HOME FIELDS GALLERY CONTACT  US BASEBALL  TRIVIA PLAY ESCAPA! THIRD   GRADE MAP TEST WEATHER REPORT Latest News 600  Milestone for Griffey! MIAMI - (Monday, June 9, 2008) - Ken Griffey, Jr. just became the newest member of the elite club. The 38-year-old Griffey became only the sixth player in MLB history to reach the 600 home run mark when he launched a rocket 413 feet into the right field seats in the first inning of the Red's 9-4 victory over the Marlins. Enjoy the Moment Griffey completed his perfect power stroke and then paused a moment to admire the arc of his record-breaking shot before rounding the bases. Who could blame him for savoring the moment? The journey to this milestone took a lot longer than anyone expected. When Griffey was traded to Cincinnati, his hometown, before the 2000 season, he was significantly ahead of Hank Aaron's record home run pace. He hit 40 homers in his first season with the Reds (2000), becoming the youngest player to reach the 400 mark. Injuries Then came a succession of major injuries - - torn hamstrings, torn patella tendon, separated shoulder, torn ankle - - that knocked him way off Hank Aaron's pace. It took him more than four years to get to 500. It seemed he might never make it to 600. One Year Later In 2005, he was back in the swing. Griffey hit 35 homers, winning the comeback player award. He followed that with 27 homers in 2006. Last season (2007), he played in 144 games, his most since 2000, and hit 30 homers, leaving him just seven shy of 600. Homer No. 36 was one of his most satisfying. In the 1990 season, Griffey followed his father in the Mariner's batting order which is remarkable in itself. Homer No. 36 came on Sept. 14, 1990. His father, Ken Griffey Sr. (Mariner's Left Fielder), had just homered off California's Kirk McCaskell. Father and son back-to-back homers was truly unprecedented in major league history. In Good Company Griffey joins Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Sammy Sosa as the only players to reach this milestone.     ALL - TIME HOME   RUN    LEADERS   1 Hall of Fame Member               2 Active Player               (XX) Player Age Rank   Player Name Home  Runs     1   Barry Bonds 762     2   Hank Aaron1 755     3   Babe Ruth1 714     4   Willie Mays1 660     5   Sammy Sosa 609     6   Ken Griffey, Jr.2 (38) 600     7   Frank Robinson1 586     8   Mark McGwire 583     9   Harmon Killebrew1 573   10   Rafael Palmeiro 569   13   Micky Mantle1 536   16   Jim Thome2 (37) 521   20   Ernie Banks1 512   25   Lou Gehrig1 493   28   Stan Musial1 475   38   Cal Ripken1 431   40   Billy Williams1 426   69   Joe DiMaggio1 361   72   Yogi Berra1 358   80   Ron Santo 342  133   Paul Konerko2 (32) 284  170   Alfonso Soriano2 (32) 256  182   Derrek Lee2 (32) 252               Triple Steal Indians Pull Off Rare Triple Steal CLEVELAND - (Tuesday, May 27, 2008) - David Delluccio was minding his own business, taking a lead off third base. Next thing he knew, he was a part of baseball history. After completing a rare unassisted triple play a few weeks ago, the Cleveland Indians pulled off an even stranger feat last night......a triple steal. The Indians accomplished the feat in at 8-2 victory against the Chicago White Sox. With the bases loaded and Ben Francisco batting, White Sox, pitcher Ehren Wasserman faked a throw to third, then, threw to first, which caught Jamey Carroll off the bag. First baseman Paul Konerko had Carroll in a brief rundown. Delluccio immediately broke from third and Konerko's throw1 to catcher Toby Hall was in the dirt, allowing Delluccio to score. All three base runners, Delluccio, Carroll and Grady Sizemore (on second at the time) advanced. The last triple steal came on October 1, 1987, by Atlanta against Houston according to the Elias Sports bureau.                                                                         1Official scorer Chuck Murr credited all three runners with stolen bases. Murr thought Konerko had an unusually difficult play and didn't think it proper to charge him with a throwing error. "He had to catch the ball from Wasserman, engage in a brief rundown, and then quickly throw across his body to the plate," Murr said. "I thought that constituted more than an ordinary or routine 'chance'."   