The 600 Home Run Club - And then there were Five, Part I

The 600 Home Run Club - And then there were Five

    A-Rod, Willie, Junior, Thome, and Sosa.

    Do those names evoke anything? If you know anything, or more, about baseball in the major leagues of the Northern Hemisphere and its history and lore, then at least one of those names should ring some bells. All of them were some of the best players in baseball history, and all of them are in the top ten all-time home run hitters. These are the five of the 600 club as of 2024.

    Instead of Alex Rodriguez, to begin with, I will mention and feature maybe the best all-around baseball player of all-time: Willie the Say Hey Kid, Mays. He did everything well. He did everything in baseball more than well, except for pitch from the mound. So maybe today's 30-year-old Shohei Ohtani is that guy. We will see what happens the next ten years for the Japanese wonder. He pitches and hits great, but he has had some injuries. Willie had a great, I think, injury-free career. Hard to do. Ask Mike Trout or Bryce Harper, or Giancarlo Stand, some of the best hitters of our age. All have had lost significant playing time to disabled lists. Body parts that break and are unable to perform.

    But he did miss a year due to military service in 1953. Amazing. Why do people who are good citizens today not believe it is great to serve in the military branches? Because millions of great men and women have done it before them, and they paved the way. Thank you, Mr. Mays. You were forced or obliged to eat the service cake, and then you went on to be an all-time stud.

    Willie Mays retired from the game at age 42 in 1973. He played in 66 games, garnered 239 plate appearances, hitting six home runs, totaling his career sum to 660. Not bad. He did all the things: hit, hit for power, run, field, and throw. A champion in all senses. He did win one World Series, and competed in many pennant races. He only died a couple of weeks ago at the age of 93. Quite the human specimen. Never accused of cheating, to my knowledge.

    Then we have Alex Rodriguez, the wunderkind and 90s and 21st century star who has been caught doing those PEDs, the performance enhancing drugs. He finished his career with 696 home runs, but like Bonds, it was besmirched with the hits on his integrity. Drugs. Not cool. Still in 2024 not in the Hall of Fame, as Bonds, or Clemens, the great pitcher, or Rafael Palmeiro, or Mark McGuire, in the 500-home run club. None of them have been voted in because of their alleged or confirmed cheating through drugs. Chemicals that give them an illegal advantage in strength or muscle switch powers.

    A-Rod became a big popular icon, dating famous people, racking up killer numbers and joining the juggernaut market of New York City. He won one World Series, which was considered a weakness in his teams compared to the team with a younger Derek Jeter before. But he was suspended for juicing, and the reputation was forever tarnished.

    

    Rodriguez ended his illustrious numerical but dubious professional career at age 41 in 2016. His final season as a Yankee, after the one championship season in 2009; he played in 65 games with 243 plate appearances, 9 home runs. He missed a lot of time in 2014 due to PED suspension, hurting his realistic chances of passing up Ruth, or Aaron, or Bonds.

    More on Griffey, Thome, and Sosa in Part II. 

 700 Home Run Club - Alive and Dead in 2024

    Only four men in the history of major league baseball--going back to 1900 and before-- have hit seven hundred plus home runs during the course of their career. Babe Ruth was the original pioneer of the long ball, as the Sultan of Swat, who retired from the game in 1935 at age 40. He hit only six long ones in 28 games, 92 plate appearances that season, in the middle of the Depression. He died in 1948, at age 53. My age now. Whew! Perhaps I am grateful I have my life, and hopefully many years to come. Good wishes to the Bambino and his heirs. He lived great and died young, as many luminaries do.

    Hank Aaron came next; he finished his career in 1976 at age 42. That last year, the bicentennial of our country, two years after he broke the Bambino's career record, he hit 10 home runs in 85 games and 308 plate appearances. He lived a good, long life till age 86, a few weeks from 87, and died in January 2021. 

    Barry Bonds surpassed both to be the current all-time leader. He ended his career (or it was ended, perhaps more accurately, because of the way he was not contracted in 2008) in 2007 at age 42. He played in 126 games, had 477 plate appearances, and hit 28 home runs. He had more in his tank, at that age like Hank, but consensus was that the fuel in the tank was tainted with cheater's juice (Performance Enhancing Drugs), and therefore the game and its establishment allowed him to surpass Hammering Hank in the books, but he was done as a player and contributor to the sport. Barry is now 59 as of this year, and seems to be doing well, with a long life to live.

    Last of this elite foursome is Albert Pujols, who retired a short while ago; he was never accused of nor suspected of juicing with steroids or Creatin or whatever performance enhancer you can name. Unlike Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro. More of them in the 600 and 500 Home Run Clubs.

    Albert terminated his stellar career at age 42 also, like Aaron and Bonds, in 2022. That season he impressed many, participating in 109 contests with 351 plate appearances and 24 homers.  Like Barry, he seemed to have some power left in his batteries but he took the high road and called it a day, a season, an all-time great and classy career. Pujols is 44 years young now, born in 1980.

    These four are the standards for home runs and playing the game with power, but there are others that deserve as much attention and aplomb. Willie Mays? Mickey Mantle? Ted Williams? Who else? Some of them had injuries, at least one did time in the military, DURING WARS. And served with honor and bravery.

    What of the 600-run club? Or the 500 guys? Injuries? Too much alcohol? More military service? Called up to the Bigs too late? I want to investigate a bit more...

