Three members of the 500-Club:  A-Rod has 613 and counting, Thome has 589 and counting, and Palmeiro ended his career with 569.  That’s 1,771 home runs among the three of them, with more to come!

2002 Topps Series 1:

1. #210 Hideo Nomo
2. #175 Ivan Rodriguez
3. #57 Dante Bichette
4. #121 Jorge Fabregas
5. #339 Alex Rodriguez/Jim Thome/Rafael Palmeiro (League Leaders)
6. #269 Marlon Anderson
7. #116 Ruben Rivera
8. #101 Keith Osik
9. #212 Ricky Gutierrez
10. #136 Omar Olivares

It seemed like most of the audience consisted of Los Angeles Dodgers fans.  It’s a long way from California, so they were here looking for a dramatic display of power, and that’s exactly what they got.  The Dodgers scored 7 runs in the 4th inning and 6 in the 7th.  I stopped keeping count of their runs after the 4th inning.

The Nationals were already eliminated from playoff contention a few weeks ago, so I was at the game mainly to see the Dodgers in person before they go into the playoffs.  The Adam Dunn home run, coupled with the fireworks display that followed, was an awesome experience.  It was also pretty cool to see Chin-Lung Hu (胡金龍), the first Taiwanese infielder ever to play in the Major Leagues, make a plate appearance (and strike out).  Future Hall of Fame contender and 500-HR clubber Jim Thome also made a surprise appearance (and grounded out).  Then of course, there was Manny Being Manny, who drew boos at every plate appearance.

The box score for the game can be found here.  As I write this, the Nationals and Dodgers are playing game 2 of their 3-game series at Nationals Park and the score is tied 3-3 in the 8th inning.  Whether the Nationals win or lose tonight, I’ll look forward to seeing the Dodgers play in the playoffs next month on TV.

2007 Topps #481 Jim Thome

2007 Topps archives, to be integrated with my collection:

1. #425 Tomo Ohka
2. #427 Randy Wolf
3. #430 Justin Morneau
4. #432 Takashi Saito
5. #440 Mark Teixeira
6. #446 Jaret Wright
7. #449 Francisco Liriano (Topps All-Star Rookie)
8. #451 Bobby Jenks
9. #455 Dan Johnson
10. #457 Mike Hampton
11. #460 Jose Reyes
12. #464 Omar Vizquel
13. #466 Raul Ibanez
14. #470 Gary Sheffield
15. #471 David Wells
16. #476 Aaron Harang
17. #481 Jim Thome
18. #486 Wandy Rodriguez
19. #487 Eric Chavez
20. #489 Doug Davis


2007 Topps #560 Randy Johnson

21. #492 Michael Barrett
22. #496 Ryan Klesko
23. #510 Alex Rodriguez
24. #512 Jason Kubel
25. #513 Jermaine Dye
26. #514 Mark Grudzielanek
27. #522 Anthony Reyes
28. #523 Derrek Lee
29. #534 Terrmel Sledge
30. #536 Tom Gorzelanny
31. #540 Chad Billingsley
32. #542 Omar Infante
33. #547 Byung-Hyun Kim
34. #549 Horacio Ramirez
35. #557 Scott Olsen
36. #560 Randy Johnson
37. #561 Chan Ho Park
38. #562 Jamie Moyer
39. #563 Mike Gonzalez
40. #564 Nelson Cruz

1992 Topps #768 Jim Thome

1992 Topps archives, to be integrated with my collection:

1. #715 Craig Biggio
2. #717 Ken Dayley
3. #719 Terry Mulholland
4. #720 Kirk Gibson *x2
5. #726 Kirt Manwaring
6. #727 Chuck McElroy
7. #729 Art Howe (Manager)
8. #732 Nelson Santovenia
9. #738 Dennis Eckersley
10. #744 Chris Hammond
11. #746 Bernard Gilkey
12. #751 Steve Wilson
13. #753 Paul Assenmacher
14. #754 Charlie Hayes
15. #757 Rob Dibble
16. #762 John Burkett
17. #766 Mark Davis
18. #768 Jim Thome
19. #772 Garry Templeton *x3
20. #773 Hal Morris
21. #774 Bud Black
22. #775 Ivan Calderon *x2
23. #788 Mike Stanton
24. #790 Joe Carter
25. #792 Dave Winfield