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Even though the Yankees want to keep pretending that Alex Rodriguez isn’t inching towards a home run milestone, it’s happening. He’s five homers shy of tying inner circle Hall of Famer Willie Mays at 660, which also puts A-Rod six homers shy of sole possession of fourth place on the all-time list. The Yankees suggest it won’t actually be a milestone, but until Major League Baseball says otherwise, all 655 of Rodriguez’s career blasts count, so number 660 will merit celebration. That’s the opinion of another embattled slugger who knows a thing or two about the long ball -- Willie Mays’ godson, Barry Bonds.
Bonds says he’ll celebrate A-Rod hitting 660, and that he’ll also be happy for him. Bonds went as far to say that Mays himself would be happy for A-Rod, because it’s a historic achievement for the game. He might not be wrong about the old guard’s opinions, either: earlier this spring, Hank Aaron himself said he was rooting for Rodriguez to succeed in his return to the game, and Aaron is often the guy who is pointed to as the real home run king given Bonds’ own past.
Say what you will about Bonds -- and we certainly do -- but if legends like Aaron and possibly Mays are Team A-Rod, and MLB is happy to move on with all of his numbers intact, the Yankees probably don’t have a leg to stand on in their upcoming dinger-centric legal battle.
- Friday’s 19-inning epic/mess of a Red Sox - Yankees game lasted 6 hours and 49 minutes, the longest game in the rivalry and in the history of both franchises. It’s also not the first six-hour game the two have played.
- George Springer and the Astros defeated the Rangers at the last second with a game-saving catch that robbed Texas of a walk-off grand slam.
- Bartolo Colon is still in the National League, which means he’s still hitting, which ultimately means we get videos like this one where he drives in a run while swinging so hard his helmet flies off.
- The Angels were supposedly spying on C.J. Wilson after he signed his five-year deal with them before 2012, which the Angels obviously denied.
- If you click on this link you will be transported to a video of a penguin walking around on a baseball field. The future is incredible!
- Carlos Rodon was too much for Triple-A hitters in his first start of the year. The White Sox’ rotation will likely need Rodon sooner than later.
- If Carlos Beltran doesn’t start hitting, what should the Yankees do about their expensive, aging outfielder?
- Just a reminder that Miguel Cabrera is the best.
- Matt Harvey is back, and we should all be thankful for that. He’s just so, so good, and so much better than he was expected to be back when he was a wee little prospect in the Mets’ system.
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