols (266), and Ryan Howard (100 and fastest to 100). The ultimate measure of the homerun hitter may in fact now be the 600 homerun club. Sammy Sosa (601) became the fifth man ever to hit 600 and Ken Griffey Jr. (584) will join by the end of the year.

On the other hand, only 4 active players are in range of obtaining their 3000th career hit; Barry Bonds (2894), Julio Franco (2575), Steve Finley (2548), Omar Vizquel (2531), and Ken Griffey Jr. (2484). But the likely hood of any of these men obtaining the feet is slim. Bonds may have the best shot if his body holds up (or if he isn’t indicted), but the others, especially Franco (who has been playing since 1982 and is almost 50) will fall short. Young greats such as Albert Pujols may approach the “big 3K,” but predicting such things isn’t an exact science.

Pitching milestones are also on the forefront of MLB records this year. Tom Glavine will be the next man to join the 300 win club, as he is currently at 297 career wins. Randy Johnson, who currently owns 284 career wins, will eventually join the club. But the 300 win club may not be the sure fire measure of electing modern pitchers to the hall. Johnson may be the last 300 win pitcher we see in the live ball era due to the fact that the 5 man rotation is severely cutting down on the amount of wins that pitchers obtain on a yearly basis. Roger Clemens is back in the league for his 24th season, but has only one win this season, which puts him at 350 wins. The ageless Greg Maddux just obtained his 340th career win and very well may reach 360 by the time he retires.