Pujols reaches 600 HRs, becomes all-time leader in games, ABs

In his final DMBL season, Pujols has settled in as primarily a platoon DH vLHP, with a few games at 1B, for Livingston, where he's had a bit of a resurgence, relatively speaking. The Dominican native also has reached some historic marks in the league's record books this year.

Turner snares batting title

Marietta's Justin Turner snagged the DMBL batting title, qualifying in the final week to jump past Tucson's Jose Altuve.

After the all-star break, Altuve overtook Pablo Sandoval of Arkansas in the batting race and was enjoying a comfortable lead down the stretch. But a handful of extra at-bats may have pushed Turner across the finish line. He went 3-for-10 (probably getting an extra 6 at-bats) in a record-setting, 22-inning win over Vancouver last week and qualified for the batting crown within days, jumping into the race at .340, ahead of Altuve's .334.

With five more starts to finish the year, Turner ultimately finished with 510 plate appearances -- 8 more than the minimum to qualify for the batting race (3.1 plate appearances per games played by the team, or 502). He ended the season hitting .337 to Altuve's .330; Sandoval finished third at .320.

Turner's situation is sort of the opposite of what happened last year when Sardine City essentially benched Christian Yelich for the final month of the season. Despite hitting .352, the rookie first-rounder eventually failed to qualify for the batting title, ceding the crown to San Francisco's Hanley Ramirez, who hit .346.

Turner made 112 starts at shortstop for Marietta, splitting time with Didi Gregorius and Derek Jeter. He also had a stint on the disabled list but batted lead off for the Mighty Men against right-handers. Jeter meanwhile made just four starts for Marietta in his final season, collecting 5 hits, and finishing his career as the all-time DMBL hits leader with 2,994 -- just 6 short of 3,000.

While Altuve has to settle for second place in batting average he was far and away the leader in hits (236) along with a league-high 763 plate appearances in 162 starts at second base for the Scorpions. Victor Martinez of San Francisco (194) and Empire City's Daniel Murphy (191) finished behind Altuve in hits.

Turner also finished as the league's leader in on-base percentage (.396), jumping head of Livingston's Jayson Heyward and Poovey's Freddie Freeman (.385).

Chipper leaving his mark in final season

One of the all-time great DMBLers is making the most of his retirement tour through the league. The cornerstone of the controversial yet record-setting Newark Sugar Bears dynasty, Chipper Jones will leave the DMBL among the all-time leaders in virtually every category but triples and stolen bases.

After a sluggish first half, Jones enjoyed an unexpected power surge in the third quarter of the season. Now with 23 home runs, Jones has vaulted up the all-time home run list, becoming the 6th player to reach 450 round-trippers and passing some select company. During a stretch of only about a week or so, the Brick City third basemen passed Sammy Sosa (#9, 446), Vlad Guerrero (#8, 447) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (#7, 448). Number 6 all-time is likely where he'll finish since Philly's Albert Pujols is just too far out of reach at #5, with 484.

Alex Rodriguez is the active leader in home runs. In limited playing time this season with Las Vegas, A-Rod has slowly snuck up to near 600. The suspected PED user has smacked only 9 home runs this year but is second all-time with 594, way behind Barry Bonds at 689.

Earlier in the year, Jones broke the all-time record for most doubles, eclipsing longtime teammate Manny Ramirez, who had 538. Chipper enters the season's final weeks with 562 doubles. In a more recent career milestone a couple weeks ago, Chipper jumped ahead of Manny (1,728) for second place in career RBIs, with 1,732, trailing only Bonds (2,060).

A lock to make the DMBL Hall of Fame once he becomes eligible, Jones won't catch his future HOF colleague Derek Jeter of Marietta for the all-time hits record. He's safely ensconced in second place, more than 200 hits ahead of Guerrero, with 2,809, but several dozen behind Jeter (2,877).

Jeter recaptures all-time hits record

Derek Jeter recaptured the all-time hits record just days into the 2013 season, overtaking Vladimir Guerrero, who caught the Marietta shortstop late last season.

Jeter had one hit in the season opener against Bridgewater to reach 2,700 hits. He then collected two more hits in the 19-inning nightcap of the opening day doubleheader to match Guerrero at 2,702 hits.

The 2,703rd hit of Jeter's career was an infield single to short off lefty reliever Luis Avilan in the eighth inning of Friday night's 5-3 loss at Hoboken.

It was just a year ago that Jeter tied Barry Bonds for first all-time in career hits, before surpassing Bonds during Passover. Looming not far behind, however, was Guerrero, who surpassed Jeter with a strong finish to end the 2012 season.

Chipper Jones of Newark (now Brick City) announced his final season will be 2013 and enters the year third all-time in hits, with 2,671, barely 30 behind Guerrero and Jeter. Alex Rodriguez, who came over to Las Vegas from Hopatcong in the offseason, is the only other active player in the top 10, with 2,567 hits, starting this year just eight hits behind Bonds.

