It seems every other day a home run milestone is being reached in Major League Baseball. Frank Thomas became the latest, hitting his 500th this afternoon.
Later this season, another player will reach a HR milestone when Ken Griffey Jr. -- barring injury -- will hit the 600th of his career.
I make the injury comment, because ...
Ken Griffey Jr. was on track to be the first to pass Hank Aaron's record 755 dingers before a slew of injuries sidetracked an unbelievable career.
In a five-season stretch from 1996 to 2000, Griffey belted 249 home runs in 763 games, or a home run every 3.06 games.
Hank Aaron's best five-season stretch? 203 HRs in 685 games (HR/3.37 games) from 1969 to 1973.
In his first 12 seasons, Griffey averaged a HR every 3.84 games and averaged 140 games per season. The next 6+ years he's averaged 96 games per season and a HR every 4.28 games.
If you wonder what Griffey's numbers would look like now if he hadn't suffered season-ending injury after season-ending injury and continued the torrid five-season pace he was on leading into the turn of the century, here's a look:
If Griffey would have played just 140 games a season over the last 6+ seasons (not exactly Cal Ripken numbers), he would have played in an extra 286 games. Divide that number by his 3.06 G/HR average and you come up with 93 extra homers.
That total combined with the 584 homers he's already hit would give him 677 at age 37. In comparison, Barry Bonds will turn 43 next month.
Just curious, do you think the nation's mood surrounding Hank Aaron's record being broken would be slightly more upbeat if The Kid was the one zeroing in rather than Bonds?
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