300 x 2 = History

History was made in Detroit, Michigan today. For the first time in Major League history, two players hit a century milestone in the same game.

Jermaine Dye hit his 300th home run and Paul Konerko hit his 300th home run. What makes this feat even more remarkable is that they are on the same team. What makes this feat improbable id that they hit them back to back.

Jermaine Dye led off the second inning with his blast. Dye was congratulated by the next batter, Paul Konerko, who quickly followed with his own home run milestone. Carlos Quentin had two home runs of his own, which nearly took away the limelight of Dye and Konerko's special achievement. Just when I thought I heard and seen it all in baseball, up pops this.

Stealing the thunder from the home runs was DeWayne Wise. He made a spectacular diving catch in the bottom of the fifth inning, but had to leave the game because of a separated shoulder. After rolling over and throwing the ball in to hold the runners, Wise was slow to get up. You could see him grimacing in pain.

Congratulations to Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko! Neighbors, golfing buddies, and now milestone teammate achievers!

Get Dye To The All-Star Game

Don't forget to vote for Jermaine Dye for the final pick on the American League All-Star roster. Ex-White Sox players Aaron Rowand and Carlos Lee are in the mix for the National League's final spot too.

We voted Scott Podsednik in and punched A.J. for the final spot in seasons past. Let's get Jermaine there. He is batting .308 with 19 home runs and 52 RBI. Jermaine has been on fire the past month and actually deserves to be on the roster.

Don't let the final spot go to the usual East Coast suspects. Vote Jermaine Dye!

A Signing Dyed Out Of Respect?

There's an interesting note about the Cubs signing of Kosuke Fukudome. It seems that the White Sox were not outbid by the Cubs. The Rangers were the club that offered the most money. The White Sox and Cubs offered about the same.

Fukudome did not want to displace Jermaine Dye in right field. That is the only reason he did not sign with the White Sox. I'm not quite sure what to think about that, but there you have it. A free agent more concerned about disrupting a club, rather than be a part of it. I'm not sure I completely buy that explanation, but I'm willing to learn.

2007 Artifacts

I liked the design of the 2007 Artifacts. It was different from anything I'd ever seen before, at least to my recollection. At least that was my initial impression. I still like it, but it doesn't have the same "Wow" factor that it had when it first came out.

The dirt background is very eye catching and goes well against the antique looking photo seemingly laid on top. It reminded me of a pirate map or some ancient parchment. The intentionally off-centered photo is a little maddening at first, but once you take that in with the background, it turns out to be a nice touch.

I'm always a bit surprised when I see more than three White Sox cards in a set that has 100 or less cards. This shocked me by having six cards in the base set. Three veterans and three rookies. The usual suspects are there for the veterans (Konerko, Thome & Dye) and the rookies are alright, but not overly essential. We'll see where the rookies rate ten years from now.

• 5 - Jim Thome
• 6 - Paul Konerko
• 7 - Jermaine Dye
• 85 - Jerry Owens
• 86 - Josh Fields
• 97 - Ryan Sweeney

Not a bad mix of Sox players for a 100 card set. The cards will pop out at you in a binder. They're not as great as they were upon first arrival, but the cards still hold up well. Nice job Upper Deck. Not great, but good enough.