I know Jay Bruce has not taken that next step people have been hoping to see. Save for some BABIP variation, he's been more or less the same guy for 3+ years. But I was surprised to see on the broadcast yesterday that his HR was the 125th of his career.
That HR pulled him in to a tie with Vada Pinson for the 41st most HR through the age 25 season at 125. Some of the players he's passed this year include:
Barry Bonds & Mark McGwire: 117
Ralph Kiner: 114
Dick Allen: 112
Willie McCovey: 108
Frank Thomas: 104
Ryan Braun & Babe Ruth: 103
Does this mean anything? Well, there are certainly no guarantees. But take a look a list of the 40 guys ahead of him.
- 18 are in the HOF
- 13 are retired and not in the HOF (but 1 wil be)
- 11 are active (2 are no doubt HOFers, 4 more will have a good case and a few others have an outside shot)
So of those forty, that's >50% who are HOFers. What does that mean for Bruce's future -- nothing really. Maybe he's the next Reggie Jackson. Maybe he's the next Ruben Sierra. But it does put him in some pretty elite company and, in any event, it was fun to look at the list. Bruce is still very young and I'm glad he's going to be a Red for the next couple of years.
Code:Retired HOF Active Retired Non-HOF T. Eddie Matthews (222) 1. Alex Rodriguez (241)* 9. Ken Griffey Jr. (189)* 2. Jimmie Foxx (222) 7. Albert Pujols (201)* 15. Juan Gonzalez (167) 4. Mel Ott (211) 10. Andruw Jones (185)~ 16. Jose Canseco (165) 5. Mickey Mantle (207) 13. Miguel Cabrera (175) 18. Tony Conigliaro (160) 6. Frank Robinson (202) 17. Prince Fielder (160) 19. Bob Horner (158) 8. Orlando Cepeda (191) 19. Adam Dunn (158) 21. Hal Trotsky (155) 11. Johnny Bench (179) 24. Adrian Beltre (147)~ 23. Troy Glaus (148) 11. Hank Aaron (179) 25. Vladimir Guerrero (136)~ 24. Darryl Strawberry (147) 14. Joe DiMaggio (168) 31. Eric Chavez (134) 26. Boog Powell (143) 22. Willie Mays (152) 37. David Wright (130)~ 28. Ruben Sierra (139) 27. Al Kaline (140) 41. Jay Bruce (125) 32. Tom Brunansky (133) 29. Ron Santo (137) 38. Rocky Covalito (129) 33. Cal Ripken (133) 42. Vada Pinson (125) 33. Eddie Murray (133) 33. Jim Rice (133) 36. Reggie Jackson (132) 38. Harmon Killebrew (130) 40. Ted Williams (127)