FanNation

                As we view some great players play in their prime in this decade. We realize that we are watching the players of our era that could possibly be breaking records and maybe even setting new ones for players of our grandchildren's era. So, what players will finish in that HR club? What players will finish in that hit club? Which players will finish in that strike out club?

Homerun Clubs:

400 Homeruns:

• 1. David Ortiz

Current HRs: 279

Age: 32

At the age of 32, Ortiz is a feared homerun hitter in a league full of them. He has constantly hit walk off, game tying, or go ahead homeruns. Pitchers cannot pitch around him because of who he plays with. This makes him even more deadly has a hitter. And the fact that he does not have to play defense helps him concentrate on hitting. As of now, Big Papi David Ortiz is only 121 homeruns away from 400. He only needs to hit 30 homeruns for the next 4 seasons (not including this one) to be in the 400 HR club. This will put him at age 36 and his homerun numbers will soon after diminish and he will be stuck in this category. However, Ortiz has hit 30 or more homeruns in a season every year since 2003, and has hit 35 or more homeruns for the past 4 years.

• 2. Lance Berkman

Current HRs: 279

Age: 32

This is almost the same identical story as David Ortiz. Both hitters are at the same age and have the same amount of homeruns. Berkman too only needs 4 more 30 HR seasons to reach the 400 HR club. And once again, like Ortiz, I think he can get to it. Berkman has hit 20 or more HRs in every full season he has played in the MLB; and his stats are only going up. In 2007, he hit the same amount of homeruns he hit in his 2^nd full season of 2001. As well as in 2006, he hit 45 which topped his previous career high. And now, while playing in 74 games, Berkman has 20 homeruns. At this pace, Berkman would have 40 homeruns while playing in 148 games. The years he hit 40+ he played in 150 and 158. However, like Ortiz, Berkman's numbers will hit a landslide and his career will end in the 400 homerun club.

• 3. Jason Giambi

Current HRs: 381

Age: 37

Unlike Ortiz and Berkman, Giambi's career is closing in on an end. Giambi has seen fewer games as a result of position competition and injuries. However, Giambi looks to be off to a fast start and, barring injury, should end in one of the highest homerun outputs he has had in a long time. When playing in only 135+ games, we know that Jason can hit 35 homeruns at his age. Now, if Giambi hits 35 homeruns this year, he would be at 399. One extra homerun is nothing and can be an easy given. If not, look for Giambi to play another year before ultimately being stopped along with Berkman and Ortiz in the 400 homerun club.

• 4. Andruw Jones
  Current HRs: 370
  Age: 31

Andruw is the youngest player to make this category. Two years ago, Andruw would probably be in the next category of homerun hitters; but in the past few years his skills have greatly diminished. From 1998-2007, Andruw had at least 25 homeruns each year. In 1998, 2000-2003, and 2005-2006 Jones had 30+ homeruns including a year of 41 and 51 homeruns. However, after hitting 41 and 51 homeruns in 05 and 06, Andruw hit a bump and batted .222 in 2007 and hit his lowest amount of homeruns since his 3^rd year in 1999. Currently, Andruw is batting .167 playing his first year outside of Atlanta with only 2 homeruns hit all year. However, all Andruw needs is 30 homeruns and he has the age on his side. Even with his attributes dropping faster than any one would imagine; he has the time, age, and skill to hit 30 or more homeruns.

• 5. Adam Dunn

Current HRs: 256

Age: 28

Adam Dunn is currently one of the most underrated and overlooked homerun hitters of our era. Adam has never had a stint in the major leagues where he had less than 19 homeruns. Even in 2001 when he only played 61 games in his first major league appearance he hit 19. And now, in 73 games, he has 18 homeruns. In the past 4 years, Dunn has had 40 homeruns in every year. And at the age of 28, his homeruns titles are looking to rocket. Dunn seems like a pretty fit guy. It came out in the past few days that in a season where he hit 40+ homeruns, he had a broken hand but refused to take an X-ray because he wanted to play. That shows dedication and ultimate determination. And that is what is needed to reach a goal. Dunn currently needs 144 homeruns to hit the 400 homerun barrier. If he continues on hitting 40 homeruns a year, Dunn will reach 400 by roughly age 32.

500 Homeruns:

• 1. Gary Sheffield
  Current HRs: 483
  Age: 39

Gary is by far the oldest player I have talked about in this blog. However, Gary is so close to his goal that he can hit it in a season and a half or maybe this season. Gary needs to hit 17 homeruns and will be returning from injury soon. He is also protected by a very skilled Tigers line-up that includes players like Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, Ivan Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, Edgar Renteria, and Placido Polanco. That is plenty of protection for Sheff to hit his 17 homeruns. Since 1992, Gary never played in more than 86 games and hit less than 20 homeruns. 20 homeruns this year would put him exactly at 500. From 1999-2005, Sheffield averaged about 30+ homeruns per year. And now, hopefully playing for the most of the year, he looks to be doing the same thing.

