Tony DeMarco

Triple Crowns and .400 seasons are things from another era, but it's fascinating to see how long Lance Berkman, Chipper Jones and Josh Hamilton can continue to be mentioned in the same sentence with those all-but-unattainable accomplishments.

All three have turned the season's first two months into their own personal making-it-look-too-easy sessions. It’s almost June, and we’re still able to watch in wonderment.

If the game is trending away from an era of all-time-high slugging — as the numbers indicate — somebody forgot to tell these three guys.

Berkman has to be hoping this month will never end. That’s what happens when you’re a couple hits shy of .500 (44 for 93) through the month’s first 29 days. And he’s actually cooled off lately, possibly costing him the chance to be the first hitter since Todd Helton (.512 in May of 2000) to hit .500 or better in any month.

Berkman hit .545 over a 66-at-bat stretch during a 17-game hitting streak that ended May 19^th. Included in the damage were eight homers, 21 RBI and 23 runs scored. He also became the first player since Pete Rose to put together a 31-for-50 stretch — that’s a .620 average — and amazingly didn’t make back-to-back outs over seven games early in the month.

Numbers like those can help you get away with jokingly nick-naming yourself ‘Big Puma’ — a self-deprecating knock on his un-chiseled, 6-1, 220-pound frame and somewhat limited foot speed. But even then, Berkman already has managed to swipe a career-high 10 bases. It’s easier to steal when you’re on base half the time.

Hitting better from the right side — .438 through Thursday — is one reason for Berkman’s average boost. But the power numbers — he’s currently second in the league in home runs and tied for the NL lead in RBI — are on pace with the peak years in his every-other-year pattern since 2003.

If you look at 2007, Berkman’s start this year may seem a bit surprising. He sported a .278 average and .896 OPS, while still hitting 34 homers and driving in 102 runs. But look back to 2006, and Berkman’s 2008 doesn’t seem so unusual. He hit 10 homers that April and finished with a .315 average and career-best 45 homers, 136 RBI and 1.041 OPS.

Berkman is right on pace for those career home run and RBI totals, while smashing the batting average and OPS marks. But all that gets him is a distant second place in the NL batting race. That’s because Jones is doing his best switch-hitting imitation of Ted Williams, the last man to hit .400.

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Jones has been hitting above .400 since April 13^th, when he went 3-for-5 against Washington to jump from .386 to .408. The lowest his average has been since the first two days of the season is .372 on April 11^th.

Jones peaked at .458 on April 20^th, and since May 10^th, when he was held hitless in back-to-back games for the only time this season, his average has jumped from .400 to .420 through Thursday. Talk about consistency — his average is .400 or better from both sides of the plate, and at home and on the road, too.

And consider this: Jones is at .420; Berkman is 39 points behind, and Albert Pujols was the only other big-leaguer hitting above .340 through Wednesday.

Hamilton’s AL and major-league RBI lead also is a comfortable one, as he led Carlos Quentin 58-47 through Wednesday. And Hamilton’s AL Triple Crown bid saw him a half-dozen batting average points and one homer shy through Wednesday — another chapter in his remarkable life and baseball turnaround saga.

Talk about your good trade for both teams, the Reds gave up Hamilton but got Edinson Volquez in return, and he’s leading the NL in ERA and tied for the league lead in strikeouts.

Rangers hitting guru Rudy Jaramillo took one look at Hamilton this spring, and pronounced he had more raw power than two of Jaramillo’s previous prized pupils – Sammy Sosa and Juan Gonzalez.

And as usual, Jaramillo’s assessment is right-on, as on May 16^th against Houston, Hamilton totaled 13 bases in a 5-for-5, five-RBI, two-homer night, one of which hit the facing of the upper deck at Rangers Ballpark, and was measured at 451 feet.

Watch and enjoy the feats of all three of these streaking sluggers. This kind of stuff is memorable in any era.

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