[新聞] A-Rod is youngest player in MLB history to hit 500 homers
A-Rod is youngest player in MLB history to hit 500 homers
‧ Quotable: "I acted like a goofball running around the bases, but you
only hit 500 once." -- Rodriguez (呵呵他真的很高興）
NEW YORK (ESPN.com news services) -- Alex Rodriguez leaned to his right
and watched the ball as it sailed toward the foul pole in left. When it
stayed true, he threw up his hands -- the long wait for No. 500 was finally
over.
Rodriguez became the youngest player in major league history to hit 500 home
runs, connecting on the first pitch he saw Saturday to end a 10-day wait.
"I acted like a goofball running around the bases, but you only hit 500 once,"
he said after the New York Yankees beat Kansas City 16-8.
The 32-year-old Rodriguez stood at home plate for a second after his
first-inning drive off Kyle Davies, waiting to see where it would land.
"I didn't know if it was going to be fair or foul. I was so relieved it
stayed fair," Rodriguez said. "I hadn't hit one in so long."
After more than a week of watching his teammates hit a lot of home runs, it
was A-Rod's turn. He started trotting around the bases with a wide grin on
his face as the sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium cheered wildly. He finished
with three hits, along with a hug from Derek Jeter.
"I've conceded the fact that you can't will yourself to hit a home run. I
tried that for four or five days," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez homered eight days after his birthday and surpassed Jimmie Foxx
(32 years, 338 days) as the youngest player to reach 500. A-Rod is the 22nd
player to reach the mark, the second this season behind Frank Thomas --
Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome might get there this year, too.
Rodriguez and Thomas are the only two players in MLB history to hit their
first homers of the season and 500th career off the same team, as Thomas did
it to the Twins this season.
It may not take very long for Rodriguez to rise to the top of the list,
either.
Soon, A-Rod will likely be chasing Barry Bonds. The Giants slugger hit his
755th career home run later in the day to tie Hank Aaron as the all-time
home run king. Bonds' blast came off San Diego's Clay Hensley in the top of
the second inning. The Giants lost to the Padres 3-2 in 12 innings.
Rodriguez leads the majors with 36 home runs this season, one more than he
hit last year.
A-Rod has now hit 103 career homers in Aug., which is 14 more than he has in
any other month, and 94 in the first inning, which is 24 more than any other
inning.
"His prime years are ahead of him, basically," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
"This is a stop-off for him. It's not a destination."
Rodriguez hugged Jeter and Bobby Abreu, who both scored on the landmark home
run, and blew a kiss toward the stands after completing his trip around the
bases. His teammates were already on the field and he embraced several of
them on his way back to the bench.
"I was a little embarrassed. I felt like we were in high school. All the
guys coming out to shake my hand in the first inning," he said.
The crowd buzzed and roared again when A-Rod stuck his head out of the
dugout for the long-awaited curtain call, which came 10 days after he hit
No. 499.
"You wish you could pay each fan back by shaking their hands, but all I
could do is hit a home run and win a game," he said. "They wasted a lot
of Kodak film on me this week, I'm just glad I was able to pay them back."
After he took his seat next to Jeter, the Yankees captain reached out and
playfully rubbed A-Rod's head as the two superstars laughed. The two were
close when they were younger but Rodriguez admitted in spring training that
their relationship had cooled over the years.
The All-Star third baseman also became the third player to accomplish the
feat as a Yankee and the second to do it in the Bronx. Babe Ruth hit his
500th at Cleveland on Aug. 11, 1929, and Mickey Mantle reached the mark at
home against Baltimore on May 14, 1967.
Rodriguez went into a tailspin after hitting No. 499 on July 25 at Kansas
City. He was hitless in a career-worst 22 straight at-bats before he singled
in the second inning of Thursday's 13-9 loss against the Chicago White Sox.
His 500th came in his 1,855th game. Only two players took fewer games to
reach 500: Mark McGwire (1,639) and Ruth (1,740).
The Yankees said the man who ended up with the ball from Rodriguez's home
run didn't want to be identified, and hadn't decided what he was going to
do with it.
A-Rod and Yankees fans have had an up-and-down relationship since he joined
the team in 2004.
"It takes awhile in New York," said Rodriguez, pilloried in the city's
tabloids this season for off-the-field personal issues. "For some people,
it takes six months to a year. I think it truly took me three to four years
to understand New York."
One fan held a yellow sign that read "501?" before his second at-bat, but
Rodriguez walked on four pitches. He stole second, advanced to third on a
groundout and scored on Wilson Betemit's single to give New York a 5-2 lead.
He singled to right in the fourth, flied out to deep center in the sixth,
singled in the seventh and was lifted after the inning ended.
Robinson Cano tied a career high with four hits and Bobby Abreu scored
four runs for New York, which has won five of its last six to improve to
a season-best 10 games over .500. Mike Myers (3-0) got the last out of the
fifth to earn the win.
Davies lasted just three innings in his first start for Kansas City, which
acquired him from the Braves on Tuesday for reliever Octavio Dotel. He gave
up five runs and six hits in his first career appearance against the Yankees.
John Bale (0-1) got the loss.
Rodriguez started his career with the Seattle Mariners, who took him with the
first overall pick in the 1993 draft. One year later, he became the third
18-year-old shortstop in the majors since 1900. At that point, he gave little
indication that he would develop into a two-time AL MVP and one of the game's
greatest home run hitters.
He went homerless in 17 games for Seattle in that first season, and hit five
in 48 games the following year.
But in 1996, his first full season in the big leagues, he hit 36 home runs.
And after hitting 23 in 1997, he hasn't fallen short of 30 since. He scored
three runs against the Royals to become the first player in major league
history with 10 straight seasons of at least 35 homers, 100 RBIs and 100
runs scored.
A-Rod's first home run came on June 12, 1995, against Tom Gordon and
Kansas City. He hit No. 100 in August 1998, No. 200 in May 2001 with
Texas and No. 300 in April 2003 with Texas. Number 400 came on June 8, 2005,
against Milwaukee during his second season with the Yankees.
He hit 189 home runs with Seattle, 156 with Texas and has 155 with New York.
He is one of only three players, along with Reggie Jackson and Darrell Evans,
to hit 100 home runs for three different teams.
～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～
There's time for more home runs off the bat of Alex Rodriguez, who's joined
the 500 Home Run Club as its 22nd member. The story lines behind A-Rod's
500th:
‧ He is the youngest player to hit 500 and only the second player to reach
500 at age 32 or younger. Jimmie Foxx is the other.
‧ He is the third player to hit his 500th with the Yankees, joining Babe
Ruth and Mickey Mantle.
‧ He joins Ernie Banks as 500-homer hitters who have hit more than half of
their homers as a shortstop, though A-Rod is the first to reach 500
playing the majority of his games at short.
‧ He is well ahead of the pace set by Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds in terms
of both homers and RBI at the time of their 32nd birthdays.
A-Rod's milestone homers:
1 -- June 12, 1995 vs. Royals (Tom Gordon)
100 -- Aug. 12, 1998 at Blue Jays (Nerio Rodriguez)
200 -- May 12, 2001 at White Sox (Jon Garland)
300 -- April 2, 2003 at Angels (Ramon Ortiz)
400 -- June 8, 2005 at Brewers (Jorge de la Rosa)
500 -- Aug. 4, 2007 vs. Royals (Kyle Davies)
-- Compiled by ESPN Research
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270804110
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