*That’s how many RBI’s Albert Pujols is at as I type.  The guy is phenomenal.  There’s not much to say about him that hasn’t already been said, so I won’t say much.  Just don’t take this guy for granted.  He might not break any single season records this year, (though I think he has a chance) but it doesn’t matter, because he is slowly building a legacy the type of which we have only seen a handful of times in our lives. 

While Barry was finally passing the Babe, Albert was adding to his own resume with another homer and 3 RBI"s and simultaneously making Jake Peavy look more like Jake Westbrook.  (I know there are other Jake’s out there, but the only other one I could think of right now was Jake "the Snake" Roberts.)

This guy may just be Tiger Woods in cleats.  He may be Michael Jordan (or soon Lebron James) in a different red uniform.  He may be Ali.  Armstrong.  And someday Albert may pass Aaron.  What an "A"-plus performance.  Don’t worry about overhyping his performance.  You can’t sleep on a guy this special.  Oh, and don’t forget about that one guy on the Yankees.  A-Rod may even be better.  Stay tuned.  The season isn’t over quite yet.

It was a real pleasure to be welcomed by the main blog here shortly after posting my first blog, and I let the 2 comments I received go a little to my head.  I thought I was on my way to writing for a living.  Then on post number 2 I got nothing.  Zero, zip, Hensley Meulens.  No.  Make that Brien Taylor. 

I think a contributing factor may have been posting at 3 in the morning.  Bad move.  Possibly of "Chris Reitsma named Braves closer" proportIons.  So now I’m trying it at 5 am.  Although it’s a holiday.  We’ll see.  I will tell you that I posted entry number 2 ("What’s in a Name") on my my space blog for a chuckle, and got some amazing feedback and even showed up on the top 10 my space sports blogs.  That’s a lot bigger deal than it sounds like.  Or maybe I’m just trying to tell myself it is.  I just want to be read…. is that so wrong?

An even bigger mistake–let’s say, "I’ll trade you this Kazmir feller for Victor Zambrano….he’s got the same last name as Carlos….he must be pretty good"–I made is forgetting to request today off. 

Watching Memorial Day baseball games in the comfort of my home while cooking burgers, hot dogs and countless unhealthy food products that do not contain the color green anywhere near the vicinity of the grill or plate, and falling in and out of consciousness, is one of my highlights of the year.  Sad as it may be, Mr. Hetfield, it’s true.  I guess I’m a simple kind of fan.

I’ll never forget the Memorial Day that followed 9/11.  I was home watching an ESPN infinity-header, and during the first game they had a beautiful ceremony, during which they played Ray Charles’ version of "America the Beautiful" while a multitude of patriotic images and festivities were flashed on the screen, leading me to weep more than I do when watching Rudy or David Hasselhoff watching American Idol, or his career going down the toilet.  Take your pick.

And now, for something completely indifferent?  Some thoughts that entered my dome during the last few days of baseball watching:

Does anyone else think it’s unfair that the White Sox have Jim Thome and Paul Konerko?  Something has to be done about this.  And why did Frank Thomas think he had a chance to stay there???

Now that Kevin Mench has the correct footwear, what excuse will he use the next time his average plummets below .280?  I enjoy the guy, but he’s always been a streaky player.  I’m actually slowly starting to realize that 92 percent of players out there are streaky.  Did you ever believe that he caught fire because he switched from Payless to Famous Footwear?  My left foot.

The poor Cubs scored 12 runs yesterday and still figured out a way to lose.  What more can I say?  It’s just sad.  Poor Dusty Baker might lose his job over this and Derrek Lee must have a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach knowing that he can do nothing to stop the bleeding right now.

What’s the deal with the Yankees losing one game to the Royals and only winning by one in yesterday’s game?  If you’re going to make a statement, you might want to start by beating the worst team in history (that’s right, I said it) by a margin of about 23-2.  Do you think George Steinbrenner has something against quality pitchers?  He still has a little dough left.  Get somebody now.  The Mets aren’t exactly picking up any aces, but at least they’re doing something.

