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

Guess Who’s Back.. Back Again.. Hammy’s Back! Tell Your Friends.

As we all know, Josh Hamilton has had his fair share of ups and downs. Perhaps that’s all over now. But who really knows. I guess we’ll just have to watch and see.

Brief recap: In February of this year, Hamilton suffered from a shoulder injury while with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Unfortunately, this injury then led to his relapse into his drug addiction which has been a battle for him in the past. He did report the relapse directly to the MLB, but the Angels still made an executive decision to trade him to  (dah, dahh, dahh) the Texas Rangers.

Right back to where he started.

It should be safe to say that Josh is home sweet home.

Before his first game back in Globe Life Park, he did play with the Rangers in three away games but was a bit rusty. Hamilton’s first at-bat in Globe Life Park was welcoming and heart-warming. The fans gave him a standing ovation.

 

According to USA Today, Hamilton said, “It’ll be a game I’ll remember forever.”

So, in return, Hamilton gave his fans something to cheer even more about: a double past right field.

But he had plenty more up his sleeve. The next day, Josh was listed in the Texas Rangers lineup against the Boston Red Sox once again. Hamilton hit TWO home runs that game.

It looks like Hamilton was ready to run home sweet home rather than walk. Quite the analogy huh? The Rangers ended that game with a win, 7-4.

Hamilton was not listed in the lineup for the series finale against the Red Sox, but with a tie game in the bottom of the ninth guess who gets brought in as a pinch hitter? Oh yeah. Hamilton. While at-bat, Hamilton drilled the third pitch for a walk-off double to win the game.

Talk about a welcome back that might as well be scripted for a movie.

Five of Hamilton’s six hits have come at “home” at Globe Life Park and if that doesn’t show a comfort level for Hamilton, I don’t know what would.

Clearly Hamilton is showing everyone, including his loyal Texas fan folk that he’s back & he’s ready.

And most importantly, Hamilton is showing Texas that their minimum investment is definitely paying off thus far.

– Hailey