Albert Pujols Joins 500 Home Run Club

Albert Pujols has joined the elite 500 Home Run Club, becoming the 26th player ever to do so.

The Los Angeles Angels first baseman became the first guy to hit his 499th and 500th in the same game, driving in five runs in his team's 7-2 win over the Washington Nationals Tuesday night. Both longballs came off right-hander Taylor Jordan: a three-run bomb in the first inning and another for two in the fifth.

Pujols is the third-youngest player to reach the home run milestone, just two years older than Alex Rodriguez and Jimmie Foxx, who were both 32. He also just so happened to hit his 400th at Nationals ballpark as a St. Louis Cardinal.

Oddly enough, both people who caught the home run balls were Angels fans. Roy Kirkley returned No. 499 to Pujols before Tom Sherrill, also from California, caught Pujols' 500th and gave it back after the game. Don't these people know if you hold out long enough you can get season tickets and signed merchandise? Amateurs.

The three-time National League MVP, who leads the Angels with 19 RBIs, is on quite a tear as of late. All eight of his homers this season have come in his last 13 games.

[ESPN]

[VIDEO] Yu Darvish Becomes Fastest Starter to 500 Strikeouts

Even after missing three weeks, Yu Darvish came back doing what he does best: throw strikes.

Fresh of the disabled list from neck discomfort, the lanky right-hander allowed seven hits over seven scoreless innings Sunday to help his Texas Rangers avoid a three-game sweep with a 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

He struck out six and walked one, leaving the Rays hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position during his season debut.

Darvish got right down to business, accomplishing his 500th career strikeout by fanning David DeJesus and Wil Myers in the first inning. In fact, the 401.2 innings in which he did so was the fewest number of innings for any starter to reach that milestone in major league history. That's just three innings fewer than that of the old record holder, Kerry Wood.

The Rangers are hoping for another stellar season out of Darvish after his performance last year, in which he boasted a 2.83 ERA with a league-best 277 strikeouts and 13-9 record in 32 starts.

[VIDEO] Derek Jeter Slides into 8th Place on All-Time Hits List

With a leadoff single to right field in the third inning of his New York Yankees 6-4 win over the Blue Jays in Toronto on Sunday, Derek Jeter tied Hall of Famer Paul Molitor for eighth place on the all-time hits list. One inning later, he singled a grounder the same direction, again off starter Drew Hutchison, to have sole possession with 3,320 career hits.

In what he has deemed his 20th and final season in the game, the veteran short stop needs only 99 more hits before he passes Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski.

It seems Jeter has yet to shake the dust of the offseason after being limited to just 17 games in 2013 due to injury. He sat out of Friday's contest, went 0-for-2 on Saturday, and 2-for-5 on Sunday before entering Monday's game batting just .250 with one hit and one RBI, though he has walked four times.

[VIDEO] Miguel Cabrera Nails 2000th Career Hit in Longball Fashion

Miguel Cabrera is a beast. You know, I know it. He accomplished his 2000th career hit today, and of course it was a home run. Don't be silly.

The Detroit Tigers first baseman notched hit No. 2000 of his career Friday afternoon in the form of a two-run bomb to left field. It came off Baltimore Orioles reliever Ryan Webb in the eighth inning of his team's 10-4 win at Comerica Park, where he enjoyed a 4-for-5 game, including an RBI single in the sixth.

Cabrera is the ninth player in MLB history to have 2,000 or more hits by the age of 31, joining the likes of Hank Aaron, Mel Ott, and Rogers Hornsby.

Ryan Braun Becomes 30-30 Player, Way Hotter Now

We've always found Ryan Braun rather attractive. In fact, we included him in our Real Top 10 Hottest Baseball Players list from 2009... we're gonna have to update that soon.

But in all honesty, a smokin' hot bat is always sexier than a smokin' hot body. Take Tony Gwynn, for example. Eight National League batting titles makes for a dead sexy bat.

Braun became only the second player in Milwaukee Brewers history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a single season Friday night during his team's 6-3 win over Cincinnati, which also mathematically eliminated the Reds from playoff contention. Double whammy.

Pittsburgh Pirates Clinch 19th Straight Loser Season

Angry folks riot in the streets of Los Angeles after four police officers are acquitted for the brutal beating of Rodney King.

Sinéad O'Connor rips up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live in protest of alleged child abuse by the Catholic Church.

Bill Clinton is elected President of the United States.

Roseanne is the no. 1 show on television.

The year was 1992 and it was the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates enjoyed a winning season... some of you weren't even born yet.

