Here's Johnny

Damon tips his cap to the Tropicana
faithful after his 500th double.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder/designated hitter Johnny Damon entered elite company Saturday with his first inning double in their Interleague game against the Florida Marlins. It was the 500th two-bagger of his career adding to his already impressive resume.

Damon now joins a small group of Hall of Famers to record 2,500 hits, 100 triples, 200 home runs, and 500 doubles during their careers. The two-time All-Star is the eleventh member to swing his way into this exclusive club joining the likes of Al Simmons, Babe Ruth, George Brett, Goose Goslin, Lou Gehrig, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, and Willie Mays.

    Five of these now eleven players has recorded 3,000 hits throughout their careers. While Damon is not one of those five he has an outside chance of reaching a milestone only twenty-seven players in major league history have totaled with him currently at 2,646.

    There's a catch. Damon will turn thirty-eight in November and might not have too many years left in his legs. One of the most durable players in the last decade will need to average 120 hits over the next three seasons to accomplish that feat.

    Damon is one of only four major league players to play in at least 140 games each of the last ten seasons. Albert Pujols, Bobby Abreu, and Ichiro Suzuki are the other three.

    One mark none of the other ten players on that list have accomplished, Damon will. He is currently 8 steals shy of 400 for his career and when he swipes his 400th bag, he will become the first on the list to do so. Mays is the next closest coming up 62 short with 338 career stolen bases.

    With these numbers Damon is making a bid for his day in Cooperstown. Most see Damon as a complier rather than a Hall of Famer. He has never finished in the top ten of the MVP voting or been the best player on any team he has been in.

Damon's '04 grand slam might be the single
biggest hit in Red Sox history.

However, Damon has been one of the most clutch postseason performers in recent memory. While he was a productive postseason player during his time with the Oakland Athletics many will remember Damon has the "caveman" on the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

    In Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS he propelled the Sox to their first World Series appearance since 1986 with two home runs including a grand slam against the hated New York Yankees. That same postseason he led off the clinching Game 4 of the World Series to ignite their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, ending the teams 86-year curse.

    Five years later as a member of the Yankees, he found himself in another World Series. Damon made the Series-defining moment when he stole second and third on one pitch in their Game 4 victory over the then-defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies. He and then-teammate Eric Hinske became only the ninth and tenth players to win a World Series with the Yankees and Red Sox.

    In the twelve postseason series he has played in, Damon as accumulated .279 average with 9 home runs and 30 runs batted in. While it's unclear if Damon is a Hall of Famer, he is putting together quite a case.

    As he moves closer to 3,000 the seventeen-year veteran might be preparing a speech for that Summer day in July in the not so distance future.



  

A Roll Of The Dice

Matsuzaka showed signs of brilliance, but
was inconsistent for the Sox.

In November of 2006, the Boston Red Sox finally got the best of the Evil Empire outbidding the New York Yankees for Japanese phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka. New York on the other hand had to settle for second best, something they aren't accustom too, signing left-hander Kei Igawa to a five-year $20 million contract.

    Now almost five years later both Japanese imports look like a lost cause as Matsuzaka is set to undergo Tommy John Surgery, ending his season before it even got started.

  Matsuzaka was placed on the 15-Day disabled list back on the 18th of May, two days after what would be his final start of the year against the Baltimore Orioles, surrendering five runs and seven walks in only 4.1 innings. Originally diagnosed with a right elbow strain, it was later determined the right-hander would need season-ending elbow surgery and was transferred to the 60-Day DL Thursday.

    The Japanese import had a rough start to the 2011 season, allowing ten earned runs in his first two starts of the season in only 7 innings, accumulating to a 12.86 ERA. His next two starts, he would show signs of vintage Matsuzaka tossing 15 scoreless innings on only two hits, lowering his ERA to a respectable 3.81.

    That was only temporary as his final four starts were not good only making out of the fifth once. Matsuzaka finishes the year at 3-3 with a 5.30 ERA, leaving Red Sox Nation to wonder if he has thrown his final pitch in a Boston uniform?

    Most pitchers that undergo the Tommy John procedure average a year to a year and half recovery process before they have full healed, leaving Matsuzaka's future in doubt. The 2012 season will mark the final-year of a six-year $52 million contract Matsuzaka signed prior to the '07 season and with him sure to miss a good portion if not all of next season, he might have very well thrown his final pitch for Boston.

    Even though Matsuzaka was hampered by injuries the last three seasons, his time in Fenway was productive. In his first season with the Sox, Matsuzaka was 15-12, but proved to be vital part to them winning their second World Series title in a four-year span after sweeping the Colorado Rockies in the '07 Fall Classic.

