Yankees' Alex Rodriguez hits 600th home run, acknowledges doubts fans might have

Yankees' Alex Rodriguez hits 600th home run, acknowledges doubts fans might have

 

 

Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th career home run today against Shaun Marcum, of the Blue Jays, in the first inning.

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK — Fans have been perched in their seats ringing the outfield at Yankee Stadium, striking a familiar pose: Arms out front, elbows crooked, iPhones in hand and pointed toward home plate, where the weight of history hovered over Alex Rodriguez.

And then they waited, and waited, and waited — through pop-ups, groundouts and strikeouts.

Until this afternoon, when with one majestic swing the Yankees slugger became just the seventh man in baseball history to hit 600 home runs.

After 12 days, 46 at-bats, 103 specially marked baseballs and thousands of popping flashbulbs, Rodriguez hammered a 2-0, first-inning pitch from Blue Jays pitcher Shaun Marcum over the center-field fence for a two-run homer, ending a pursuit that has been equally difficult to comprehend and put into its proper context.

“I know a lot of fans are going to have their hesitations on what it means,” Rodriguez said. “But for me personally, I’ve played a long time and it is a big number and a special number, and I feel very good about it.”

The 600-home run barrier is the first major personal milestone Rodriguez has reached in the 15 months since he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Texas Rangers. The conclusion of the mostly muted chase has rekindled a debate on the authenticity of Rodriguez’s accomplishment.

But Rodriguez, while acknowledging the doubts, returned to a familiar script. He focused on the journey he has undergone since the day he admitted to cheating, referring once again to being “in a different place.”

The Yankees have tried to appreciate Rodriguez’s achievement, steering the conversation toward the feat’s sheer enormity.

“An amazing accomplishment,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I’m sure he’s happy to be through it.”

The number 600 remains to the overwhelming majority of players an unreachable height.

“That’s really unfathomable,” first baseman Mark Teixeira said last week.

Just how unfathomable?

Since the formation of the American League in 1901, a little fewer than 50 percent of the 13,882 players who have made at least one plate appearance in a major-league game can say they hit at least one home run. Only 5.3 percent can say they hit 100, while only 2.1 percent have hit 200.

Rodriguez, and the other members of the 600 home run club, represent the elite 0.05 percent.

However, it’s also a number that has been reached at an unprecedented rate in recent years, which has perhaps taken away some of its luster. For 71 years, only three men — Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron — had crossed the 600 home run barrier. In the past eight years — most of which overlapped with the Steroid Era — it has been reached by four more — Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Rodriguez.

 

When Griffey reached the plateau in 2008, he had been and still is untouched by allegations of steroids use. Mark Hendrickson, the former Marlins pitcher who allowed Griffey’s 600th homer, did remember plenty of empty seats in the stadium.

“I don’t think there was that much buzz with Griffey, either,” said Hendrickson, who is now an Orioles reliever.

Yet, as Rodriguez’s chase dragged on, it seemed to gain more attention as fans waited for the historic blow.

Girardi had feared such a fate. Exactly three years ago, Rodriguez hit his 500th homer, going 28 at-bats to get there. This time, he needed 47.

“I was probably just trying to get it over with and not really enjoy the moment and stay in the present,” Rodriguez said. “I was probably just trying to do a little bit too much.”

The pressure, however, dissipated the moment Rodriguez sent a ball stamped “A-104” into the netting above Monument Park, near the plaque honoring Babe Ruth, the only man to reach the 600 home run club in fewer games. At 35, Rodriguez became the youngest.

“I told you, it was just a matter of time,” Yankees teammate Nick Swisher said. “Now we can move on.”

The ball was retrieved by 23-year-old Yankee Stadium employee Frankie Babilonia, who gave it to A-Rod and received a signed bat from Rodriguez.

Next on the home run list is Sosa at 609 and Griffey at 630. The all-time leader is Bonds at 762.

Will Rodriguez get there?

He preferred to leave that question for another day.

“It took me three years to the day to hit 100, so that’s not really even on my radar right now,” he said. “I think that’s something we can revisit in two or three years and see where we’re at. The journey’s what’s fun.”

Marc Carig: mcarig@starledger.com