Baseball leaders in various key categories of our game of baseball should be listed to enhance our focus on our men of summer.

The top of the heap, our already recognized baseball favorites and leaders, are chased by everyone in the game of baseball.

Salary levels of our active players in major league today might lead one to think, holy moly, they are great. Quite to the contrary. We will briefly take a look at the fourteen (14) major categories that defines greatness of achievement.

1.Hits 2.Runs Batted In 3.On-Base Percentage 4.Slugging Percentage 5.Total Bases 6. Home Runs 7. Runs 8. Doubles 9.Strikeouts 10. Saves 11.Stolen Bases 12.Triples 13.Wins 14. Shutouts

Eight (8) categories deal with hitting, four (4) about pitching, and two (2) are in the general category. I will list the all time leader for each category and his numbers then the only active player with a prayer to top him and his numbers.

Spin the record at 33 rpm, 45 rpm or 78 rpm Barry Bonds hitting on the record is right on course at any speed.

Hits: Pete Rose 4,256; Barry Bonds 2,742
Runs Batted In: Hank Aaron 2,297; Barry Bonds 1,853
On-Base Percentage: Ted Williams .482; Barry Bonds .442

Slugging Percentage: Babe Ruth .690; Albert Pujols .621

Total Bases: Hank Aaron 6,856; Barry Bonds 5,584
Home Runs: Hank Aaron 755; Barry Bonds 708
Runs:Rickey Henderson 2,295; Barry Bonds 2,078

Doubles:Tris Speaker 792; Craig Biggio 604
Strike Outs: Nolan Ryan 5,714 Roger Clemons 4,502
Saves: Lee Smith 478; Trevor Hoffman 436
Stolen Bases: Rickey Henderson 1,406; Kenny Lofton 567
Triples: Sam Crawford 312; Steve Finley 112
Wins: Cy Young 511; Roger Clemons 341
Shutouts: Walter Johnson 110; Roger Clemons 46

The gap in any category between the all time leader and his closest chaser in most cases is almost insurmountable except for the exploits of Barry Bonds.

The year 2006 for all practical purposes will go into the annals of baseball history as the year of Barry Bonds. Win Lose or draw on the question of a published book one thing is an absolute, when considering his exploits, six of eight categories is not all bad.

Batter Up---Let's Play Ball

Wiley Channell

Major Wiley B. Channell USMC (retired) Full name Wiley Brownee Channell grew up Argo, Alabama and Trussville, Alabama. Attended grammar school Argo 1st thru 5th grade, 6th grade Trussville elementary. High School Hewitt-Trussville High 7th thru 12th. Graduated 1954 and attended Auburn University 1954-1959. Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Administration Class of 1959. Joined u.S. Marine Corps and attended OCS Officer Candidate School Quantico, Va. Commissioned 2nd Lt. October 1959. Served as an Engineer MOS 1302 with secondary MOS 0402 Logistics Officer. Retired Major USMC 1979.

Married: Wife Robbie Amerson Channell.

Four (4) Children: 1. Mrs John James Coleman III (Liz), grandson John James Coleman IV (Jack); 2. Ms Cynthia J. Channell (Cj); 3. Douglas Jackson Channell (Doug), grandson Taylor Ford Channell; 4. Liles Bonneau Channell (Bo), grandsons Zachary Sullavan Channell (Zach), John Liles Channell (John Liles).