The quietest 50 homer season ever?

Written by The Fool on September 15, 2005

There was a time not that long ago when 50 home runs meant something. But a quick scan of sports wire and ESPN.com baseball headlines had little to nothing celebrating Atlanta’s Andruw Jones hitting his 50th of the year on Wednesday night.

Granted, the Braves got whacked by the Phillies, who are still fighting for playoff position. But no batter has clubbed 50 homers in a season since 2002, when A-Rod (57) and Jim Thome (52) topped the number – and Andruw has 13 games remaining on the schedule. Forgetting the late-1990s roid-rage madness, and you have to go back to Cecil Fielder’s 51 homers in 1990, which was treated like one of baseball’s greatest achievements – if only because no one had done it since 1977.

But this is a truly monumental number for a young MVP candidate who has never performed as well as pundits expected him to.

I heard or read someone yesterday saying the only reason Jones was playing this way was because of a contract season – don’t believe that if you hear it. He’s signed through 2007.

Even The Fool traded his favorite team’s center fielder at his keeper league draft . . . for Scott Kazmir and a draft pick, which turned into John Thompson. And the guy who landed Jones is about to win our league.

The bottom line – despite a subpar batting average, Andruw is having an MVP season, and one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time for a franchise that happens to have – at least for a few more seasons – the all-time home run hitter among its past greats. And you probably got him for cheap in your draft or at a bargain trade rate during the early parts of the season. He won’t come at such a discounted rate next year.

Another future star

Francisco Liriano made his first major league start on Wednesday, and though he didn’t win he lit up Comerica Park. He allowed two hits – one of which was a two-run Curtis Granderson homer – in five innings, striking out six batters while walking only one. That gives the 21-year-old 11 strikeouts in seven innings in this late-season run with the Twins. You should give him a long look as a contributor for the stretch run and also for next season if you’re in a keeper league – he could be a good one to have around for the next decade or so.

Hoop it up

The first NBA preseason game is less than a month away, as the Wizards and Cavaliers square off at MCI Center on Oct. 10. But there are still a number of free agents floating around who certainly would be drafted by someone in your fantasy NBA league if they were officially on a team, namely: Gary Payton, Eddy Curry, Gerald Wallace, Latrell Sprewell and Dan Dickau.

Eddy Curry, a Fool Fave, has that pesky heart problem; Latrell, well, he’s got a family to feed, so expect him to resurface somewhere, somehow, someway; everyone wants Payton, but he’s being picky – expect him to join a contender; and young guys like Wallace and Dickau (rumored to be joining the Celtics), who knows.

And speaking of Boston, keep an eye on what Trader Danny Ainge is doing. Rumors have him shipping Paul Pierce out of town for Nene and Andre Miller, though he denies it.

Another thing to keep in mind as the NBA approaches? The "Beat the Rotogods" League we’ll be running at Yahoo! Think you’ve got what it takes to best the Ape, the Junky or Doc Furious? Send us an e-mail at editors@rotogods.com and put your money where your mouth is.

And no, beating El Amin doesn’t count; you must beat one of the real Rotogods to impress us.

Drop The Fool an e-mail at thefool@rotogods.com.

-- Written by The Fool on September 15, 2005