    2008 would mark his best season with the Red Sox when he finished 18-3 with an ERA at 2.90. Opponents only hit .211 in '08 as he finished fourth in the American League Cy Young voting. From there on it was down hill for "Dice-K", making five of six trips to the DL the last three seasons.

    In his five years with the Red Sox, Matsuzaka has gone 49-30 with a 4.25 ERA, only eclipsing the 200 innings and 200 strikeout plateaus once, both coming in his first year with Boston.

    Matsuzaka showed signs of being the dominant pitcher he was in the '06 & '09 World Baseball Classic, winning the MVP in both of Japan's run to the championship, but his stuff and so called "Gyroball" never quite translated in the major leagues.

Igawa might be the biggest bust of a signing by
New York since they signed Hideki Irabu.

As for the Yankees' Igawa, he has only made 16 appearances in the big leagues since signing with New York. His career ERA in the majors is the devil's 6.66 and was never to be heard from again, making his last major league appearance back in '08. Igawa is currently pitching for the Yankees Double-A affiliate Trenton Thunder.

    Matsuzaka is the second player to hear the bad news this week as the Kansas City Royals top highly touted prospect John Lamb will also require surgery to repair a ligament in his left elbow. The left-hander was the No. 5 prospect in the Royals unbelievable farm system and ranked 27th throughout Major League Baseball.

    With the success rate of the surgery being so high we have yet to see the last of Matsuzaka. The question remains what uniform will he be wearing. You can sure a major league club will roll the dice on the thirty-year-old right-hander. 

Papi's Power

Ortiz has gained the reputation as
the most clutch player in
Red Sox history.

As if this weekend's Interleague series between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox wasn't already historic enough, David Ortiz added to the history Saturday night. In the fourth inning with the Sox down one to nothing, Ortiz launched a 2-2, 92 mph fastball from right-hander Carlos Zambrano over the Green Monster to put Boston out in front. The home run was the 300th for Ortiz as a member of the Red Sox.

    The blast put Ortiz in elite company, as the veteran designated hitter became only the fifth player in history to hit 300 home runs while wearing a Red Sox uniform. Three of the other four players have been enshrined into Cooperstown following their illustrious careers. Legendary left fielder Ted Williams is the franchises all-time leader and the only one to have crossed the 500 threshold with 521 career home runs.

    In 2006, Ortiz set the franchises single-season record for home runs, as he hit 54 that season while driving in 137 runs. His 20 career walk-off hits are most among active players, 12 of them coming via the long ball. He is also the all-time leader in baseball history for career home runs as a DH, hitting 314 of his 358 at the position. No DH has ever been named the American League Most Valuable Player, but Ortiz came as close as possible without receiving the award, finishing second behind New York Yankees third basemen Alex Rodriguez in 2005.

    Known as "Big Papi", Ortiz was not always so successful especially early in his career with the Minnesota Twins. Since making his major league debut in '97 Ortiz had only totaled 58 career home runs during his first six seasons in the Twin Cities. Boston general manger Theo Epstein took a chance on Ortiz after signing him prior to the '03 season. Ortiz hit 31 home runs his first season on Yawkey Way, after being limited to a pinch-hitting role the first quarter of the regular season by then manager Grady Little. We all know what happened the the following year.

    After the Sox fell into an 0-3 series hole in the ALCS against the hated New York Yankees, Ortiz put the team on his back and carried them to the most historic comeback in postseason history, beating New York four straight times putting them in their first World Series since 1986.

    Even though his counterpart Manny Ramirez won the World Series MVP in '04, Ortiz batted .308 during their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals and was the main reason why Boston broke it's 86-year curse without a World Series title.

    The Hall of Fame does not have any member listed as a DH, but Milwaukee Brewer great Paul Molitor spent more games as a DH than any other position and was inducted in his first year on the ballot in '04. Most recently Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez, who also spent most of his career as a DH, received only 36.2 percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility back in 2010 and even less his second year on the ballot receiving 32.9 percent of the 75 percent required to be inducted.

Molitor is a prime example a player that
spent most of their career as a DH can
be put into Cooperstown.

Will the Red Sox slugger ever reach the baseball plateau and get into the hollowed hall?

It is hard to say just for the simple fact Ortiz was linked to performance-enhancing drugs back in July of '09. Most of the baseball writers have made it clear they will not vote for any player linked to PEDs, but Ortiz still holds a fighting chance after being considered by many the most clutch hitter in Red Sox history.

    Ortiz looks to continue to add to his seven home runs in the month of May on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball against the Chicago Cubs. It is the first meeting between the two at historic Fenway Park since their meeting in 1918 World Series.