No-Hitter BOSTON - (May 19, 2008) - Jon Lester, a 24 year old cancer survivor, has just added pitching a no-hitter to his already amazing list of accomplishments. Lester struck out nine, fanning Alberto Callaspo to end the game, shutting out Kansas City 7-0. It was Lester's first complete game, and what a way to do it! Afterwards, Lester said:  "If I can help out just one person who's down in the dumps because they have cancer and it's not going very well for them, maybe they'll say, 'If Lester can do it, I can do it, too'". And now he has added this to his resume - the first no-hitter by a Red Sox left hander since Mel Parnell in 1956..... ...and it's only Lester's 37th major league start. In addition to nine strikeouts, Lester received exceptional defensive help in the form of Jacoby Ellsbury's diving catch of Jose Guillen's fourth inning line drive, and a pick up of a low throw by first baseman Kevin Youkilis in the third inning. Lester threw 20 of 29 first-pitch strikes, establishing his fastball, then working in breaking balls and changeups when he was ahead in the count. That helped him make history in only 130 pitches. Lester has a lot to celebrate. He missed the end of the 2006 season after he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Just ten months after completing chemotherapy, Lester was back in the Red Sox lineup, and on October 28, 2007 he went in to Coors Field, Denver, to pitch 52/3 shutout innings to clench the final game of the 2007 World Series, sweeping the Rockies in four games.   Unassisted Triple Play Being alert on defense pays big dividends! CLEVELAND - (Monday, May 13, 2008) - Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league baseball history. He accomplished the feat in the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto. Cleveland Pitcher Cliff Lee (6-0) gave up consecutive singles to Toronto's Kevin Mench and Marco Scutaro to open the Blue Jay fifth. The Hit 'n Run was on! The runners took off on a 1-0 pitch to Lyle Overbay who hit a line drive up the middle. Cabrera, moving to his right, grabbed the ball on the fly with a backhanded dive, then holding up his glove to show the umpire he'd made the catch, stepped on second forcing Mench who by this time, was almost to third base, then tagged Scurato who had already run past the bag at second. Watch the video very closely......the play is completed in just seconds. Click here:   Video:  Unassisted Triple Play   April 1, 2008 Sports Illustrated published a story in its April 1985 edition, about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. Surprisingly, Finch had never even played the game of baseball before. Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans were elated at the news, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with calls. In reality, this legendary player only existed in the fertile mind of author George Plimpton....... April Fool!!   March 31, 2008 President William Howard Taft, in 1910, started the tradition of throwing out the first pitch on opening day of the Major League Baseball season.   February 27, 2008 The Summer Schedule for the 15U team has just been published on the Southside Express website. The schedule is formatted in such a way that parents, friends and relatives can print a copy onto a single page and 'magnet' it to the refrigerator door for quick, easy reference.   October 8, 2007 SCOREKEEPING IN BASEBALL This weekend, I decided to write a tutorial on how to fill out a baseball scorecard. Scorekeeping is something all baseball fans should know how to do properly. Keeping score enhances your enjoyment of the game. You're creating a record of the action as the game unfolds. As luck would have it, I discovered a website that contains an excellent scoring tutorial. The instructions are so clear and user-friendly that I am recommending this tutorial to everyone. It is far superior to anything that I could ever create myself. This tutorial was created by Patrick McGovern at the Churchland Little League Website, and covers every aspect of scorekeeping. Scorekeeping Tutorial Click here:   Churchland Little League Website  ...then navigate to the "Tips & Tricks" page...on the "Tips and Tricks" page, click the link to the "Baseball Scorekeeping" website   "You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six."   - - Yogi  Berra   Back To Top COOPERSTOWN MAJOR   LEAGUE BASEBALL HALL   OF   FAME CHICAGO   CUBS HOMER   GLEN MEGAPLEX BALLPARK SPORTS   ACADEMY