It took Alex 12 games and 46 at bats but three years after he hit home run 500 against the Royals, A-Rod hit 600 against the Blue Jays. On a warm Wednesday afternoon in the Bronx the milestone homer was finally hit in the first inning of the Yanks 5-1 victory over the Jays.
A-Rod became the youngest player to ever reach the milestone and at 35, with 7 years left on his contract he is sure to be the youngest to hit many other milestones.
During the 12 games that it took Rodriguez to hit the ball out of the yard, the Yanks fell out of first place and many began to wonder if the circus surrounding 600 had become a distraction. Well it has yet to be determined if it spur the Yanks to play better now that they wont be distracted by A-Rod's quest.
Unlike in 2007 when A-Rod hit 500, their wont be any question as to what will happen with the baseball. All the baseballs had been specially marked since he hit 599, so that if the ball landed in the stands, it would be known that the ball would be the authentic one Alex had hit out. But when A-Rod got up in the bottom of the first inning and hit 600, nobody had to worry about if the ball was authentic since the ball landed in monument park, an area that A-Rod will also land. The ball was retrieved by a security guard who gave it back to Rodriguez for nothing but a signed bat. When A-Rod hit his 500th homer it sold for $103,579, it was unsure if the 600 ball would have gone for more or less. It could have gone for more since 600 homers is even harder then 500. But could have been less since A-Rod has since acknowledged using performance enhancing drugs.
Now that 600 is over with the next milestone will be passing Sammy Sosa (609) on the all time list. At the pace the A-Rod is going he may not get it this season. In a press conference after the game reporters asked where this experience ranked in his baseball career, Alex said is was below winning the World Series.
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