Hudson dealing gems for Braves

What a difference a year makes. In 2006, Tim Hudson completed his second season in Atlanta at 13-12 with an ERA near 5.00, the highest of his career. His two-season total in Atlanta stood at only six games over .500, making many wonder if GM John Schuerholz had made a rare mistake in acquiring the former 20-game winner (20-6 in 2000).

Once again, Schuerholz was right. And once again, Hudson is good. With Wednesday night's win, Hudson improved to 6-0 in the second half this season and picked up his 14th win, tied for the most in the National League and surpassing his total from all of 2006. Hudson has gone at least six innings and allowed no more than three runs (a quality start) in all seven of his second-half starts, keeping the Braves in the thick of the NL East and wild-card races. His 3.02 ERA ranks fifth in the NL.

The biggest difference? He has kept the ball in the park. After allowing 25 long balls last season, Hudson has allowed only five this season (including Barry Bonds' 759th on Wednesday).

If this second-half success continues for Hudson, names like Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux will come up in comparison. All of them won Cy Youngs as Braves over the past 15 seasons.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE*
	2006	2007
W-L	13-12	14-5
ERA	4.86	3.02
Home runs allowed	25	5
*Hudson's past two seasons

Speaking of Bonds, his 759th home run also was his 25th of the season.

MOST CAREER 25-HR SEASONS
Barry Bonds	18
Hank Aaron	18
Reggie Jackson	15
Frank Robinson	15
Babe Ruth	15

Over a two-week span, Baseball Tonight will be celebrating the top home runs in the history of each current major league team. There will be video tributes, discussions and memorable anecdotes for all 30 squads. The Brewers and the Rangers were the spotlight teams Wednesday night. You can catch each home run segment on Baseball Tonight and come here the next morning for a recap of the previous day's selections.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Oct. 3, 1982: The race for the AL East title came down to the final game of the season and a pitching matchup between two future Hall of Famers: Jim Palmer of the Orioles and Don Sutton of the Brewers. Milwaukee had lost the first three games of the series but hung tough in the decisive contest. Brewers shortstop Robin Yount stole the show with a performance that helped him win AL MVP honors, homering twice against Palmer to help Milwaukee win the game and the division.

April 19, 1987: Twenty years ago, the Brewers had a magical start to their season -- and one game against the Rangers epitomized that. Milwaukee appeared to be headed to its first defeat after 11 straight wins, but the club was determined to make it an even dozen, despite trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Rob Deer crushed a three-run home run to tie the game, and three batters later, Dale Sveum cracked a two-run walk-off home run for the improbable win.

July 20, 1976: The home run that set the bar for which others aimed for more than three decades was Hank Aaron's 755th and final one. Given the opportunity to finish his career in Milwaukee, Aaron hit 22 home runs in two seasons, his last one coming on this date against Angels reliever Dick Drago.

Franchise leaders: Robin Yount, 251; Gorman Thomas, 208; Geoff Jenkins, 205; Cecil Cooper, 201; Ben Oglivie, 176

Single-season leader: Gorman Thomas (1979) and Richie Sexson (2001, 2003), 45

Did You Know? In the '80s, there were only nine instances in which a team hit 200-plus home runs. The Brewers did it twice. The 1982 AL champions ranked second in the decade for home runs with 216. The less-heralded 1980 squad ranked eighth with 203.

TEXAS RANGERS

July 15, 2003: For the first time in the history of the All-Star Game, homefield advantage in the World Series went to the winner, which in this case put a lot more weight on what happened in the eighth inning. Pinch-hitting against invincible Dodgers closer Eric Gagne, Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock gave the AL the lead and an eventual victory by hitting a stunning two-run home run.

Oct. 1, 1996: The Rangers won their first-ever playoff game, thanks in large part to Juan Gonzalez's three-run home run off Yankees starter David Cone at Yankee Stadium. The game remains the only postseason triumph in Rangers history.

May 11, 2003: Although he later would test positive for steroids, raising questions about the legitimacy of his statistics, Rafael Palmeiro's 500th career home run marked an extremely significant accomplishment at the time. No. 500 came on this date against Indians pitcher Dave Elder. In all, Palmeiro hit 321 career home runs for the Rangers and is remembered, along with Juan Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez, as one of the most accomplished hitters in franchise history.

Franchise leaders: Juan Gonzalez, 372; Rafael Palmeiro, 321; Frank Howard, 246; Ivan Rodriguez, 215; Ruben Sierra, 180

Single-season leader: Alex Rodriguez, 57 (2002)

Did You Know? The Rangers hold the major league record for most consecutive games with a home run -- 27. They hit 55 in that span, ranging from Aug. 11 to Sept. 9, 2002.

• Bobby Cox added to his record for most ejections. One night after he surpassed John McGraw, the Braves' manager was tossed for arguing a balk call against Tim Hudson, giving him the 133rd ejection of his career.

• Prince Fielder is appealing his three-game suspension, allowing him to remain in the Brewers' lineup until his appeal is heard. Fielder was suspended and fined an undisclosed amount for "inappropriate and aggressive conduct" during a confrontation with plate umpire Wally Bell on Sunday, when the Brewers lost 6-4 at Houston.

• The Devil Rays agreed to a six-year contract worth a guaranteed $8.5 million with Vanderbilt pitcher David Price, the top overall pick in this year's draft.