Milestones - Pt. 2

It took me awhile but here it finally is. Let me begin part 2 with a quote from myself-

I'll hit on this a little bit more in Pt 2, when I look at the Homerun Milestones. Let's just say that those of you worried about Bonds breaking the record don't need to worry that much.

It's true. Not that he won't break the record...but that, unlike pitchers, so many are on pace to do so. It is a complete reversal. Pitching milestones are getting harder, hitting milestones are getting easier. We keep seeing the stat "youngest player to..." over and over again.

At the End of this season, Alex Rodriguez will be the youngest player to have reached 500 (assuming he hits 6 HRs in the second half). But AROD is not the only one. These record's keep being broken.

Albert Pujols is the youngest player to reach 250 homers. But he is also being shadowed...

Ryan Howard was the fastest to reach 100 HRs.

I'm sure this process will keep repeating itself until we see a big, big change ( a change that I don't think will ever happen).

So back to the original statement. Why should we not worry about Bonds breaking Aaron's record? Simple, it'll won't hold very long.

I've argued that after Glavine reaches 300 wins and possibly Johnson...we probably won't see anybody else reach that milestone. However, finding those on pace to reach the 700 club was a bit easier.

Alex Rodriguez - Age 31 - 494 Homers
494 Homers at his age? Wow! Is he going to end up with 900?

Andruw Jones - Age 30 - 357 Dingers
His 162 Career avg of 34 should perhaps be a bit higher, but he's still on pace to reach the 700 club if he plays into his early 40s.

Vladimir Guerrero - Age 31 - 352 Jacks
It'll be an interesting race between him and Andruw. Guerrero has a higher 162 game avg (37 Hrs/162 Gm) but also is a few behind him and a year older. Should be a fun race.

Albert Pujols - Age 27 - 266 Bombs
His 162 game avg is in the low 40s, as is Arods. Also similar to Arod, Pujols has a shot at 900 if he plays in his low 40s and keeps that pace.


Miguel Cabrera - Age 24 - 122 Trots
His 162 game avg is extremely low (It's pretty high standards if 31 Hrs seems is low). He'll need to either up that pace or play till Bond's age.

Ryan Howard - Age 27 - 103 Rips
He's old for that number of Homers. The only reason he's really on this list is because his 162 game avg is 50 Hrs, a number which I doubt he'll keep up...but I've been surprised before.

Well, what do we learn? 300 wins is almost impossible now. 700 seems quite doable. Sure makes the 500 club seem lame, a club that used to be quite honorable. So what's happening? What's with the decline of pitching and rise of hitting? Is it really possible that Bonds will be 4th or 5th on the all time list when these folks reach their 40s? Could be, who knows.

There are more genius ways to go about this than I am taking. I realize that. It is just something I wish to address to communicate the current state of MLB.