Why does Jeff Francis pitch better on the road than he does in Colorado?  It just drives me battier than Ozzy.  Just when I think this guy may be on his way to becoming the missing link the Rockies have been searching for for years, he stumbles.  It’s fine that you found a couple guys that can win some games in Coors, but now you need consistency across the board.  And what happened to Chin-hui Tsao?  Wasn’t he supposed to be the second coming or something?

Rodrigo Lopez was caught eating a cup on camera the other night, as seen on Sports Center.  No….not that kind of cup, you sicko.

And last, but not least ridiculous, Chad Tracy found a way to strike out 4 times the other night.  Against Eric Milton.  Eric Milton!!!  This guy has been known as a strike out pitcher at times during his career, but he is no longer a future prospect, is having trouble keeping his ERA higher than Mark Grace’s, and Chad Tracy is not that guy.  What’s with Tracy anyway?  He puts together good numbers, but I keep waiting for him to be great.  I have this feeling it’s really close to happening, but he lacks enough consistency to be worthy of anything other than questions right now. 

Is he Mark Grace?  Lyle Overbay?  Is he better than them?  Is he Wade Boggs?  Hmmm… there’s an interesting idea.  Best red-headed players of all-time.  There’s a list Tracy has a great chance at making.  But the rest of the Diamondbacks fans and I are wondering when you’re going to finally reach your potential, not to mention some all-star games.  More importantly, your next duty is to make me look good. 

See, a few weeks ago, before my call-up to the big league of blogs, I picked the Diamondbacks to win the West.  I’m sticking with them.  They’re a magical team.  There’s something about them.  And Tracy.  And Byrnes.  Estrada.  Webb.  They have grinders.  They have winners.  They have hunger.  Now can they put everything together at the right time and win some big games?  That’s why they play, and that’s why we all have something to talk/type about.

Being a pretty serious baseball fan, there is rarely a name in a box score that I don’t recognize, but every once in awhile, a certain one will catch my eye.

I noticed that in tomorrow’s Braves-Cubs game, John Smoltz will be facing off against a gentleman by the name of Ryu.  I don’t know about you, but as a video game fan, I hope a Street Fight doesn’t break out here.  Ryan Dempster didn’t look too sharp the other day.  Maybe they could sign Blanka as their new closer.   He’s got quite the finishing move.  I mean pitch.

Anyway, I was thinking that for a casual baseball fan, viewing the very rosters here on mlb.com may be rather confusing to you if you’re not as familiar with the names as I am.  (Believe me, I’m not proud of how much I know.  It’s quite sad, really.)

Those who aren’t die-hard fans won’t know that Todd deserves a cup of Coffey as the Reds’ closer.  And personally, I think you’re a Putz if you think Eddie Guardado should reclaim the closers role for the Mariners.  And Todd Jones is doing just fine in Detroit, but what about Rodney?  He gets no respect I tell ya.  No respect….

Do all of these next players stay in the presidential suite when they’re on the road?:

Bush’s approval rating has gone down in Milwaukee after a couple of bad starts in a row, Nixon is making a strong comeback in Boston, Ford is leading things off in Minnesota, Kennedy is doing just fine holding down second in both Los Angeles and Anaheim, and Johnson feels right at home at first in Washington.  It’s only natural.

How does Ozzie Guillen find time to be the shortstop in Detroit while being the manager in Chicago?  And what the heck is Rey Ordonez doing batting cleanup for the Tigers?

Look at all the two-sport stars currently playing in the bigs:

Jordan is back, y’all, but don’t bother checking the NBA box scores, because he’s now playing outfield and first base for theAtlanta Braves.  Let’s hope this isn’t as ugly as the last go-around.

Former Falcons running back Steve Broussard is on first for the Cleveland Indians.  Something tells me if Rafael Furcal tried to pull a Derrek Lee with old Steve-O, he’d come out on the wrong end of that collision.

