When Albert Pujols slugged his 499th and 500th home runs the other night at Washington, he became the 51st player in history to reach that magic figure that in most cases guarantees a player a spot in the Hall of Fame. Wholesale Nike Zoom . I dont consider myself to be that old, but I was amazed when I looked at the all-time home run list and realized I had seen 47 of the 51, either in person or on live TV. The ones I wasnt born early enough to see included Mel Ott, number 23 on the list with 511, number 18 Ted Williams at 521, number 17 Jimmie Foxx at 534 and of course the immortal Babe Ruth at number 3 with 714. Of those four, I was even fortunate enough to have seen Williams in person when he and Joe DiMaggio appeared at the 1991 All-Star Game in Toronto. I guess my point is home run hitting beyond a select few didnt really begin to take off until the likes of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider took centre stage in the 1950s and then took another quantum leap in the steroid era that began in the late 80s. Two of the greatest hitters of all-time, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner, hit 103 and 101 home runs respectively in careers that lasted over 20 years apiece. Funny that Wally Pipp, the man Lou Gehrig replaced at first base with the Yankees, hit 90 homers in the Majors. Gehrig, who set the longest consecutive games played streak (until it was surpassed by Cal Ripken Jr.) went on to hit 493 home runs. Pujols was the first player in five years to reach the 500 figure and that made me wonder, who might be next? Then I wondered if Pujols could possibly be the last. I wont likely live long enough to answer that question, but there are still a couple of players who have a shot in the next two or three years if they stick around that long. Adam Dunn, the White Sox prodigious slugger, should reach 500. Hes only 34 and just hit his 445th homer, a monster shot over the scoreboard at Comerica Park this week. Dunn made noises about retiring last season, when the White Sox kept piling up loss after loss. But Chicagos decent start this year and the lure of 500 will probably keep him around for a couple of more seasons. David Ortiz, the face of the Red Sox, is four years older at 38, but he only needs 65 more dingers to reach 500. Hes got a shot. The next group of three falls into the unlikely category. Clevelands Jason Giambi has 438 homers, but hes 43 years old. Dunns White Sox teammate Paul Konerko has 434 but isnt playing much these days and intends to retire at the end of the season. The Yankees Alfonso Soriano like Konerko is 38, but only has 410. He would have to hit 40-45 this year to have a chance. The funny thing is of those five players only Ortiz would appear to have a shot at the Hall of Fame. Konerko is a definite maybe, but the steroid connection could keep Giambi out. Since Dunn was so one dimensional, he could become the first to hit 500 homers who wont make it to Cooperstown. Further down the list you have the Rangers 35-year-old third baseman Adrian Beltre who was 376 homers. It could be a stretch for him considering his age and the fact he has already been on the disabled list this season. Tigers mega-star Miguel Cabrera may take another three or four years, but should crack 500. He has 367 now and is only 31. The Yankees Carlos Beltran is only four homers behind "Miggy" at 363, but he is 37. Prince Fielder, who appeared to be a lock a couple of years ago, is sitting on 287 at age 30. Seven more years averaging 30 homers a season and hed have a chance. Incidently, the top active Blue Jays home run hitter is Jose Bautista at 217, followed by Edwin Encarnacion at 196. If I had to bet, Id say Cabrera and Dunn will be the only two to reach 500 in the next two to four years. It could be a long wait, if ever, before it happens again after that. One last note on the chase for 500 homers. Phillies slugging first baseman Ryan Howard reached 100 homers quicker than anyone in history in 2007. Then in 2009 he arrived at 200 faster than anybody else. Now into his fifth season since then, thanks in large part to injuries, his pace has dropped off and hes hit 316 homers. At 34, 500 for Ryan Howard is little more than a dream. The odds of any of us seeing another 300-game winning pitcher are even more remote. The top active pitcher right now is Yankees lefty C.C. Sabathia at 208. Hes 33, but more than that, hes not quite the dominating pitcher he was two years ago and had elbow concerns last year. The Giants Tim Hudson is right behind him at 207 victories, but hes 38. After those two you dip down to the ageless Bartolo Colon of the Mets with 191 victories. The fourth-highest active pitcher in terms of victories is Blue Jays wily veteran lefty Mark Buehrle. At 35, he has 190 victories against 142 losses with a 3.81 ERA. For Hall of Fame voters, 250 victories could become the new 300 in the very near future. Considering his iron man innings stats Buehrle could at least bump himself into the Cooperstown conversation, with another four or five years of 13 or 14 wins. On The Mark Speaking of Buehrle, he takes his 4-0 record into a vital three-game set with Boston this weekend at Rogers Centre. Buehrle will be pitching in the series opener on Friday night against Bosox righty Jake Peavy. The Jays have slipped back to .500 at 11-11 after giving up solid leads at home in their last two games and getting shellacked by Baltimore. The Jays have now fallen to 4-5 at home and 6-7 against the AL East. This three-game set against Boston pretty well completes the first 25 per cent segment against the East. Right now Toronto is sitting in third place, one game up on Tampa Bay and one-and-a-half