End of April Marks Double Milestones for Dodd

As April 2024 winded down, Dave Dodd eyed two career milestones.  1000 RBI and 1500 career hits.  The RBI mark would fall first as the Porland Philosopher Kings would visit Jersey on April 28th.

In the 5th inning Dodd would launch a solo HR off of 2nd year pitcher Jose Garza that bring Jersey Shore within one run and make the score a 5-4 game.  After watching Portland's young slugger Jeff Daniels put the Philosopher Kings up 3 with a 2-run HR in the top of the 7th, Dodd would get his chance in the bottom half. Tadahisa Kisuki would lead off the inning with a single and Mikey Bryant would just miss a home run with his ball careening off the wall in right-center field that would end with Kisuki at 3rd and Bryant at 2nd.  Edgardo Guzman, the flame throwing 26 year old lefty for Portland, would get ahead of Dodd 1-2.  Dodd would take a borderline pitch that was called ball 2 before fouling another pitch back to the screen.  Guzman would make the next mistake hanging a high curveball that Dodd would deposit 408 feet later over the spot that Bryant had previously doubled for his 328th career HR and 1000th career RBI which also tied the game.  The D-Bags would go on to score one more run in the inning and go on to win the game 8-6.  

Dodd became the 21st player in BSA history to reach the 1000 RBI milestone, 14 of which of those are active players.  Next on the list is the retired Louis May, who sits at 1006 RBI.  At age 30 Dodd has a good chance at making a run at the all time record, currently held by Shumei Yokoyama at 1579.  Yokoyama is still active playing for the Niagara Falls Frenzy.

After an off day, the San Francisco Bandits would come to town on April 30th, which marked Dodd's 30th birthday.  Dodd would get his 1st hit in the 1st inning and also drive in the games first run with an RBI single off of starter Tomiji Takuda.  Dodd's 2nd hit of the game would come in the bottom of the 6th inning, also off of Takuda.  With 2 outs and the bases empty, Dodd would smoke a line drive the other way past the 3rd baseman. The ball would rattle around in the corner while Dodd coasted into 2nd with a stand up double.  Hit number 1499.  He would be stranded at 2nd.  Dodd would get his first crack at 1500 when he would lead off the 9th inning with his D-Bags down 13-8.  Veteran Pedro Castillo would was on the bump for the Bandits and that proved as a good sign for Dodd as he was 5-9 lifetime against Castillo up to this point.  Dodd would foul off 5 straight pitches to start the at bat before taking a 94 MPH fastball the other way which would clear the 15 foot wall in left center and land in the 4th row for his 1500th career hit.  Though Jersey would go on to lose the game 13-9, Dodd would join Mike Bryant as the only two players to join the 1500 career hit club in Jersey Shore uniforms.  As a career achievement the hit mark isn't as impressive as the RBI mark, but it does make Dodd the 47th BSA player to reach the mark.

With 3 gold gloves, 4 all star appearances and 3 straight MVP's, Dodd is probably a shoe in already for the BSA Hall of Fame, but could he become one of the best ever?  At only 30 years old all current BSA records seemingly are in play.  If he has the health and longevity that his teammate Mike Bryant has nothing is off the tables, but as we all know, nothing in the BSA is a given as we have seen players at all ages fall abruptly off the table.  What Dodd and Jersey Shore fans want next is a World Series ring.

GO D-BAGS

Bryant Joins 1500 Hit Club; Dodd Climbing Jersey Leaderboards

In the 1st game after playing in his 6th straight All-Star game, August 12th, 2020,  Mikey Bryant did nothing new and had another 3-hit game, his 10th of the season.  In his 2nd AB he grounded a ball between 3rd and SS that found a hole into the OF for his 2nd single of the game.  What was special is that marked his 1500th career hit in just a shade over 7 total seasons in the big leagues.  

He became the 29th BSA player to reach that level, but by far has the most the hits between 2013-2020 than any player in the league.  There have only been 34 different times where a player has 208 or more hits in a season.  Bryant accounts for 6 of those.....all 6 full seasons he has been in the league.  That comes out to nearly 18%.  The man is a hitting machine.  He is on pace for 196 hits this season and I know everyone will be rooting him on to get that 7th straight season of 200 hits or more.  

Bryant turned 32 years old this year and though is OPS is down a little bit from the former glory years, Bryant looks to continue hitting in a  league where turning the age of 30 is like getting a death sentence. Though there have been a handful of players to succeed well into their 30's, the list of players to fall off is a lot longer than  of players who have faltered.  Hopefully we can see Bryant age like the great Sam Sagar has done, playing at a high level through age 35 and still putting up at least average numbers through age 37.  Hopefully 2500 hits will be within reach for Bryant.  He also sits at 279 HR.  A great 2nd half could have him near that magical 300 mark which only 8 players have accomplished thus far in the history of the BSA.  Are 400 HR out of reach?  Only time will tell at this point.

On the opposite end of the age spectrum, kinda, is Dave Dodd who turned 26 this season.  When Bryant was 26 he had ~1 year or so of BSA experience under his belt.  Dodd has 4+ at the same point.  Just this week Dodd passed former Jersey slugger Matt Doyle in hits and tied him in HR in a Jersey uniform.  With 1 more HR and 39 more hits he will plant himself in 2nd in both categories only behind Bryant.  Pretty crazy to think that he is already among one of the Jersey greats before his 27th birthday.  If he can stay healthy, he might be able to put up some very big numbers statistically.  Many people around the league believe he hasn't hit his peak yet, which could be scary for pitchers around the league.  Regardless of meaningless personal accomplishments, if you ask each player what they hope to accomplish most you can bet both of them want a championship more than anything.

GO D-BAGS