Tim Wakefield Celebrates 200th Victory in Red Sox Rout

Unlike the delayed reaction to Mariano Rivera's recent milestone, Tim Wakefield and the Boston Red Sox celebrated his 200th victory with champagne and smiles Tuesday night.

The game’s eldest player finally earned the elusive 200th victory of his career as the Boston Red Sox crushed the Toronto Blue Jays 18-6 for their first win in a week. Wakefield struggled through the entire month of August, going 0-3 over seven outings since his last win on July 24, but eventually became the 108th pitcher with 200 career wins.

Mariano Rivera Earns 600th Save for New York Yankees

Mariano Rivera earned his 600th career save Tuesday night, slamming the door on his New York Yankees' 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.

The 41-year-old closer, who's enjoyed 12 All-Star considerations over his 17-year career, entered the game with a one-run lead in the ninth inning. He struck out pinch hitter Wily Mo Pena before Ichiro Suzuki blooped a single into left field. Kyle Seager then went down on strikes before Ichiro busted for second with Dustin Ackley at the plate. Russell Martin was having none of that though, and threw a perfect strike to Derek Jeter to end the game.

Looking Back on 3,000 Posts

Welcome to our 3,000th post. Man, that's a lot of baseball blogging. It's like we never shut up!

We've had lots of laughs, done some fantastic interviews, seen writers come and go, and had pretty great contests and giveaways. Obviously, we need to take this opportunity to look back at some of our favorite posts. Ah, the good old days...

We got super lazy and decided to write all 30 team previews in haiku form.

There were a ton of elderly pitchers back in 2007. Naturally, we created a 12-Step support group for them.

There's really nothing quite like sitting around thinking of who would make the best mistresses for random Major League Baseball players. So that's what we did.

Remember when Josh Hamilton was busted licking whipped cream off a young lady's chest? We were hard at it that day.

Grady Sizemore gives us all an early Christmas gift by snapping sexytime pics of himself in some sort of dressing room...as if we checked out the background.

Jim Thome Crushes Career Homers No. 599 and 600

To celebrate our buddy Jimmers' 600th career longball, which he mashed into tater salad Monday night in the seventh inning of his Minnesota Twins' 9-6 win over the Tigers in Detroit, we decided to be lazy as hell and just link to some of our favorite WordUpThome-related Dugouts. Mainly because we already detailed what an amazing accomplishment it is like two homers ago. Enjoy.

AL Central Folklore

The Upper Deck

A-Rod's Violent Gambling Parties

Michael Young Nails 2,000 Career Hits Over a Decade

Congratulations to Michael Young for accumulating 2,000 hits over his major league career during his Texas Rangers' 5-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.

The All-Star third baseman entered the game with 1,998 career hits and nailed two infield singles down the third-base line in the fifth and seventh innings off Indians starter Josh Tomlin. Fun fact: His first big league hit came on May 27, 2001, off Baltimore Orioles' right-hander Sidney Ponson, who eventually got too fat to play baseball.

Only two right-handed hitters, and 10 overall in the last century, have reached the 2,000-hit mark faster than Young, who accomplished the feat in his 1,621st career game.

He's also pretty awesome in general, batting .336 with 10 homers and 76 RBI on the season. Rangers manager Ron Washington had some pretty nice things to say about his milestone-reacher:

Mariano Rivera Makes History with the Yankees

Mariano Rivera became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to make 1,000 appearances with the same team on Wednesday, doing business as usual cleaning up the ninth inning of a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was just another day at the office for the 41-year-old closer, as Enter Sandman blasted over the Yankee Stadium speakers when he took the mound in relief of Joba Chamberlain. He allowed an Eric Thames single to kick off the inning, but got Rajai Davis and Edwin Encarnacion to fly out before J.P. Arencibia struck out swinging to end the game.

Jose Bautista Launches No. 50, 51, 52

On a historic day for Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners, Jose Bautista had to go and steal the thunder at the Rogers Centre, not to mention spoil an outstanding pitching performance by an American League Cy Young candidate.

That's just how he rolls.

The Toronto Blue Jays slugger crushed a 2-1 fastball over the left field wall off Mariners ace Felix Hernandez for his 50th home run of the season. This not only gave his team a 1-0 lead, but proved to be the only run of what turned out to be quite a pitcher's duel.

While King Feliz allowed just two hits and a run throughout his complete game, the Mariners couldn't manage to string anything together off Shawn Hill and four Toronto relievers.

