Elephant Rumblings: Zack Gelof hits A’s 9,000th home run

MLB news roundup

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

The A’s offense went cold yet again over the weekend after Friday night’s home run bender, but the lone run scored in yesterday’s loss was certainly a notable one.

In the top of the fifth of Sunday’s season finale in Arizona, second baseman Zack Gelof hit a high fly that carried just far enough to elude right fielder Jake McCarthy and bounce off the top of the wall for the 9,000th home run in Oakland Athletics history.

Gelof’s shot made the A’s the sixth team to hit 9,000 homers since they moved to Oakland in 1968. Quite fittingly, Reggie Jackson hit the first dinger of the Oakland era, and Gelof is in very good company on the A’s list of home run “milestone men.” Hopefully this bodes well for Zack’s own career going forward.

It’s interesting to note the variation between how long it took the A’s to hit each mark. Jason Giambi is the only player who appears twice on the list, and the A’s went from 4,000 to 5,000 home runs at a very brisk clip in just over four years. That era featured bashers like Mark McGwire, Miguel Tejada, and Matt Stairs, to name a few.

So: who’s gonna hit number 10,000?

Have a stupendous week, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s drop series finale to Arizona 5-1
• “Where’s The Beef?” Not Enough Pitching In The Pipeline
• Gelof joins A’s legends with 9,000th HR in Oakland history
• Injuries & Moves: Progress for Stripling, Blackburn, Muller
• After 2-HR game at Triple-A, you have to see Jacob Wilson’s eye-popping numbers

MLB News & Interest:

• Home Run Derby rules change to slow event’s pace for hitters ($)
• Eleven people injured at Brewers’ American Family Field after escalator malfunctions ($)
• Mike Trout “Basically Pain-Free,” Expects To Return By Late July
• Red Sox Notes: Casas, Hendriks, Mata
• Giants Chairman Discusses Deadline, Signings, “Inconsistent” First Half
• Rangers Notes: Seager, Mahle, Rocker
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Good times.

Back and in full effect.

Colby Thomas is on a roll, too.