Let's Talk About Jacoby

Jacoby Ellsbury that is - the young rookie outfielder for those Red Sox from Beantown. He is just 24 years of age, and already looks like a star in the making.

Ellsbury made his debut on June 30 of 2007, and in that half season, he hit a robust .354 with a .394 on-base percentage. He only smacked three home runs, but managed to swipe a decent nine bases in '07. This kid also supplied the Red Sox with a steady glove in the outfield - whether he played in left or center field (he played one game in right).

Down the stretch, when slugger Manny Ramirez was forced to miss time with various injuries, Ellsbury stepped up and showed he is ready for major league action. And with only 116 at-bats under his belt, he is still eligible for Rookie of the Year in 2008!

___________________________________________

2007 Season in Review:

Milestones Part Deux

• The 45-year old pitcher that is Roger Clemens won his 350th career game on July 2nd against the Minnesota Twins. The Rocket signed a minor league contract with the Yankees back in May that paid him $28 million on a prorated basis, according to MLB.com. Clemens may in fact be one of the last pitchers to win 350 (the Padres' Greg Maddux currently has 347). Clemens is only the eighth pitcher to reach this milestone, and the first since Warren Spahn did it in 1963!


• Three milestones in four days! The first came off the bat of one Alex Rodriguez. On August 4th, he clubbed his 500th career home run. He became the 22nd player, and first since Frank Thomas did it just over a month earlier, to reach that feat. He was the second of three players to reach 500 home runs, this one coming in Kansas City in a 16-8 Yankees rout of the Royals. The next stop for A-Rod could be 800!


• The next day, Mets' pitcher Tom Glavine became quite possibly the last pitcher (at least for a long, long time) to win his 300th career game. The Mets beat the Chicago Cubs by a score of 8-3, and Glavine became the 23rd pitcher in history to notch 300 career wins, and the fifth left-hander to do so. And it was only fitting that closer Billy Wagner would finish out the game, even though it was not a save situation. It took two tries to get 300 for Glavine - the first of which ended in complete disaster. But with 300+ career wins for Glavine, his quest for the Hall of Fame just got a little bit easier.


• On August 7, 2007, one of (if not THE) most followed record in sports was broken. Barry Bonds hit the 756th home run of his career, surpassing former home run king Henry Aaron! It was Bonds' 22nd of the season, and it came off of Washington Nationals' pitcher Mike Bacsik, who became the 446th different pitch to serve up a Bonds long ball and will forever be known as "Mr. 756". After the home run, the game was delayed by about 10 minutes for a celebration, in which even the Nationals' players stood and cheered. A special video presentation from Aaron himself was aired on the big screen at AT&T Park. Stay tuned for more on this historic event.


• And finally, on September 16, White Sox slugger Jim Thome joined the 500-home run club. It was the first time in history a 500th career home run was of the walk-off variety, helping the White Sox defeat the Angels.

2008 could be another season chocked full of milestones. Ken Griffey Jr. is just seven home runs shy of 600. Gary Sheffield and Manny Ramirez are both in striking distance of 500. Bonds sits only 65 hits shy of 3000, which is certainly obtainable if he remains healthy (and has a team to play for), as he had 94 in 2007. Unlikely as it is, if Clemens DOES decide to come back for yet another season, it would be very likely to see him reach win number 366, making him 5th all time!

Stats courteously of baseballreference.com, MLB.com and ESPN.com