Chasing Bonds

When the season started, it looked all but certain that Barry Bonds would lose his grip on the league's all-time hit record (2,575). With roughly 30 games to go in the 2011 campaign though, it looks more likely that Bonds will hold on to the mark for at least one more season. And depending on how off-season personnel moves play out, it could be longer than that.

Marietta's Derek Jeter and Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero of New Jersey and Newark's Chipper Jones are the active leaders in hits, ranking second through fifth. Going into the season, Jeter looked like the surest shot, as the only other player above the 2,500 mark (2,507). But the majority of playing time as the Marietta shortstop this year has gone to Cezar Izturis, leaving Jeter with just 40 starts, 78 games in all, and a measly 45 hits, putting him at 2,553 -- 22 hits from Bonds with 31 games to play.

The other three players all went over 2,500 career hits within the past few weeks but the numbers don't seem to add up for a legitimate run at Bonds in 2011. Ramirez has no more than 31 games remaining in his DMBL career and entered the week with 2,517 hits -- 58 behind Bonds. Guerrero and Jones currently are separated by just five hits, 2,516 for Vlad (trailing Bonds by 59), 2,511 for Chipper (64 behind Bonds). Guerrero's Team Buddah has 29 games to play while Chipper's Sugar Bears has the fewest of the quartet -- 27.

For 2012, only Jeter currently stands a shot at finding some playing time, and that's likely only against lefties. Ramirez already has announced his retirement at the conclusion of 2011 while Guerrero and Jones need to get hot if they don't want to avoid hoping for sentimentality to find a roster spot in 2012.

As long as we're looking toward 2012, it might be safe to say that another player might reach Bonds at some point next year. Alex Rodriguez of Las Vegas has 103 hits so far this season, 6th all time with 2,414 hits -- 161 behind Bonds. Ivan Rodriguez, getting some playing time with Amityville of late, is the only other active player in the all-time top 10, at 2,367.