Congrats, Jim

Wow, just watched Thome's walkoff 500th homer. What a great way to hit it. And the whole deal with the fan giving it back to him was just awesome.

I was in Philly to see his 400th. It was a Monday and the Reds were in town to play a make up game. Griffey had been sitting on 499, and about 2pm after thinking about it all day, I told my boss that I couldn't miss it and took off for Philly. Two and a half hours later, I found myself buying standing room only tickets and entering the ballpark for the first time.

Turns out Griffey didn't even make the trip to Philly. The threat of rain caused some injury concern, so he was permitted to stay behind. And did it ever rain! There was a rain delay before the game was official, and everyone was worried that Thome's dinger wouldn't count if the game was called. It was about an hour and a half delay and then they resumed play. Considering I had to drive the 2.5 hours back to DC, the delay was a little worrisome for me, as I didn't want to get home too late.

They played a couple of innings before the second rain delay hit. At this point it was already after 11pm, so I didn't have much of a choice - I had to leave. The game ended up getting over around 3am, so it was a good thing I didn't stay. But as far as I can recall, it's the only game I've ever left early.

I can't believe we've seen 3 500th homers this season. Just incredible how many milestones have been reached. And to think I watched and remember these guys as rookies.