Jeter began his 17th season in Marietta this year, averaging 169 hits per season. He entered the year first all-time with 2,420 games played -- an average of 142 games per year. He has never played fewer than 101 games (2011) and that was an abberation because he's played at least 150 games 13 times, and a full 162 games three times.

Guerrero ties Sosa for 6th all-time in home runs

In what's shaping up to be his final DMBL season, Vlad Guerrero is taking a few final swings into the record books. Even though he's on pace for a career-low in home runs, Guerrero launched his 12th of the season last week, matching Sammy Sosa for 6th in league history with 446 career homers. In the Rowdy Roddy Pipers' 5-3 home win last Saturday, Guerrero went 4-for-4, including a two-run shot in the 3rd inning off Hillsborough's Felix Hernandez.

The Rowdy designated hitter needs two more home runs in the season's final 35 games to match Ken Griffey, Jr. for 5th all-time with 448 home runs. Guerrero's pace this season has seen about one home run every 9.5 games, or more specifically, one every 34.25 at bats.

Getting to No. 4 all-time might prove difficult for Vlad the Impaler: Manny Ramirez sits almost 50 home runs away, with 498 round-trippers. But Guerrero also has a unique chance to set another all-time record, at least temporarily. He enters today's doubleheader just one hit behind Derek Jeter for most hits all-time. Guerrero started this season about 20 hits behind the Marietta shortstop and both have passed Barry Bonds, who started 2012 with the league record (2,575).

Jeter, who has 2,670 hits entering Sunday's action, overtook Barry Bonds early this season as the DMBL's all-time hits leader. Since he plans to come back for another DMBL season in 2013, even if Guerrero does pass the Marietta shortstop this year, it looks like Jeter has all of next year to regain the crown. Guerrero currently has 2,669 hits, could call it quits after this season.

The 37-year-old Dominican native hit a career-high 52 home runs in 2001 (along with a staggering 164 RBIs) with the Kentucky Hillbillies and a career-low 16 homers in 2010 with New Jersey Team Buddah. Guerrero has played for 8 franchises in his 16 seasons, his most dominant stretch with the Toledo Mutthens/Tijuana Banditos/South Boston Gang from 2002 to 2007. He posted 100-RBI seasons in six straight years between 2003 and 2008.

2k hits for Pujols, 200 SBs for Ichiro

Albert Pujols became the 14th player in DMBL history with 2,000 career hits. Philly's main man reached the milestone during the week leading up to the all-star break. While he homered off Roy Oswalt later in the game, it was a first-inning single that turned out to be 2k for Pujols. The Endzone Animals eventually topped Las Vegas for an 11-8 win, thanks to 10 runs in the last two frames, capped by a walk-off David Wright grand slam.

The first overall pick of the 2002 draft is on track to pass Mike Piazza (2,025) and Jeff Bagwell (2,047) and if he can pick up his current pace slightly (now 88 hits in 88 games), Pujols could surpass current free agent Bobby Abreu (2,089) for 11th all-time by season's end. Catching Ken Griffey, Jr. -- 10th with 2,176 hits -- would have to wait until the 2013 campaign. The Dominican native is still a few seasons away from challenging all-time hits leader Derek Jeter, who took that crown earlier this year.

(Trivia question: Who was selected second overall in the 2002 draft, after Pujols? Answer at the end of this post.)

Pujols had a career-low 161 hits in 2011, a year after his career-high 208 (when he won his second straight Mitchell Award), and has averaged 192 hits per season. He has been remarkably steady, logging at least 600 at-bats in each of his 10 seasons and playing an average of 160 games per year.

Two other players could reach the 2,000-hit mark this year: Vancouver's Todd Helton started the second half of the season needing just 13 more hits while Pujols' teammate, Ichiro Suzuki, was 29 hits away.

Ichiro reached his own career milestone this week. The Japanese import stole his 200th career base on Monday night, in the first game after the all-star break. The theft broke a tie with Chuck Knoblauch for 8th all-time. Ichiro started the year tied with Otis Nixon and Alex Rodriguez, each with 197 stolen bases.

(Trivia answer: The now-defunct Honolulu Sharks selected Oswalt -- way!)

Pudge calls it quits

When Ivan Rodriguez announced his retirement last week, he bid farewell to the DMBL for good. He had 137 plate appearances in MLB last year, leaving him 67 short of DMBL eligibility for 2012.

He certainly will be on the ballot for the DMBL Hall of Fame by 2017, and as a longtime catcher, likely will get heavy consideration on his first try. If it's not Pudge leading catchers in a career batting category, it's Mike Piazza.

