The 600 Club

Alex Rodriguez did what he does best with the pressure on - seemingly take forever to come through. But A-Rod finally put one over the fence to momentarily silence his critics (while everyone rants about how his 600th home run is tainted by steroids).

Whether you discredit all steroid-era players or just the ones caught using, the fact remains that Rodriguez is only the seventh player in baseball history to belt 600 homers, not to mention the youngest player to reach the milestone.

Hopefully for Yankee fans, this means A-Rod gets back to his normal self, as the Yankees were busy falling out of first place in the AL East during his chase for No. 600. The question is: how many Yankee fans really wanted to see Rodriguez get there? I'm sure they wanted to see him do well for the team's sake, but I can't remember when a superstar was more hated by his own fans without flipping them off. It's as if A-Rod put every Yankee fans' favorite mug into a Jell-O mold. If Derek Jeter is the Yankees' lovable Zac Efron, then Rodrguez might as well be called Mel Gibson. He is William Wallace!

I'm sure ESPN's producers are more than glad they don't have to worry any more about "checking in on A-Rod's next at-bat." After awhile, people just started getting annoyed with ESPN as much as Rodriguez. Bill Simmons, one of ESPN's columnists, said he screamed after ESPN switched to an A-Rod at-bat in the middle of Matt Garza's no-hitter. Granted, Simmons is a die-hard Red Sox fan, so I'm sure he loves seeing A-Rod succeed about as much as Albert Haynesworth loves running these days.

But now the bigger question - will A-Rod catch Barry Bonds? And if so, who's the more hated home run king? At 35, Rodriguez still has good years left ahead of him, especially since he's already in the AL where he can DH when the time comes. But if Rodriguez hits 30 home runs this year (his 600th put him at 17 for the season) and continues to hit 30 home runs for the next five years, then my math puts him at 763 - one more than the infamous Bonds.

Bonds passed Hank Aaron's longtime mark of 755 amidst a cloud of controversy over the new record's legitimacy. A-Rod was never baseball's most valuable commodity even before his admitted steroid use, but his fans are dwindling like never before. Even with a World Series ring last year and putting his postseason woes behind him, Rodriguez is still unpopular amongst even Yankee fans.

The outside factor that could affect A-Rod's pursuit of 763 - Albert Pujols. The Cardinals' slugger is putting the ball out of the park at an alarming rate, and as long as he stays healthy, Pujols will have a chance at the record even if Rodriguez manages to break it. The difference between Pujols and Rodriguez - everyone loves Fat Albert. Pujols has passed every drug test out there. He's the hitter who can do everything and you can't help but root for him (even if your name's Brad Lidge).

While A-Rod's relationship with Madonna won't land him in the Hall of Fame, hopefully his play on the field will. It's impossible to say just how many players used steroids over the past two decades. You've got a better chance at getting Snooki to do mental math in a jail cell. So, why not just let them all in and accept the fact that baseball had a large, highly-publicized black eye? Nothing a little concealer can't cure.


Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.