Nine players in league history have reached 3000 hits. Jacen Solo is the next active player approaching that feat. He entered 2011 with 2667 hits, and has added 144 to go to 2811 on his career. Solo looked like he had lost something last year, when at age 37 he set career lows in batting average (.275), homeruns (11), steals (4), OBP (.341), and slugging percentage (.387).
Jacen has bounced back with a big 2011 season, hitting .339 with 17 homers and even stealing 38 bases. He has a chance to get to 3000 hits by the end of the 2012 season, but failing that almost certainly will get there in 2013, when he'll be 40. Solo's big season removes any doubt that he'll still be good enough to play a few more years.
Dirk Lindros passed the 600 homer mark earlier this season, and now stands at 612. He's still hitting for power (22 homers, .508 slugging) but age has taken a toll on his batting average (.233), OBP (.328), durability, and mobility (1 steal). It is uncertain whether Lindros, whose contract expires after the year, will return for 2012. Lindros is also the all-time walks leader, passing 2000 this year.
Mighty Joe Young, with 26 homeruns, stands 2 away from reaching 500 for his career. When he gets there he'll be the 6th player to do so.
Bubba Lewis, with 14 homers this year, has 468 for his career. Already 39 years old, Bubba may not have enough left in the tank to get to 500. His career is shaping up to resemble MLB sluggers Carlos Delgado and Fred McGriff, who fell a bit short of the 500 mark.
How many people knew that Conan was the league's all-time doubles leader in addition to his homerun crown? At season's beginning he had 654, but that was only 2 ahead of Hal Glover. Glover is the new king with 675.
In a painful record, Frank Lewis passed Kermit Holmes for the alltime HBP record. Frank trailed by 19 coming into this season, and has been plunked 26 times. The record is unofficial, however, as Holmes began his career several seasons before 1997, when the HBP records were kept for the first time.
Lou Zamuda is struggling this year, batting .207 as age (43) has finally caught him. He did set one more record however, as he passed his former teammate Conan for the all-time runs scored record. Zamuda now has 2032, Conan retired with 2000. Zamuda is also the alltime hits leader with 3,872.
On the pitching side, Jojo Lewis passed the 5000 strikeout level and threw his 4th no-hitter. Both are league records, and he trails only Nolan Ryan in both categories.
Tom Groovine, with 13 wins at age 42, is only 10 away from joining Roger Chillingworth, Lewis, and Sunsurf as the only 300 game winners in league history. After Groovine we'll have to wait awhile, the next best candidates are Don Law (223, age 37), Roger Lewis (210, age 33), and Storm Morris (age 35, 209 wins).
Troy Everett now has 580 saves, good for second place all-time after Bernie Grayson. Everett is 102 behind Grayson and 37 years old, so it is possible he can catch him if he has 3 years left as a closer. A lackluster 4.50 ERA and 22 to 21 K-W ratio suggests he might not have it in him.
