By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Thursday's game

Jason Kendall forever will remember the swing, the view and the significance of the moment.

"I can say this until the day I die," the Pirates catcher said this week. "I had the best seat in the house when Barry Bonds hit his 600th homer.

"It was unbelievable. It was like he was playing Wiffle Ball."

Those playing in and attending the Reds' three-game series against the Cubs, which begins today at Great American Ball Park, could witness a similar milestone to what Kendall saw in August.

Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa is one swing, hop and clap away from becoming the 18th major-leaguer to hit 500 career home runs.

"Five-hundred is a ridiculous amount," Reds right fielder Austin Kearns said.

"It pretty much guarantees you a spot in the Hall of Fame."

Mets pitchers walked Sosa six times in their three-game series that ended Thursday at Shea Stadium.

But don't expect Danny Graves, who makes his first start of the season today, to change his approach when Sosa bats.

"Not to sound like a jerk or anything, but I'm not changing the way I'm pitching to anybody," Graves said.

"Regardless of the park, regardless of how many home runs somebody has, you still have to pitch to your strength. You get in trouble when you start trying to change things."

Assuming Sosa reaches 500 soon, he probably will lead an influx of new members into a fraternity that includes Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire.

Rangers first baseman Rafael Palmeiro (491), Dodgers first baseman Fred McGriff (478) and Reds center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. (469) all are closing on the mark.

"Five-hundred is huge," said Reds manager Bob Boone, who played with 500-club members Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt. "It's probably not the same as 300 wins (for a pitcher), but it's pretty close.

"It's getting watered down because more people are going to go into it. But I don't think that diminishes the significance of it. ... There are just more Mike Schmidts and Reggie Jacksons in the game now."

Throughout spring training and the first three regular-season games at Great American Ball Park, Griffey has looked as if he could hit the 31 homers necessary to reach 500 this season.

He is of the opinion, however, that people outside the game care more about the numbers than those in the clubhouse.

"All my dad talked about was doing as much as you can for the team, whatever it takes for the team," Griffey said.

"That's it. There were no numbers, no 'You need to get this. You need to hit that.'

"He hit 152 during his career. That's who I wanted to be like. I never thought I'd hit 100, let alone be over 400."

Sosa has hit 292 homers over the past five seasons, an average of 58 a year.

He also is the only player ever to hit 60 homers in three seasons.

"He's one of those guys where you go through the lineup, you don't let beat you," Kendall said.

"But it doesn't matter what you do. Sometimes they're going to. They're that good."