Humbling.

And he did it in style, with a line drive single to center, scoring a run. Michael's 200th hit of 2006 drove in his 94th run of the season, five short of a career best. Chances are he'll knock in number 100 three doubles from now, when he collects two-bagger number 51 for the year, breaking Juan Gonzalez's franchise record.

It was a great, great night at the yard for my family and me and lots of our friends. The 20 of us, along with more than 40,000 others, were on our feet as Chuck Morgan announced what Michael had just accomplished with the seventh-inning base hit, his third of the night.

Moments later, after Mark Teixeira drove in a run with his fourth hit of the game and moved Michael to third base, chasing Angels reliever Chris Bootcheck, Chuck put up a montage on the Jumbotron to honor Michael and what he had done, and what he is. All 40,000-plus had our eyes glued to the screen.

But Michael, the Leader of My Team, stood on third, looking at the ground, to nobody's surprise. When he notches another 200 next year, going from the fourth player since 1940 to do it four straight years to the third to do it five straight, he'll once again kick at the dirt, and do everything he can not to soak in the extra attention that he genuinely believes belongs to everyone who wears the same uniform he does. He'll look down at the ground, unassuming, almost embarrassed, ready to get the game back on.

The man is so damned consistent.

The following is reprinted from last October.