In honour of Alex Rodriguez’s long wait to finally hit No. 600, I decided to take a little while to write a post about it. Yes, he finally did it on Wednesday afternoon, against the Blue Jays’ Shaun Marcum. He ended a stretch that lasted almost 50 at bats between hitting No. 599 and the one that would put him into one of the most elite clubs there is in baseball.
A-Rod is now one of only seven players to reach the mark and he is the youngest to join. He now sits nine HRs behind Sammy Sosa and 30 behind the recently retired Ken Griffey Jr. But the real number that we all care about is still a ways away. Can A-Rod top the ever-lovable Barry Bonds and get past 762 to become the all-time leader?
All he really needs is longevity and the ability to keep his pace from slowing too much.
Then the debate can begin again about how much this once-cherished list of great mashers really means. After the steroid era, which A-Rod is of course a poster boy for, it’s hard to get worked up over these big numbers. After all, Jim Thome now sits at 577 and has a decent chance to crack 600. Has anyone ever really considered Thome a legend in any right? I thought not.
It’s really sad that the pride of this once great club is being further diminished with every tainted name that enters. The only thing we can do is remember that, while they may have bent the rules, these sluggers didn’t break them – which is truly the saddest reality.
The home run king will be Hank Aaron. Bonds,Mcquire, and Sosa have tainted this prestigious record forever. Kudos to A Rod for getting this far but is he really clean of steroids?