Floyd Patterson has traded boxing gloves for batting gloves, as he is now manning the outfield for the Baltimore Orioles, as has former champ Chris Byrd, who is doing the same for the Washington Nationals.

Most surprisingly sweet is the return of Walter Payton who is shagging flies as a member of the Oakland Athletics.  Sweetness!!!

Does anyone know who this Ethier character who keeps showing up in the Dodgers box scores everyday is?  I don’t, but I do know that he’s been blowing up the spot.  Maybe we need to test Ethier for Ether.  Is Ether a banned substance?  I don’t know Either.

Don’t tell Keith Hernandez, but the ladies are showing up in a lot more than just the dugouts these days:

Loretta is manning second for the Red Sox, Tracy’s at third with the Diamondbacks, another two-sport athlete, Picabo Street, is closing games for the A’s and a couple ladies with different careers are trying their hands at baseball:  Folk-rock icon and activist Joan Baez is a stellar reliever for the Dodgers and successful newswoman Paula Zaun has been seen behind the plate on occasion for the Toronto Blue Jays.

I’d be Lyon if I said I wasn’t a little biased, but the D-Backs have sure Cruz-ed their way through the first two games of their current road trip.  (awfulness intended)

And everyone said the Corey’s were done….  I just saw Feldman pitching for the Rangers yesterday.  The Surreal Life indeed.

Vincent Gallo is an actor, a director and a musician, but he still finds time to do some relief work for the Houston Astros.  Unfortunately all his talents couldn’t help them overcome the efforts of the mighty Pirates in yesterday’s 18 inning marathon.  Mike Lamb wasn’t the Gyro of the day, but he did have a great game.

Jerry Springer pitched for the ‘Stros yesterday, fresh off his suspension for hitting Barry Bonds with a chair.  Any final thoughts, Barry?

The Nationals are taking things One Day At a Time, which should be pretty easy for them since Schneider is their handy-man behind the plate.

I’m all for product placement, but this is ridiculous.  I’ve seen the following names showing up on the backs of player’s jerseys lately, and I’m getting kind of sick of the commercial overkill: 

"Pinto", "Abercrombie" (where’s Fitch?), "Proctor" (where’s Gamble?) and worst of all, the shortstop for Toronto in last nights Blue Jays-White Sox game had none other than "McDonald" stitched to the back of his uniform.  I also noticed that in the box score he was listed as "SS McDonald" which leads me to believe that they are subliminally trying to get us to bring back Super Sizing.  I’m not falling for your tricks.  Maybe super-sizing is still legal in Canada?

How does Aaron have the Guiel to put on that Royals uniform everyday?

I noticed M. Cabrera is a Yankee now.  How much money do they have?  I’m surprised they didn’t get D. Willis in the same deal.

There is a pitcher by the name of Cassidy in the Padres bullpen.  I suppose the "SD" on his hat stands for "Sundance"?

Last night something scary happened:  2 hurlers with the last name of Nelson pitched in different games, which led me to wonder if Matthew and Gunnar are back.  Let’s hope not.  If they became closers, I couldn’t deal with "Love and Affection" being their entrance music.

McCarthy showed up in relief for the White Sox last night, but former Sox pitcher Scott Schoenweis finished off the game in extra innings for the Blue Jays, who said "Good Night and Good Luck" to the "Pale Hose". (Who managed only 2 runs on 14 hits.)

The Cleveland Indians have a lot of familiar names in their lineup alone:  Tom Sizemore, Robert Blake, A. Martinez, Rafael Belliard, Spike Lee and Pat Boone all appear on the IndIans’ roster.

There are also a few rock n’ roll stars pulling double duty in the majors:

Nuno Betancourt is playing short for the M’s, Wang chung is a big part of the pitching staff for the Yankees, Kenny Rogers is still roasting batters in Detroit, Jerry Garcia keeps on truckin’ for the White Sox and J. Lo was at DH for the Orioles yesterday.

And finally, I know we’re supposed to be upholding the separation of church and home plate, but I have to note that Cain was able to string together two heavenly performances in his last two starts for the Giants.