September 8, 2006

Ken Griffey Jr. of Marietta eclipsed the 400-HR mark and settled into third place on the all-time list behind Sammy Sosa (436) and Barry Bonds (588) of Arkansas. This season he passed new teammate Jim Thome (391), who is spending the year rehabbing, and Juan Gonzalez (385).

Don’t look now but Hillsborough’s Alex Rodriguez is close on Griffey’s tail. Rodriguez already had passed DMBL greats like Mike Piazza of Westwood and Mark McGwire (381) at No. 7, before also overtaking Gonzalez and Thome. A-Rod reached the 400-mark in the final game before the peanut vendors’ two-week strike.

Some thought Piazza might call it a career after several seasons in Hoboken and Newark. But since being picked in the 12th round of this year’s draft by Westwood, he’s showing he’s got something left. Piazza is only hitting around .200 but has 20 home runs – enough to pass McGwire and challenge Gonzalez for 6th all time this season. He has every intention of returning in 2008, when he likely would hit No. 400.

Another catcher may be mired in what could be his worst season ever, but D.C.’s Ivan Rodriguez is making the most of it. The Bushslappers’ backstop became the fourth player to reach 2,000 hits for his career, passing Tony Gwynn (1,960) and Edgar Martinez (1,949) in the process. He has a good chance of catching Jeff Bagwell (2,047) before the year is out. He was joined in the 2,000-hit club by Gary Sheffield, who did it in one of his first games as a member of the Rat Pack after being dealt by Marietta.

In his final season in the DMBL, Hoboken’s Larry Walker surpassed 400 doubles, moving into fourth all-time in that category, while batting lead-off most of the year for the Cutters.

More Milestones articles can be found in the Milestones Archives.