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04/27/2005 Archived Entry: "MLB news: Milestones update: 4.27.05"
Milestones update: 4.27.05
By Michael Toeset
Carlos Beltran collected his 1,000th hit on April 18. Beltran has a career .284 career average and hasn't yet crossed the 200-hits-in-a-season threshold, but he's come close: 194 in 1999 and 189 in 2001.
Aubrey Huff hit his 100th career home run on April 18, which also set a Devil Rays record for most career homers. That's not really a lot to howl about, as Fred McGriff previously held the record (don't get me wrong, I like Fred, but he played for Tampa Bay in the waning years of his career). The way Huff has played in recent years, there's no reason to think he won't put the record out of reach until Delmon Young comes along.
Michael Tucker knocked in his 500th run on April 19. Tucker's reached that milestone based on longevity, as the most RBI he's had in a season is 62.
Pedro Astacio pitched his 2,000th inning on April 19. Astacio has never been a huge innings guy, but he has crossed the 200-inning mark several times.
We have several recent entrants into the 1,000-inning club: Roy Halladay, Barry Zito, Ryan Dempster and Jarrod Washburn. The way these guys are pitching nowadays, there's no reason to think they won't join Astacio in the 2,000 club some day (unless Zito keeps imploding).
Craig Biggio knocked in his 1,000th run on April 20. Biggio is no slugger, but he's also no Michael Tucker. Biggio's season RBI best - in the leadoff role, mind you - is 88.
Alex Gonzalez joined Tucker in the 500-RBI club by doing pretty much the same thing. I wonder if anyone can guess which Alex Gonzalez this is. Give up? It's both! Well, OK, it just seems that there's clones patrolling the infield in MLB. This is the former Blue Jay, former Cub, former Padre, former Expo, current Devil Ray Gonzalez.
Scott Rolen hit his 300th double on April 21, as did Ryan Klesko. Since they reached the same milestone on the same day, let's compare their numbers (as of the 26th):
Rolen: 1,213 games, 4,458 at-bats, .285 avg, .377 obp, .520 slg, 229 HR, 91 SB
Klesko: 1,498 games, 4,871 at-bats, .282 avg, .373 obp, .515 slg, 257 HR, 84 SB
That's a lot more similar than anyone likely expected.
Rick Helling joined the 1,000-strikeout club on April 25. That sounds fairly impressive - and I suppose it is for someone of Helling's calibur - but compare him with someone like Randy Johnson, and it pales: Johnson struck out more than 1,000 from 2000-2002.
It wasn't a record or a milestone, but did anyone catch Alex Rodriguez's performance on April 26? Four-for-five, three homers and 10 RBI. The AL (and Yankee) game RBI record is 11, so he just missed it.
Back with more as they happen....
