Gary Sheffield joins the 500 Homerun club

New York Mets outfielder Gary Sheffield hit his 500th career homerun last night in a way none of the 24 players who reached that milestone before him have done. He did it as a pinch-hitter.

With 251 career stolen bases, Sheffield is one of only four players in MLB history to hit 500 HRs and steal 250 bases. The other three are Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Willie Mays.

Tim Kurkjian of ESPN says that Sheffield's numbers are Hall-of-Fame worthy and he will be a Hall of Famer despite some of the other issues surrounding Sheffield.

He has admitted to intentionally making throwing errors to get out of Milwaukee, has said he used the "cream" and the "clear" although he never tested positive for (or knew they were) steroids, has publicly whined about his former teams, etc.

Sheffield is the only player in the MLB history to hit 25 homeruns for at least six different teams.

Vladimir Guerrero out at least a month

Los Angeles Angels rightfielder Vladimir Guerrero will miss the next month (and possibly more) after his strained pectoral muscle was diagnosed as a tear.

"Obviously, short of Vlad needing surgery, this is a big blow," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "We'll see how he progresses. He'll be re-evaluated in a month, and we'll see where he is."

When Vlad returns, he'll likely DH and not play rightfield. He was initially hurt making a throw in an exhibition game on April 2nd.

This is Guerrero's first stint on the disabled list since 2005. The Angels will likely call up Brandon Wood or Sean Rodriguez.

Guerrero's streak of 11 straight years of hitting .300 and 25 homeruns is likely to end. The only other player to do that in MLB history is Lou Gehrig.

Alex Gordon out 10-12 weeks

Kansas City Royals third baseman Alex Gordon had hip surgery performed by (who else?) Dr. Marc Philippon Friday morning.

He is expected to miss 10-12 weeks and the Royals will move Mark Teahan to third.

"Gordon is a big part of the team," Teahen said. "But we're off to a good start and we have a deeper team this year.

"It's not a huge adjustment for me. I've been able to go back and forth from the right field to third before."

Gordon, who was the second overall pick in 2005, was struggling early in the season (2-for-21 in seven games).

Jason Kubel hits for the cycle

Minnesota Twins outfielder Jason Kubel became the third player this week to hit for the cycle when he hit a grand slam in the eight inning against the Angels.

Dodgers 2B Orlando Hudson hit for the cycle Monday and then Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler hit for the cycle while recording six total hits on Wednesday.

Kubel is the ninth player in Twins' history to hit for the cycle.