Jock Jerseys’ Flash

The Boston Red Sox helped usher in a new 500 Home Run club member this weekend, as outfielder Manny Ramirez clubbed his 500th and 501st home runs against the Baltimore Orioles.

Manny Ramirez trots around bases after 500th home run

The historic 500th home run came against the Orioles Chad Bradford, who up until Saturday night, had given up very few home runs in the past 2 years. Manny had been swinging early in the count for several days, trying to be aggressive and to reach the milestone, but it was against Bradford, when Ramirez finally came through.

“I’m happy, you know, about everything I accomplished in life,” Ramirez said afterward. “Not everybody has the chance to go and get to 500. I’m just proud to do it.”

Manny Ramirez becomes only the 24th player in MLB history to reach the 500 home run mark. Ramirez had been trying to reach the milestone for several weeks - he was at 496 on April 19th and took approximately 34 games to 500.

With the feat, Manny also joined another illustrious group:

The 500-home run club has only two dozen members, but Ramirez also joined an even smaller fraternity. He is only the seventh player in baseball history with 500 homers, 1,500 RBIs, 1,000 walks, 475 doubles and a .300 batting average. The others are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth, Frank Thomas and Ted Williams.

Once the monkey was off his back, Ramirez quickly notched home run number 501 on Sunday, leading the Red Sox to a sweep over the rival Orioles.

Fellow Red Sox players were ecstatic for Manny Ramirez after he reached the 500 home run mark. He received greetings & handshakes, as well as high praise from current and former teammates. Despite the game being played in Camden Yards (Baltimore), Ramirez also received quite a bit of support from the fans as well.

While many detractors have labeled Manny as lazy and/or an uncaring superstar, it’s clear that they just don’t know the real guy, as evidenced by recent statements and reactions from his teammates and coaches. We’re witnessing one of the greatest hitters in baseball history - we just need to pay more attention…

Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada has come out of the closet - well sort of.

It seems that Tejada has been lying about his age ever since coming to the big leagues at “17″ (he was really 19) - Tejada is now 33, or 31, or 33… sh**, he’s probably still lying about it just like most people think Dikembe Mutombo (of NBA fame) is. While the 2 year age difference really doesn’t make much of a difference, unless you’re the GM of the Astros and you just signed him to a long-term deal (ha-ha), it’s still remarkable that Miguel Tejada was able to get away with it for so long.

Jim McIssac/Getty Images

What I take from Miguel’s announcement is this… Tejada is a liar (the word “cheater” also comes to mind, but he hasn’t admitted to that yet). Did he take steroids? Probably… Is he going to admit it? No… Does it really matter in the scheme of things, since MLB has assured players mentioned in the Mitchell report a “free pass” to not get in suspended or penalized for their actions.

Home run champ and hated teammate Barry Bonds appeared in court Friday to plead “not guilty” to 4 counts of perjury and an obstruction of justice charge.  All charges stem from Bonds testimony against a grand-jury about his ties to steriod usage in MLB.  It was the first time in about 3 weeks that Barry has made a public appearance.  No trial date has been set, but rumors put it after the upcoming baseball season or even in 2009.

Barry Bonds has denied all involvement from day 1, so it’s really no surprise to see him do the same in court.  It’s still not 100% clear whether Bonds is telling the truth, however, due simply to his heavy involvement w/ BALCO and Conte, it’s founder.

The legal defense for Bonds claims there are errors or unclear information in the charges - they’re trying to get the case dismissed altogether.  However this ends, you just hope that we get to hear the truth at some point…