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was Rod Carew

Congratulations to Ichiro Suzuki on tying a major league record with his 10th 200-hit season.

The Seattle Mariners right fielder entered Thursday with 198 hits before collecting no. 199 with a third-inning double down the left-field line and a base hit two innings later in his team's tough 1-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, which was highlighted by an outstanding performance by Felix Hernandez, which was crushed by Jose Bautista's 50th home run of the season.

Until today, the 200-hit record was all Pete Rose's since back in September of 1979.

Ichiro is officially the first and only player to record 200 hits in 10 consecutive seasons to extend his own record. He's also the youngest guy to hit the mark, since Rose was 38 years old in his 17th big league season and Ty Cobb, who had only nine 200-hit seasons, was 37 when he last hit the milestone in his 20th and final season in the majors.

Ichiro, clearly one of the best hitters ever, will be 37 on October 22, and is polishing off his 10th season in the bigs. Way to go buddy!

[MLB Video]

Way to Go, Albert Pujols!

Albert Pujols crushed his 400th career home run Thursday night at Nationals Park.

The St. Louis Cardinals All-Star first baseman launched an 0-1 fastball from over the right-field wall in the fourth inning of his team's extra innings loss to one of the crappiest teams in baseball: the sad, beat-down Washington Nationals.

And then, he twisted his ankle in the 10th inning trying to climb a rolled-up tarp while reaching for a foul ball near the first base dugout. Not the dumbest way ever to get hurt, but close.

Pujols, batting .321 with 34 homers and 93 RBI on the season, became the 47th big leaguer to hit the 400 Club milestone in all, but also the third-youngest behind Alex Roidriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. Stopping to admire his work before being mobbed by teammates at home plate, Prince Albert had this to say:

It's a special milestone, but I don't play for numbers.

Whatever. Way to go, buddy!

[Yahoo! News] | [FanHouse] | [Viva El Birdos]

Jim Thome Mashes Taters No. 573, 574

Congratulations to Jim Thome, who tied the legendary Harmon Killebrew for 10th on the All-Time Home Runs list with career longball No. 573 Saturday afternoon.

Jim Jam took right-hander Wade Davis deep in the bottom of the second inning to give the Minnesota Twins a 1-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays at Target Field.

Two innings later, on the very next swing, he launched home run No. 574 to take sole possession of 10th place on the All-Time Jacks list. Incredible. Then he hugged every single person in the dugout.

Good Job, Billy Wagner

There's something about a grown man who calls himself Billy...

But a closer who records 400 career saves can call himself whatever he wants in our book. Billy Wagner earned that right Friday evening after saving the Atlanta Braves' 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. This marks his 15th save of the season, highlighted by a 5-0 record and an impressive 1.19 ERA.

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was Rod Carew

Ichiro Suzuki, being the total badass that he is, reached his ninth consecutive 200-hit season Sunday night after the second game of a double header against the Texas Rangers.

No one in the history of baseball has ever had that many 200-hit seasons in a row, now that the Seattle Mariners right fielder has passed up the legendary Wee Willie Keeler, who enjoyed eight consecutive 200-hit seasons from 1894-1901. Even more impressive? That record was 108 years old.

Post game, teammate Ken Griffey Jr. picked up Ichiro, slung him over his shoulder and carried him to the showers, where teammates then treated him to a beer shower.

Hot.

Ichiro is now batting .353 on the season with 9 homers and 40 RBIs.
[Reuters] | [Every Joe] | [The Hardball Times]

Jacoby Ellsbury Makes His Mark

Jacoby Ellsbury has made Beantown history this evening, becoming the first Boston Red Sox player ever to steal 55 bases in a single season.

The centerfielder doubled and stole third in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox to pass Tommy Harper, who snagged 54 bags back in 1973. This should come as no surprise, since Ellsbury swiped 50 bases last season, when he was still a big league baby.

Let us not forget he was also responsible for giving everyone in the country a free taco during the 2007 World Series. Way to go, buddy!

[Boston Globe]

Good Job, Vladimir Guerrero!

Vladimir Guerrero hit his 400th career home run yesterday in the Los Angeles Angels 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. He nailed not one, but two longballs, and we think that's pretty awesome. Good job, buddy.

On that note, it's flippin gorgeous outside today, and Minnesota only has like 3 weeks of good weather left. Therefore, it is far too nice to blog... at least not until way later. When I'm sunburned. Have a great day all!

xoxo,
BLB

[Big League Stew] | [Halos Heaven] | [BoDog Beat]