up on last place Boston. At the very least the Blue Jays need to take two out of three to stop the bleeding before they hit the road for Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Getting swept by Boston could drop the Jays into the cellar and start the same snowball rolling that saw them tumble to 73 and 74 wins the last two seasons. Cheap Nike Zoom For Sale . Moments after his Brooklyn Nets teammates ran out onto the court to congratulate him following their 100-98 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, Johnson could only shake his head at scoring only 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Nike Zoom Shoes From China . You can see all the action on TSN2 beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Chicago won two of three games during its stay at the United Center. The club began the homestand with a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh on March 1 and fell to Colorado on Tuesday before posting another blowout win in Thursdays tilt against Columbus. http://www.nikezoomcheap.com/ . It will then be back to business once the puck drops as the two clubs battle for key points in their respective playoff races. Watch the game live on TSN Canadiens and listen on TSN Radio 690 starting at 7:30pm et.DALLAS -- Calgarys Mike Cammalleri had a different ending in mind on another emotional night for the Dallas Stars. Cammalleri scored two goals, Corban Knight netted the winner in a shootout, and the Flames erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Stars 4-3 on Friday night. It was the first home game for Dallas since forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench Monday because of an irregular heartbeat. "Its kind of something that weve been doing pretty well as of late," Cammalleri said. "Whatever the score is coming into the third period and putting out all that we have and trying to keep going and stick with what were trying to do. Sometimes youre rewarded." The Stars blew a valuable point in their bid to hang on to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and they werent happy about it. But the loss was secondary to another step toward getting back to the business of hockey. The first was a 3-2 overtime win at St. Louis, the top team in the NHL, a night after Peverleys collapse. The second was seeing their teammate for the first time at practice Thursday. And then came Friday, when he surprised them by showing up in the locker room before they returned to the bench four nights after he collapsed there early in a game against Columbus and had to be revived in a nearby tunnel. The game was postponed. "It brings a smile to your face to see him here at the arena and around the guys," forward Erik Cole said. "Hopefully, it was good for him to be around the guys. We enjoyed seeing him and just to hang out with him." The 31-year-old Peverley, who was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in training camp, is out for the season. He will soon undergo a procedure designed to correct the condition. Peverley got a standing ovation when he was shown on the video board, briefly waving from a suite but mostly clapping with a stoic look both times he was shown. A fan held a sign that said "Heart of a champion" with Peverleys No. 17 outlined in red by the shape of a heart. One of the linesmen, Pierre Racicot, clapped at centre ice while the crowd roared, and the Stars banged their sticks on the boards in front of the bench, a universal clapping sign in hockey. They were doing the saame thing Monday, but then it was a frantic attempt to get the attention of game officials after Peverley collapsed. Cheap Nike Zoom Free Shipping. "It was awesome that the crowd gave him a great ovation," forward Jamie Benn said. "There were probably 20 smiling faces on the bench banging our sticks for him." With the Flames trailing 3-1 with 7 minutes left in regulation, Calgarys Paul Byron lifted a shot past goalie Tim Thomas from in front late in a power play. Cammalleri then got behind Thomas and stuffed in a loose puck for his second tying goal of the game with 4:30 remaining. "On both goals, we got on the wrong side of the man," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We had some problems defensively. We spent more time in our zone than we needed to. We lost some battles." The Flames had most of the best chances in overtime, and Sean Monahan kept them alive in the shootout by slipping a shot between Thomas pads after Jordie Benn started the final round by scoring for the Stars. Calgarys Joey MacDonald, playing for the first time since Nov. 1 after getting sent to the minors, stopped Tyler Seguin to start the first extra round of the shootout. Knight easily beat Thomas with a wrist shot to prevent Dallas from winning a season-high fourth straight game. "Joey MacDonald has been very good for us since the start," coach Bob Hartley said. "He was sent down but he never said a word, kept working, and he played a big, big part in our win." Jamie Benn put Dallas ahead 2-1 with his career-high 27th goal of the season when he won a faceoff and headed for the front of the net. Seguin sent a pass through the crease to Trevor Daley, who found Benn alone with MacDonald out of position. A little more than 2 minutes later, Cole redirected a shot from Brenden Dillon past MacDonald for a 3-1 lead. "This time of year with these points being so valuable, you cant give up a 3-1 lead in the third," Jamie Benn said. "We were lucky to get one point." NOTES: Peverley is headed to Cleveland this weekend and will have his first visit with doctors on Monday before having the procedure. ... Stars C Cody Eakin missed the game with a lower body injury. ' ' '