Pudge spent much of his career with his original franchise, the now defunct-Columbia Crusaders. He was the face of the franchise since being selected in the 6th round (50th overall) in the 1993 draft and spent 12 seasons with the Crusaders/Rattlesnakes. He was a two-time all-star (1996 and 2001) and appeared in a DMBL-record 18 seasons.

After Columbia left the DMBL, Pudge was a bit of a vagabond catcher -- left unprotected but usually being drafted -- playing for five different teams in his final six seasons. Much of his final three years was spent as a part-time player, logging 190 games with three different squads.

Most impressively, between breaking into the DMBL in 1993 and 2008, Pudge played no fewer than 130 games a year with the exception of one season (2002, 102 games, and of course, the strike-year of 1995). He leads catchers in career hits, at-bats, doubles and games played (tantalizingly close to 500 doubles, and 2,000 "official" games), and trails Piazza in most other categories.

Entering the 2012 season, he ranked 6th all-time in games played with 1,991 -- only Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, Manny Ramirez and Vlad Guerrero have "officially" played more. He also finishes 4th in doubles with 490 (surpassed only by Edgar Martinez, Chipper and Manny).

(Games played wasn't an official stat in the early days of the DMBL and many old-timers have incomplete records for the category. Rodriguez certainly played more than 2,000 games but the 1994 and 1996 seasons are incomplete, and he likely played as many as 300 games in those two years considering his number of at-bats.)

Other career stats for Pudge:

Batting average: .282
On-base: .313
Slugging: .439
OPS: .752
AB: 8,318 (7th)
H: 2,370 (7th -- ahead of Roberto Alomar, 2,207, behind A-Rod, 2,436)
HR: 263 (30th -- ahead of Javy Lopez, 260, behind Bobby Abreu, 264)
RBI:  1,100 (18th -- ahead of Rafael Palmeiro, 1,099, behind Larry Walker, 1,103)
Runs: 821 (29th)
Strikeouts: 1,359 (19th; only 378 career walks)

Jeter Becomes All-Time Hits Leader

Derek Jeter wasted no time Saturday night in becoming the DMBL's all-time hits leader. Making it a Passover weekend to remember for the Marietta faithful, Jeter singled to left his first time at the plate, off Tim Hudson in the third inning. He eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead, but the Mighty Men eventually fell at home to the Rowdy Roddy Pipers, 5-3 in 10 innings.

Jeter now has 2,576 hits, one better than Barry Bonds, who a few years ago had passed Roberto Alomar at 2,207 hits for the all-time mark.

Jeter Matches Bonds For All-Time Hits Mark

Longtime Marietta shortstop Derek Jeter tied Barry Bonds for the all-time DMBL lead in career hits, with 2,575. The record-tying hit came Friday night in the seventh inning on a groundball between first and second off Rowdy Roddy's Pipers rookie Guillermo Moscoso. Jeter came around to score what would be the winning run on a sac fly to give the Mighty Men a 6-5 decision at Home Depot Stadium.

The Captain will look to own the record today at home against the Roddy Pipers and scheduled starter Tim Hudson.

Jeter started 2012 campaign with 2,566 hits but certainly is no lock to keep the all-time hits record. He has company from a number of other active players who began the year within striking distance:
* Rowdy's Vlad Guerrero (4th/2,543)
* Newark's Chipper Jones (5th/2,537)
* Alex Rodriguez of Las Vegas (6th/2,436)

There's also Manny Ramirez, who began this season 3rd all-time with 2,545 hits (and just two HRs from 500), is sitting out the year but plans a comeback in 2013 DMBL; Jones and Guerrero already have pushed him to 5th all-time in hits since the season started.

Whether a DMBL player will stick around long enough to reach 3,000 hits remains to be seen, but it would seem the Magic 8 Ball would say, "Not likely." Chipper already has announced that he will retire after next season, so he would need about 225 hits this season and next. Meanwhile, a sizzling start in his first dozen games (18 hits in his first 42 at-bats) has moved Vlad within 14 hits of Bonds and Jeter through Friday night's games.

A-Rod, Jeter pass Manny

First it was Alex Rodriguez of Las Vegas and then it was Marietta's Derek Jeter, but both players passed Manny Ramirez for the all-time lead DMBL at-bats, during the first week of the 2012 campaign.

Ramirez was No. 1 with an even 8,800 at-bats and may eventually add to his total as he sits out 2012 to make a comeback in 2013. After Saturday's matchups, A-Rod and Jeter now rank 1-2, with 8,812 and 8,804 at-bats. The duo also started the season 1-2 in all-time games played, with Jeter at 2,267 and A-Rod at 2,260. Newark's Chipper Jones wasn't far behind at 2,243.

Jeter also looks to make history early this season, needing just 9 hits to surpass Barry Bonds as the all-time hits leader, with 2,575. He enters Sunday's doubleheaders with 4 hits on the year, sitting on 2,570.

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.