When the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa tied St. Louis’ Mark McGwire for the National League home run lead Monday night, it marked the first time since May 19 that McGwire’s NL lead had been contested. He regained possession of the league lead on Tuesday when he hit his 47th. Although recent attention has been focused on McGwire, Sosa and Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. and thier pursuit of Roger Maris’ home-run record, 27 players have led or shared the lead in home runs in both leagues. The chart below shows who the leaders were this season, their homer total on the date when they last led and their season total: %% %%
%% American League
Player Date Season Total
Robin Ventura 3/31 1 13
Jay Buhner 3/31 1 10
Russ Davis 3/31 1 17
Luis Gonzalez 3/31 1 16
Sandy Alomar 3/31 1 6
Wade Boggs 3/31 1 6
Edgar Martinez 3/31 1 22
Lenny Webster 4/2 2 9
Manny Ramirez 4/4 3 27
Shawn Green 4/10 4 21
Tim Salmon 4/12 5 22
David Segui 4/15 6 16
Lee Stevens 4/27 8 15
Jose Canseco 4/26 8 32
Dean Palmer 4/29 9 25
Alex Rodriguez 6/3 20 36
Ken Griffey Jr. 8/11 41 41
National League
Player Date Season Total
Jose Valentin 4/3 3 15
Cliff Floyd 4/5 4 15
Ellis Burks 4/13 6 17
Ken Caminiti 4/13 6 22
Jeromy Burnitz 4/13 6 26
Chipper Jones 4/24 9 28
Andres Galarraga 5/11 14 36
Vinny Castilla 5/18 17 36
Sammy Sosa 8/10 46 46
Mark McGwire 8/11 47 47
%%
DOUBLE JEOPARDY
Dodgers second baseman Eric Young grounded into a double play for the first time this season on Aug. 7 against the Pirates. Young was the last player who began the 1998 season on a major-league roster to hit into a double play. He hadn’t hit into a double play since Sept. 14, 1997.
JOLTIN JAYS
Toronto’s Tony Fernandez became the sixth Blue Jay to collect 500 RBIs when he drove in a run against the Oakland A’s on Aug. 8. George Bell is Toronto’s franchise leader with 740 RBIs. The other 500-RBI Jays: %%
Player RBIs
George Bell 740
Joe Carter 736
Lloyd Moseby 651
Jesse Barfield 527
Ernie Whitt 518
%%
SWITCH BACK
Jose Offerman’s 27-game hitting streak ended Aug. 8. It was the longest by a Kansas City Royal since George Brett’s 30-game streak in 1980. Offerman’s streak also was the third-longest by a switch-hitter in the majors. The only two longer: 44 games by Pete Rose and 33 games by George Davis in 1893.
A NEW DAY
The Baltimore Orioles’ remarkable turnaround since the All-Star break has changed a lost season into a bid for a wild card slot. At the break, the O’s were 38-50; after the break, they won 24 of their first 31 and were five games over .500. The O’s had not been that far over the break-even point since April 21.