• 2. Vladimir Guerrero
  Current HRs: 378
  Age: 32

One of the most free swing players of our time-Vlad Guerrero-is also one of the most powerful and feared. Vladimir can take you deep on stuff in the dirt, outside, inside, and high. And all that is done without batting gloves and with a crap load of pine tar. From 1998 to 2006, Vlad's lowest homerun total was 35. In 2007, there was a drop off but that was not because of age or performance. Vlad played fewer games in 2007 than any year he did from 1998 to 2006. Vlad the Impaler continues to swat balls out of the ball park at massive rates. At the current total of 378, he needs 122 homeruns to reach the big-time of 500 homeruns. Vlad needs to swat 30 balls out of the park every year until he is 36.

• 3. Albert Pujols
  Current HRs: 298
  Age: 28

In a TD done by me earlier this month, I stated that Phat Albert would swat 600 homeruns and hit 3,000 hits. However, after the further thought, I changed my opinion. Winnie-the-Pujols will only swat 500 homeruns for this reason-his body. Albert's body is terrible. As a commenter on my TD put it, "He may be 28, but his body is like a 36-year-old's...already." However, this will not stop him from slugging 202 more homeruns. In his young career, Albert has hit 30 homeruns in every season in the majors. At the pace of 30 homeruns per year, all Pujols needs to do is hit that amount for about 3 to 4 more seasons. That would put Pujols at age 32 and give him time to climb up the ladder in the 500 homerun club but not eclipse the 600 homerun mark.

800 Homeruns

• 1. Alex Rodriguez
  Current HRs: 532
  Age: 32

Notice, I went from the 500 homerun club straight to the 800 homerun club. Nobody is threatening the 600 or 700 homerun club as of now except for one man. This one man is also 3 time AL MVP and an 11 time All-Star. At the age of 32, only 14 players in the history of baseball have more homeruns than A-Rod. A-Rod is currently 230 homeruns away from breaking the all time record and 268 homeruns away from being the only player to hit 800 homeruns. A-Rod has only had less than 30 homeruns one time since 1996. Since 1998, A-Rod had less than 40 homeruns only 2 times. So, at the pace of 40 homeruns per year, he should reach 800 homeruns in 5 years. At the age of 37, A-Rod would have done the unthinkable.

3,000 Hits

• 1. Derek Jeter
  Current Hits: 2,434
  Age: 34

The Yankee Capitan has conquered many Yankee records but now is looking to join a sacred group in the MLB. Jeter is known for his clutch offense and his always dependable defense. But, people seemed to overlook the quantity of hits he has had in his career. The lowest amount of hits Jeter has had in one season is 156. And the reason for that was because he only played in 119 games. The Yankee Captain has only eclipsed 200 hits 6 times in his 14 year career; however, he has hit 180 or more hits 11 times. His current career average for hits per season is 207. In that pace, Jeter needs to hit 207 hits for the next 3 to 4 seasons.

• 2. Alex Rodriguez
  Current Hits: 2,319
  Age: 32

Alex Rodriguez appears on my list for the second time. Not only is he in line to hit 800 homeruns, but also hit 3,000 hits. For his career, Alex averages slightly less hits than his teammate Jeter with 192. However, A-Rod is younger than Jeter and will be playing longer. At the pace of 192 hits per year, he needs to play for another 3 to 4 years. Even if his hits pace tails off, he has time to conquer 3,000 hits with more seasons.

• 3. Ichiro Suzuki
  Current Hits: 1,683
  Age: 34

Ichiro is by far the player farthest from 3,000 hits on my list and he also the oldest. However, he is also the most skilled hitter. Since coming over from Japan in 2001, he has hit 200 hits ever year. He has also hit 220 or more hits 4 times including 242 in his rookie year, 262 to break a record in 2004, and 224 and 238 in the past 2 years. His current 162 game average is 228 hits. Another 5 seasons of 228 hits (including this one) would give him 3,000.

700 Stolen Bases

• 1. Carl Crawford
  Current Stolen Bases: 296
  Age: 26

Carl Crawford is arguable the fastest player currently playing in the MLB and his stolen base numbers definitely show it. At the age of 26, he is the youngest player on the top 10 in active stolen bases. In 5 full MLB seasons, Carl stole 50 or more 4 times and has never stolen less than 45. His current average of stolen bases per year is 54. At this pace, Carl needs 6 more seasons to hit 700 stolen bases. You never know, he could still 60 or maybe 70 in a year.

2,000 RBI's

• 1. Manny Ramirez
  Current RBI's: 1,653
  Age: 36

Manny Ramirez should go down as one of the best hitters to play in our era with doing all his accomplishments without performance enhancing drugs. He hit his 500^th homerun this year and is soon going to be adding 2,000 RBIs to his resume. He averages 132 RBIs per 162 games and will soon be playing on an even better team than before. Manny only needs about 3 more seasons to reach 2,000 and that would put him at age 39.

• 2. Alex Rodriguez
  Current RBI's: 1,544
  Age: 32

You might as well re-name this list The A-Rod List. This is about the 3^rd time A-Rod has appeared on this list and this will by far be the easiest milestone for him to get to. Alex averages 128 RBIs per year and has hit 130 or more 5 times. Alex needs to play about 4 more years to be able to have 2,000. He will definitely reach the 2,000 when he is running for his 800 homeruns he will have well into 2,000 and be pushing 3,000.

This is all for this time. Next time, I will bring you the pitching milestones. Note, the players I put on this list were the ones closest to the milestone.