 Black Cinema - A Thing to Think About, Analyze

    Racial Perspectives

    To begin with, most of us Americans qualify and define ourselves as white, Black, Latino, Asian, and a good slew of other races and ethnic backgrounds. There are American Indians, or natives and/or indigenous; there are Arabs, Persians, Turks, and to be fair, all types of Europeans and Latinos and others. Polynesians. There are Africans, both white and Black, from the African continent.

    As Americans, we are that. We are Americans first, in many cases. We are of all colors and hues and accents and backgrounds, economic statuses and beliefs and lifestyles. We watch entertainment in differing ways and tastes. Some watch more movies, others more TV, which can be live, broadcast or streamed; there is social media and Internet entertainment and communications, plus the radio and literature.

    Race and ethnicity figures into the sway and influence and flavors, if you will, of who we are, how we talk to each other, and how we identify or see or perceive ourselves. Sometimes the racial aspects of who we are trump other factors, and we must respect that. Think about the differences and nuances, which can be good and healthy. Just not too much, right?

    Black people have felt oppressed and relegated as second-class citizens a lot of American history, which needs to change. We all need to be first tier people, first class, and no one should feel marginalized. Race and skin color should not determine our perceptions and fates.

    Black Movie Makers

    Some artists and film makers are Black, notably; the films and art that they create reflect on African-American views and influences. Spike Lee has been among Black filmmakers for a few generations now. Before there were other Black artists in cinema, much of which I am ignorant about. I do know that a famous and influential white film guru, Quentin Tarantino, was impacted by Black Cinema as a young man, and those people and visions and stories his way of portraying characters, dialog, and the visual arts. Not a small thing. He also like Chinese theatre, which was big into kung fu in his era and the neighborhood movie venues he attended in Southern California.

    Spike Lee has his place and has multiple films that I very much like, appreciate. Malcolm X is a must see for all. However, there can be better than him, especially when it comes to race.

    Now we have Jordan Peele; as I re-watched one of his films last night, with my college graduate daughter, who delves pretty strongly into the arts and psychology, I told her that I respect Peele as a director because from what I can see he approaches film and narrative from a smarter storyteller than from other Black directors and films that I have seen. Not all are puerile and immature, or infantile and insulting to a mature intelligence, but too much cinema in general is way too offensive and insulting to many of us.

    I pray that Peele continues to grow and mature as an artist. I have hopes that Black Cinema, as all movie makers, can become more sophisticated and less degrading and bottom-line crude and insulting. It is not a racial problem alone: it is a genre wide issue. Movies have to get better at portraying good and worthwhile narratives. Not just cheap pabulum. We need more intelligent and gracious stories on screen.

    I will submit this to Artistic Musings, for sure.

     

 The Fickle Game of Baseball and Getting Patrick Corbin another Win

    Patrick Corbin; snake bit as a long-time starting pitcher, but highly paid. Bittersweet, this game, sport, and business. The career itself of Mr. Corbin.

    He has lost a lot since the World Series winning team of which he was a great contributor to their success in 2019. But it has been pretty rough since.

    Tonight he had a 5-0 lead early and left up 5-3.

    So, the Nats blew it in extra innings.

    Ah, to get win 99, or 100. Taking many more YEARS than expected.

    Tough go.

    It was, however, a quality start, and Patrick much deserved the win. Great start, lamentable finish by his teammates. Once again. AGAIN.

See below for his historical buddies who sit at 98 and 99 wins in the majors:

639.	Jimmy Callahan (13)	99	1603.0	R
	Charlie Ferguson (4)	99	1514.2	R
	Mark Gardner (13)	99	1764.2	R
	Joey Jay (13)	99	1546.1	R
	Sparky Lyle (16)	99	1390.1	L
	Joe Shaute (13)	99	1818.1	L
	Al Smith (12)	99	1662.1	L
	George Suggs (8)	99	1652.0	R
	Elam Vangilder (11)	99	1715.2	R
	Jason Vargas (14)	99	1643.0	L
649.	Andy Ashby (14)	98	1810.2	R
	Al Benton (14)	98	1688.1	R
Rank	Player (yrs, age)	Wins	IP	Throws
	Patrick Corbin (12, 34)	98	1817.2	L
	LaMarr Hoyt (8)	98	1311.1	R
	Mike LaCoss (14)	98	1739.2	R
	Guy Morton (11)	98	1629.2	R
	Jim O'Toole (10)

Callahan got 99 wins in 4 seasons! Different era, for sure.

 We Need to Talk and Communicate - Better, Healthy, and Productively

    I have all the answers. Just listen to me.

    No, not all the answers. Many, though.

    We do not know how to share, at the end of it.

 Sudan, Much Worse than South Sudan

    Recently I was noting a little about countries in crisis, where suffering and conflict are occurring. I wrote South Sudan instead of regular Sudan. 

    Sudan has serious problems now. For over a year. Millions displaced, thousands threatened by hunger and violence.

    Why do we not care as much? They are much different than what much of the West knows or cares about.

One Big, Huge Reason Soccer is Not as Popular a Sport in the United States: Stupid Rules, too Arbitrary

 One Big, Huge Reason Soccer is Not as Popular a Sport in the United States: Stupid Rules, too Arbitrary