500

No, that's not the Magic Number. It's Jim Thome's home run total after yesterday's game. Thome reached the 500-mark in fine fashion too, with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 9-7 win over the Angels. You've probably read the stats, but for those of you keeping score at home, Thome became the 23rd player and third this season (Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez being the other two) to join the 500 homer club. It was his 28th of the season, tying him for fifth in the American League. (He's also fifth in on-base percentage and sixth in walks in the A.L.) Thome, who had gone 11 at bats without a hit since banging out No. 499, connected off of Dustin Mosely on a 3-2 pitch, driving the ball into the left-center field stands and Darin Erstad home with the winning run. The White Sox DH was mobbed at the plate by his teammates, including Bobby Jenks and Jermaine Dye, who carried the burly Thome on their shoulders. (The way this season has gone, it's a wonder that they didn't drop him and injure themselves, winding up with all three players on the DL.) The heroics justified the Sox's promotion for the day -- Jim Thome bobbleheads. Good timing.

By all accounts, Thome is one of the best guys in the game and a real asset in the clubhouse. The only knocks on him are that he's not as durable as he once was and he strikes out a lot. Despite these flaws, the Update is willing to keep him on as the DH for next year. Even being out of the lineup a bit this year (only 400 at bats to date), he's managed to hit 28 homers, drive in 85 runs, and hit .268 -- nothing to write home about, but the highest average on the 2007 team. Moreover, his walks make up for his strikeouts in our eyes. So he joins Jenks as the second player we've looked at whose job would be secure if the Update were the GM. Go Thome! Go Sox!