The Newest Mr. 3,000

Mr. 3,000.

I’m not talking about Stan Ross (played by Bernie Mac), although that was a great movie. I’m talking about Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. On June 19^th, Rodriguez became a member of the 3,000 hit club when he blasted a solo home run off of Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in the first inning.

CHILLSSSSS! Think about what the announcer just said in the video above. Over 18,000 men to play professional baseball and only 29 are a part of this club. Pretty elite, right?!

A-Rod’s name will now go on a list with big names like Rod Carew (3,053), Ricky Henderson (3,055), Cal Ripken (3,184), Willie Mays (3,283), Derek Jeter (3,465), Hank Aaron (3,771) and the famous cheater Pete Rose (4,256).

Let’s talk about cheating real quick.

Everyone thinks about that word when they think about A-Rod– kind of hard not too.

If you can remember back in 2009, Rodriguez held a press conference and admitted to using PED’s. He apologized and asked for forgiveness. He went on to set records and even win the World Series in 2009.

But like they say, once a cheater always a cheater. In 2014, A-Rod was suspended the ENTIRE season for his involvement with Anthony Bosch and the biogenesis scandal.

Well, he suffered the consequences so I’ll leave the man alone, especially since fellow MLB players are still letting him have it.

So where does A-Rod go from here?

Well, he is certainly not slowing down his pace. Almost all fans thought his year suspension would be the beginning to the end of his career. I mean, after all he is pushing 40 years old. But boy were those A-Rod haters wrong.

Rodriguez is a true leader on his team with 69 hits, 15 HR and 44 RBIs. He even has a couple more years with the Yankees. In December of 2007, he signed a 10 year, 275 million dollar deal with them.

He is even up for an ESPY award this July.

Well, keep doing what you do A-Rod – the baseball thing, not the cheating thing.

– Paige

A-Rod: Breaking Records but Not Bank?

When people think of Alex Rodriguez, some words that might come to mind include (but not limited to): liar, cheater, chump, choke artist and some other words that are certainly not appropriate. In short, they see baseball’s biggest monster, who happens to play for baseball’s Evil Empire. Long gone are the days that we looked at A-Rod as the young prospect from Miami ready to break some serious records in the big leagues. However, if any attention has been paid to the Yankees since the return of Mr. Rodriguez, he is doing exactly that: breaking records.

Since Rodriguez has returned to the league after a long investigation and a year suspension, he has been a non-stop train to a successful year in baseball. According to Baseball Reference, his OPB since becoming DH is one of the best in the league standing at .358 with 137 at bats and a batting an average of .255. Facing the Yankees’ biggest and oldest rival, the Boston Red Sox in Fenway, Rodriguez hit the 661^st home run of his career, moving him ahead of Hall of Famer, Willie Mays. Now with A-Rod on his next quest to surpass another Yankee legend, Lou Gehrig, in RBI numbers (1,993), people must begin to think, how much bank is Rodriguez making right now due to his record breaking performance of a year so far, and the answer is none really.

In 2007, Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $275 million contract that contained a marketing agreement. The agreement is separate from his player contract stating that the Yankees had the right to designate a “milestone” valued at $6 million for each occurrence. Unfortunately for the 39 year old, he has reaped none of his rewards. According to MLB.com, New York Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, has made it very clear that the Yankees do not plan on paying Rodriguez for his “milestones” due to their obligation not to. The organization has been reluctant to pay A-Rod due to their inability to truly profit off his “milestone” achievements. Cashman said in a presser with the MLB back in early May, “We have the right but not the obligation, in quotes, and it’s as simple as that…if we choose to pursue something, we’ll choose to pursue it. If we choose not to, it’s our right not to. In both cases, we’re honoring the contract.”

The truth is, everyone seems to be loving A-Rod all over again. The #FORG1V3 t-shirts have been selling like churros at DisneyLand and fans can be seen wearing them throughout Yankee Stadium. It sounds like Rodriguez is regaining his reputation and should probably take a key from Rihanna and ask for what’s owed to him.

– Nicolette