A-Rod reaches 3,000 >>> Ichiro, Pujols, among active players who could reach 3K
On Friday night, Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez became the 29th member of the 3,000-hit club in baseball history. His 3,000th hit was a first-inning solo home run off Justin Verlander of the Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
Rodriguez is now tied with Roberto Clemente for 28th all-time with exactly 3,000 career hits. Next up on the all-time hit list are Al Kaline (3,007), Wade Boggs (3,010), Rafael Palmeiro (3,020) and Lou Brock (3,023).
Believe it or not, A-Rod is only the second player to record their 3,000th hit with the Yankees, joining Derek Jeter. Rodriguez has recorded 1,465 of his career hits with the Yankees, 966 with the Mariners and 569 with the Rangers. He came into Friday a career .299 hitter. He became just the third person to homer for his 3,000th hit, joining Boggs and Jeter.
This has been historic milestone season for A-Rod. Earlier this year he hit his 660th and 661st career home runs, tying and then passing Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home run list. He also became the second official member of the 2,000-RBI club earlier this month.
Obviously, all of A-Rod’s accomplishments are in question. Back in 2009 he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs while with the Rangers from 2001-03, and he was suspended for the entire 2014 season due to his ties to Biogenesis. Rodriguez’s numbers are clearly tainted.
Earlier this year new commissioner Rob Manfred said the league considers A-Rod a player in good standing who has served his time. The league won’t put an asterisk on any of his career numbers because they don’t want to set that sort of precedent. Lots of asterisks could be handed out in that case and not just because of PEDs.
The Yankees have not yet paid A-Rod a $6-million bonus owed to him for his 660th home run as part of a marketing agreement separate from his player contract. The team claims the milestone has been rendered unmarketable by his PED ties. (The MLBPA is currently working to settle the dispute on A-Rod’s behalf.) There is no such bonus for his 3,000th hit.
Rodriguez, Jeter, Palmeiro and Pete Rose are the only members of the 3,000-hit club not in the Hall of Fame, and Jeter will get in as soon as he’s eligible in 2020. Rose is banned for life and Palmeiro hasn’t received support due to his PED ties. The same figures to happen with A-Rod. His body of work is easily Cooperstown-worthy, but the PED stain won’t wash away.
A-Rod’s contract runs through 2017 and he has been remarkably productive this year. He’s also been able to stay healthy now that he is a full-time DH and no longer playing the field everyday. Rodriguez has a chance to climb the all-time list and add several hundred more hits to his career total.
A-Rod is the newest member of the 3,000-hit club. (USATSI)
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