MLB Milestones 2011: Big Names in MLB Reaching Big Milestones in 2011

In the past month or so, what have Ichiro Suzuki, Mariano Rivera and Vladimir Guerrero each done?

If you answered, "Reached milestones of varying importance and notability," then you are absolutely correct!

They, and seven other well known players, have reached impressive marks recently. Some of these milestones were met with huge ovations while others came and went with nary a peep.

Take a look!

May 26: Mariano Rivera Makes 1,000th Appearance

Normally when a reliever reaches a milestone, it has something to do with saves, saves or...uh...saves.

Not this time. 

When Mariano Rivera pitched his 1,000th game, he became the only active pitcher and one of only 15 hurlers all time to reach that mark.

He joins Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Hoyt Wilhelm and Goose Gossage in the exclusive "1,000 games pitched" club. 

May 30: Torii Hunter Collects 1,000th RBI

Because he has won nine Gold Gloves for his flashy fielding, it is often easy to forget that Torii Hunter isn't too bad offensively, either.

In his 15-year career, Hunter has hit over 260 home runs, eclipsing the 20-dinger mark nine times.

With all those home runs come a lot of RBI, and with all those RBI came a pretty notable milestone: the big one-zero-zero-zero.

There are 27 active players with least 1,000 career RBI; however, it is still quite a mark to reach.

June 1: Francisco Cordero Earns 300th Save

Is it just me, or has Francisco Cordero always flown under the radar?

He never seems to receive as much fanfare as Jonathan Papelbon or even Huston Street, and yet he has reached a mark only 22 pitchers all time have met: 300 saves.

I guess that will happen when you average 38 saves a year from 2004 through 2010 for a bunch of mostly mediocre teams. 

June 3: Vladimir Guerrero Gets 100th Hit by Pitch

Who knew Vladimir Guerrero was such a ball magnet? 

On June 3, he became one of only 10 active players to have been hit by a pitch at least 100 times. 

The names in that group are quite diverse—they range from the great and well known (Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez) to the not-so-great and well known (Reed Johnson, Aaron Rowand). 

June 6: Raul Ibanez Collects 1,000th RBI

Not long after Torii Hunter reached the semi-magical 1,000-RBI mark Raul Ibanez did the same. Ibanez has been a steady compiler throughout his career—never a huge name, but a guy who has gotten the job done year after year.

His feat is especially impressive considering he did not become a full-time player until 2002, when he was 30 years old. Until then, he had been a super-sub for the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals.

June 7: Paul Konerko Scores 1000th Run

No, he didn't drive in his 1,000th run like some other players have done recently, but Paul Konerko did do something else pretty remarkable: he scored his 1,000th career run, making him one of 27 active players to have eclipsed that amount.

These past couple seasons, Konerko has really blossomed into an excellent player—some people are even whispering that he may one day be a dark-horse candidate for the Hall of Fame.

That is not as crazy as it may sound, either. Konerko is on pace for 42 home runs this year and if he reaches that amount, he'll be fewer than 100 moon shots away from 500.

Though 500 dingers is no longer the guarantor for the Hall of Fame that it used to be, it will still certainly help his case. His high run total should help, too. 

June 7: Jonathan Papelbon Earns 200th Save

Jonathan Papelbon isn't the pitcher he once was. From 2005 through 2009, he went 14-11 with 151 saves, a 1.84 ERA and a 255 ERA+. Since then, he has an ERA of 3.90, his ERA+ has dropped to 109 and he has posted a winning percentage of only .500.

That hasn't stopped him from eclipsing a pretty impressive mark, however. On June 7, Mr. Papelbon reached 200 career saves, making him one of only seven active pitchers to have that many.

Perhaps most impressive, he is the only pitcher to ever save at least 200 games while wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform.

June 13: Orlando Cabrera Collects 2,000th Hit

Who would have thought that "Orlando Cabrera" and "2,000 hits" would ever be uttered in the same sentence? 

Never an elite or flashy player, Cabrera slowly crept toward the mark with little fanfare and reached it with...well, little fanfare. Nevertheless, it is quite an impressive feat, especially for a shortstop.

In fact, only five active shortstops have at least 2,000 knocks—Derek Jeter (2,994), Omar Vizquel (2,828), Miguel Tejada (2,343) and Edgar Renteria (2,280) are the others.

June 15: Livan Hernandez Completes 50th Game

Normally on an active leaderboard the top two or three positions are taken up by the game's current stars, the best players in the circuit and all the potential future Hall of Famers.

Not the active complete games leaderboard, however. Sure, the active pitcher with the most complete games is a superstar in Roy Halladay, but can you guess who No. 2 is? Well, probably, since you're reading this slide about him.

It's Livan Hernandez, who is one of only two active pitchers with at least 50 complete games.

Ain't that impressive? 

June 15: Ichiro Suzuki Steals 400th Base

This has been an off year for Ichiro. Just a little while ago, his average was in the .250s. His record run of 200-hit seasons is in jeopardy and his OPS+ is below 100 for the first time in his career.

But he still has his wheels.

Ichiro became one of only four active players with at least 400 career stolen bases when he swiped that magical bag just a couple weeks ago. He joins Juan Pierre (537 steals), Carl Crawford (417) and Omar Vizquel (401) as the only active players with at least 400 swipes.