Milestones, Milestones and More Milestones

Historically speaking, June 28th, 2007 will go down in baseball history as one of the most tumultuous days. Two significant milestones were reached yesterday, about 8 hours apart. Frank Thomas of my adored Blue Jays drilled into the left field bleachers his 500th career home run. Later that evening in a place called Houston, Texas, Craig Biggio launched his 3000th career base hit. Two distinguished accomplishments, two exclusive clubs, two shoo-in Hall of Famers.

I doubt that there has ever been a bigger day for baseball. Off the top of my head, there was a day in 1991 when Nolan Ryan got his 7th no-hitter while Ricky Henderson earlier in the day had snatched his 939th stolen base, breaking the all time record by Lou Brock. In 1990, Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela each pitched an absolute gem, you probably know it better as a no-hitter. But as a MLB story goes on to say, the biggest day in baseball is whatever is most important to you. And for me, this is “the biggest”. Not only was my Blue Jays involved on this meaningful day, my second favourite team, the Astros were also right in the mix. That is why this has been so special.

Thomas, ironic enough, blasted his 500th in the same place where his 1st homer came, nearly 17 years former. For Biggio, all 3002 of his hits have all come with Houston. These two guys have had illustrious careers and it’s appropriate to have had both achievements come on the same day. June 28th, 2007, whenever we look back in the course of baseball history, will stand out to many baseball fans as remarkable.

If you didn't get enough of Thursday's milestone showdown, I've good news for you. The milestones are in no short supply! Even looking in the rear view mirror of this baseball year, there has been ample amount of milestones and historic feats. Sammy Sosa's 600th, the two no-no's by Mark Buehrle and Justin Verlander. There was just 13th unassisted triple play in baseball history, turned by Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in April. Chone Figgins of the Angels also had a 6-6 game in which he slapped a walk-off triple in the 9th inning. John Smoltz earned his 200th career win, Doc Halladay and Mark Buehrle's 100th wins, and of course, the king of closers reached the ultimate milestone, nailing down his unprecedented 500th career save.

I repeat, there's a lot more to come. Expect A-Rod to hammer his 500th; he is currently
at 492. Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome both sit at 481. Ken Griffey Jr. has a shot at 600, he is 16 away. Tom Glavine is highly likely to get his 300th win, he is only 3 wins short. When Pedro Martinez comes back, he only needs 2 strikeouts to enter the 3000 K's club which only contains 14 members. The one potential milestone with the most eyes on it is Barry Bonds' chase for 755, but I already dedicated a whole article to him. And really, how many people would want to hear the same argument on Bonds again and again and again?

Last but certainly not least, I gotta tip my cap to both Thomas and Biggio for their magnificent milestones. They are truly classy guys who play the game the way it should be played as seen when Biggio chugged hard for second on his 3000th hit, or Thomas acknowledging the very kind standing ovation Minnesota fans gave to the Big Hurt. Well, get enough of this section of the story, because the next time I cover Alex Rodriguez's 500th bomb, you probably won't see this paragraph, if ya know what I mean!

-D

Oh and Happy Canada Day!