The 600 & 700 Club

The SEVEN
August 22nd, 2011

I. Heartfelt Congratulations!

My heartfelt congratulations go out to Jim Thome of the Minnesota Twins, who recently slugged two homers in Detroit to become the eighth all-time member of the 600-homerun club – and a shoutout to the Tigers’ fans, who acknowledged Thome’s monumental accomplishment with a standing ovation. Bad personnel moves often hamper teams for years and cost individuals their jobs…and one of the first things I thought about after learning of Thome’s feat was that the Philadelphia Phillies basically let him go in order to create lineup space for a young player in their system. As it turns out, not such a bad move…that player was Ryan Howard, who has an outside shot at hitting 600 before his career comes to an end.

II. Adam, where art Thou?

In reaching the 600 mark, Thome joins Barry Bonds, Henry Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. With all of the recent talk about the alarming scarcity of African-Americans in the major leagues, it’s interesting to note that four of these other individuals are Black. Where are the legions of Blacks that in the past would have been following in their footsteps? Spending all of their efforts on the gridiron or the court.

III. The 700 Club

Remember back in 2007 when Alex Rodriguez was flirting with walking away from the Yankees through free agency…and Yankee general manager Brian Cashman was about to let him sample the offers? Remember how the Steinbrenner brothers hopped in and tossed A-Rod more massive money, with one of the reasons being that they wanted him to break the homerun record in a Yankee uniform? Remember how A-Rod’s future place atop the 700 Club was not a question of if, but when? Nagging injuries and lower productivity have, in my opinion, brought that back to if…even though he’s only thirty-six and needs just 136 homers to become the all-time leader…but I’m still saying if.

IV. Meet The Mets

Across town there is apparently a lot of talk over at Citi Field about a prospective dimensions change at Citi Field, if only because the current dimensions seem not to be friendly to power hitters, the types of which the Mets might want to bring in as free agents. I totally disagree with that idea.

I would refer the Mets to the ‘70’s song which stated that “if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” And yes, I know that I’m the guy that has written about how Darryl Strawberry was my favorite all-time Met because he was a feared power hitter like many of the other stars throughout the years that had terrorized the Mets. But now, in this case, the one they are with is Jose Reyes, and Citi Field is virtually tailor-made for him. Considering the fact that he was an MVP candidate before injuries slowed down his second half of the season, that’s not a bad place to start.

So instead of moving the fences in to attract a big slugger, keep them where they are and make free agent focus signing a superstar pitcher or two. Build the team around pitching, defense, and speed...and perhaps success like that of 1969 will follow.

V. Bronx Cheer

At first I wanted to offer much less than heartfelt congrats to Michele Bachmann on her victory the other weekend in the Iowa Straw Poll, truly catapulting her into a front-runner position within the Republican ranks…but on second thought, perhaps a standing ovation is due her as well. Some on the left feel her victory – and what it seems to say - warrants addressing, but I almost want to send her a donation to keep (her) hope alive. Anyone who thinks the founding fathers ended slavery does not know enough about this country to be president – and as such, I’m rooting for her on the Republican side.

VI. President of Where?

A definite Bronx Cheer goes out to Texas Governor Rick Perry, who tossed his ten-gallon hat into the presidential race and immediately questioned President Obama’s patriotism and accused Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke of treason. This from the man who virtually advocated Texas’ secession from the United States…and now he wants to be president of the United States?

Are you kidding me? What a cast of characters the Republicans got going!

VII. Stay Home?

So now they don’t even want President Obama to take a vacation…when President Bush used to take almost the whole summer off. Give me a break!