Did you ever wonder what it feels like to stand on the pitching mound while MLB’s elite sluggers are sending balls screaming over your head and into the grandstands?  Well thanks to the onset of 3D technology and innovative programming by ESPN, this year’s State Farm Home Run Derby telecast on Monday, July 12 at 8 p.m. EST will be among the big events coming to you in all it’s 3D glory.

In today’s world of sports specialization, pro athletes succeed because they’re very good at one particular position.  But Harmon Killebrew succeeded with the Minnesota Twins of the 1960s because he was able to fill whatever defensive hole the team needed filled…while performing at an All-Star level at the plate. 

Generations of Americans have thrilled to the pageantry of summertime baseball in major league ballparks. And for those lucky fans who witnessed the greatest hitters of all time – members of the 500 Home Run Club® – blast out long balls under the bright big-league lights and the strobing effect of thousands of flashbulbs, nothing else will ever surpass the spectacle.

On May 8, 2010, “Mr. Cub™” Ernie Banks and his wife Liz Banks, who is president/founder of The 500 Home Run Club®, LLC, were special guests at The Volunteer Center’s Golden Gala as the non-profit organization celebrated its achievements over the past 50 years as the first Volunteer Center in the state of Illinois. 

The first and only teammates to hit No. 300 back-to-back were Chicago White Sox sluggers Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko (who currently leads the American League with 13-and-counting home runs in 2010 and has 339 career long balls).  On April 13, 2009 the duo became the first MLB teammates to hit their 300th career home runs BACK-TO-BACK. This landmark achievement was something that no other power-hitting duo has ever done in the long history of major leagues.

While most Americans are teeing off with their friends at their local golf course during the summer months, 500 Home Run Club® members teed off in their own way during June.

On May 8, 2007, The Milwaukee Brewers inducted 500 Home Run Club® member Eddie Mathews (512 career homers) into the Miller Park Walk of Fame.  In the first year of voting, Mathews joined Warren Spahn as one of only two non-Brewer players to be featured at Miller Park, when each received more than the required 75% of the vote for election.

Fellow 500 Home Run Club® member Ted Williams famously said "They invented the All-Star game for Willie Mays!"  But some might contend the honor most befitting “Say Hey” Willie’s inspirational life – during and after his MLB career – is the MLB “Beacon of Life” Award, which will be bestowed upon him on Saturday, May 15 as part of the pre-game festivities surrounding the 2010 Gillette Civil Rights Game in Cincinnati.

The old saying “Behind Every Great Man Stands A Great Women” has certainly proven true over the years as 500 Home Run Club members’ spouses supported their men – before and after they became stars – through the good and lean years, and helped them to cope with the pressures and responsibilities that came with being amongst the greatest sluggers in MLB history.

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is one of the most anticipated days of the year, with fans in cities all over the nation, and around the world, sitting on the edge of their seat in anticipation of spectacular exploits and amazing performances to come during the spanking new season.  And no one delivered more excitement on Opening Day than the members of The 500 Home Run Club®.

The 500 Home Run Club® is still one of the most exclusive groups in professional sports. Before 1984, only 14 major league sluggers hit more than 500 career long balls, and nobody breached the legendary plateau from 1988 through 1995.

500 Home Run Club Members Rained Homers in April

521 Homers and 18 Impressive Seasons Fuel His Legacy; Case For Hall of Fame

500 Home Run Club® FACEBOOK and Individual Member Pages

Thanks to everyone who has joined as a fan of our 500 HRC FACEBOOK page and to those who haven’t yet joined us, please do so.
 

Home Run Derby was the name of a 1960 television show held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles pitting sluggers against each other in 9-inning home run contests. The rules were not unlike modern Home Run Derbies; however, the television show also added as an out any called strike. The series aired in syndication from January 9 to July 2, 1960 and helped inspire the Home Run Derby event that is now held the day before the annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

They say you can learn a lot about a man by the kind of car he drives, so here’s a look back at the hot wheels and smooth rides that have revved the hearts of 500 Home Run Club® members over the years.

Historians have observed that professional baseball is a microcosm of U.S. culture; in some cases magnifying society’s changes and in others acting as a driving force for dramatic shifts in the way people think, act and remember history. So it is only fitting that some of the most influential Black Americans played in the Negro Baseball Leagues and/or made their mark in Major League Baseball.

Breaking the Baseball Color Line

Andre “Awesome” Dawson elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

After heading west to The Dodgers for the final part of the 2009 season, Jim Thome would like to return the Chicago White Sox, the team where he found a comfortable and productive home for 3½ seasons. "Everyone knows how I feel. I love Chicago,” Thome said recently.  “Ultimately, if things work out, I would love to come back. It's a great city. It's home. It has been a great place. Jerry, Ozzie, the whole organization, they have all treated me great."