Jim Thome's #600

Jim Thome hit both his 599th and 600th homers in back-to-back at bats last night.  Thome has had a wonderful career.  Thome came up with the Indians in 1991 and was part of the awesome Indians teams of the mid-90's.  He started as a third baseman and moved over to first base.  He hit 52 homeruns with the Indians in 2002.

He then sign with the Phillies in 2003.  He hit 47 homers with the Phils in 2003 and played two more years with them.  He was traded to the White Sox in 2006 to make room for young slugger Ryan Howard.

Thome hit 42 homers for the White Sox in 2006, making him the a rare slugger to hit 40+ homers for  3 different teams.

Jim Thome, in my opinion, should and will be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.  I believe he should go in as an Indian, because it is with the Indians that he made his mark and spent the most productive years.

Congratulations, Jim Thome!

Four for Four Saturday

As a sports fan, last night was a good night.  All four of the teams that I was rooting for came away with victories.  That doesn't happen very often, but I'll take it.

Phillies over the Nationals

Not too often does a team score 11 runs and have less than 11 hits.  3 National errors and 7 walks added to the onslaught.  It could turn out to be a good weekend if Roy Halladay can get a win today.  The Nationals are starting Chien-Ming Wang.  Should be a Phillies victory, but you have to play them.

Indians over the Twins

The Indians posted a 3-1 win over the Twins.  They keep themselves close to the Tigers in the AL Central.  The interesting part of the weekend is Jim Thome.  He remains 2 homers away from 600.  Maybe the Indians can jump out to a big lead today and then give up two gopher-balls to Thome.  It would be interesting to see if the Cleveland crowd would really get behind him.

Rams over the Colts

I know it's pre-season, but it's nice to come out and perform a little on offense.  Sam Bradford played pretty well, considering how little time he's had with Josh McDaniel, the new offensive coordinator.  It'll be nice to see how this progresses.  They also got the ground game going with no input from Steven Jackson.  Josh Brown kicked it extremely well.  He might be one of the best kickers in the game.  Got a 60-yarder last night.

Browns over the Packers

27-17 over the defending champs.  Too many Cleveland fans will be chanting "Super Bowl" today.  They need to slow down.  This Browns team might be better than last year, but playoffs?  Super Bowl?  Really?  Colt McCoy did play pretty well last night, but the starters for the Packers didn't play long.  It's going to be interesting to see where this Browns team goes.

Every Good Team Needs a Worley

Back in 1980, the Phillies got help from a young pitcher.  Marty Bystrom came up and was 5-0 for a team that went on to win the World Series.  This year's team has Vance Worley.  Worley is pitching so well for the Phils that it is enabling them to move Kyle Kendrick back into the bullpen.  I would say that Worley is the unsung hero for this Phillies team.

I would also say that he should be a candidate for the Rookie of the Year.  He got a cup of coffee with the Phillies last season, but has been up and down between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley a couple of times this season.  It seems like he is settling in as the fifth starter for this team.  Who would've thought he would be a key component.  The team started the year with Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, and Blanton.  Kendrick would probably been everyone's choice for the next spot - and he has done a nice job filling in at times this year.

The Phillies are playing great baseball and have the best record in the bigs.  They are riding a 9 game win streak.  Just how far can they go?  I am hoping World Series Champs, but it wouldn't be this good without the efforts of Vance Worley.  Every good team needs a guy like him to step up when the unexpected injury takes its toll.