It’s almost something you never see anymore in modern day baseball. A player who has been with one team for his entire career and for that career to be more than ten years long. However, that is definitely the case with the man named Chipper Jones and his time with the Atlanta Braves. Jones has been putting on the Braves uniform for rapid Atlanta fans since 1993, and in that time he has done his best to live up to his name and has steadily chipped away at the elusive 500 home run mark. Now, with over 400 of them under his belt, it looks like it will be a foregone conclusion that Jones will join that exclusive club.

Fans of baseball in the city of Chicago are a divided group. While the city unites in triumph or agony when it’s football season, the days of summer finds a city divided. For fans on the north side of the city, the fans are generally behind the National League team, the Chicago Cubs. For fans on the south side, however, there is the American League team, the Chicago White Sox. The debate rages all season long over which team is more beloved and which team plays better baseball.

Sluggers chose their bats carefully, personalized them for maximum effectiveness

Some of the most enduring and popular memorabilia that exists to remind us of the amazing batting feats accomplished by members of the 500, 600 and 700 Home Run Clubs are the customized, game-used bats that have found their way into baseball lore.

Only four major leaguers have both 500+ homer runs and 3,000+ hits

Throughout the world of baseball, the treasured mark of 500 home runs has been a milestone that showed excellence and reaching it virtually guaranteed that the player would end up in the Hall of Fame. Over the years, however, with rumors of cheating and other things in the media about the world of baseball, some have stated that the 500 mark has been tainted. All of that may change, however, in 2012, as one of the most popular players in the game, Albert Pujols, nears the milestone.

“Big Jim” Thome proved he is one of the great power-hitters of all time (and a dead-lock for the MLB Hall of Fame) by crushing two “Thomenator” caliber home runs in two consecutive at-bats on Monday, August 15th against Central League Division rivals The Detroit Tigers to vault himself into the elite 600 HOME RUN CLUB. 

There’s a reason that baseball is known as “America’s Game,” and that billions of ravenous fans can’t seem to get enough…and it’s called the Home Run.  Fans love the long ball.  And today’s generation of fans are the luckiest ever because they have the pleasure of watching the game’s greatest power hitters “do their thing” in person…not to mention in primetime, hi-def, big screen, surround-sound splendor.

All-Star MVP Award Named For Ted Williams

While Major League Baseball’s tradition of selecting the All-Star Game’s Most Valuable Player to recognize the most outstanding performer in each year’s game, didn’t begin until 1962, baseball historians and knowledgeable fans agree that Ted Williams personified the MVP spirit.

Aside from the MLB All-Star Game itself and the Home Run Derby, the most anticipated and watched element of each year’s All-Star Weekend is the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game.  Once again this year, “Mr. Cub®” Ernie Banks will be heading up the National League team, which is looking to rebound after last year’s loss in Anaheim.  

Harmon Killebrew
(June 29, 1936 – May 17, 2011)

Minnesota Twins Bids Fond Farewell To The Original Twin Star in Arizona, Fans Remember Beloved Legend at Target Field

Harmon Killebrew was the Minnesota Twins’ first and most enduring superstar, playing 14 thunderous seasons and then continuing his role as the face of the franchise after becoming its first Hall of Fame inductee in 1984. 

Millions of people worldwide look forward to seeing what the next Sports Illustrated cover is going to be.  And SI's commitment to featuring baseball’s greatest sluggers was made abundantly clear when it spotlighted 500 Home Run Club member Eddie Mathews hitting a titanic blast out of Milwaukee’s cavernous County Stadium on the cover of its inaugural issue on August 16, 1954.

June has always been a pivotal month for major league teams, and it was the month that many members of the 500 Home Run Club hit their pivotal long balls.
 

I’m delighted to announced that my friends at Triumph Books have teamed up with Chicago Tribune reporter/ author Phil Rogers to publish a new biography of you know who entitled “Ernie Banks: Mr. Cub and the Summer of '69.”

500HRC Greats Battled At The Plate…and In The Military

Members of the 500 Home Run Club were known for their ability to “fight off” inside fastballs and knock baseballs into the “wild blue yonder.”  But two of MLB’s greatest sluggers (Ted Williams and Willie Mays) also took time out of the playing career to serve in our nation’s military.

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.

Mays Claimed Share of MLB Record With Four Homers In Single Game

On April 30, 1961 at Milwaukee’s County Stadium, The San Francisco Giants scored fourteen runs against the Braves and eight of them belonged to Willie Mays.  The “Say Hey Kid” put on a dazzling display of power by going deep in the first, third, sixth, and eighth inning.  

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®.

Four Homers Heat Up Cold Day in Chicago

On a frigid April 17th afternoon in 1976, with the wind whistling out of Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Mike Schmidt led his beloved Phillies to one of the most improvable victories in MLB history, with four home runs.  He also became the first National Leaguer to hit four homers in a row. 

Tell-All Book Chronicles The Life and Thunderous Career of Baseball's Mr. October

On the September 17, 1984, Reggie Jackson celebrated the seventeenth anniversary of his first Major League round-tripper, by connected off of Kansas City Royals pitcher Bud Black for his 500th career home run.  When asked about hitting so many home runs, Jackson was quoted as saying “God do I love to hit that little round sum-bitch out of the park and make 'em say WOW!"

Members’ Game-Worn Jerseys Demand Historical Bids at Auction

1954 Mickey Mantle Game-Worn Jersey Sold For $119,500.00