On the first pitch he saw against former Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander in the Bronx on Friday night, Alex Rodriguez unloaded on a fastball and deposited the baseball into the right field seats. It was his 3,000th hit and 667th home run of his career. With the hit, A-Rod becomes the 29th major leaguer in the game's history to total 3,000 hits.
It's an amanzing accomplishment, but his numbers have been tainted due to his admissions of using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. The Detroit Tigers showed exactly what they thought Rodriguez's accomplishment meant — nothing.
As Rodriguez rounds third, look at the reactions of Detroit's players in the dugout. Not one is happy that they just witnessed something that has happened only 29 times in the game's expansive history. He was also only the third player to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit. The others? Former Yankees Wade Boggs and A-Rod's former teammate who shared the left side of the infield in Yankee Stadium with him for 10 years: Derek Jeter.
When Jeter tallied his 3,000th hit against David Price and the Rays, Tampa got out of its dugout and applauded the incredible accomplishment. Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez has truly fallen from grace.
