Bronx Dud

On July 22nd, in New York hosting the visiting Kansas City Royals, A-Rod launched the 599th home run of his career, sending the baseball world on the edge of their seats anxiously waiting for him to reach the 600 HR milestone. However, a slump would soon follow as the Yankees prepared for a road trip. 12-Games and 47 at-bats later, Rodriguez would finally connect for no. 600 in front of the Yankee faithful, ending an 0-for-17 skid and getting the monkey off the back of both he and his Yankee teammates. Toronto Blue Jays' Shaun Marcum fell victim to the long ball, during the first inning and would eventually suffer the loss, 5-1. Coincidentally, the feat came 3-years to the day of A-Rod's 500th career homer. And ironically, teammate Derek Jeter was on base during both milestones.

At age 35, Rodriguez becomes the youngest player to reach 600 home runs, surpassing the great Babe Ruth who hit number 600 at the age of 36. He also becomes only the 7th member in Major League history to make it into the 600 Home Run Club, joining the elite class of Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Sammy Sosa. Although A-Rod is the youngest player to join the club by a year and some change, his legacy is entirely different due to his admitted use of steroids from his hay day with the Texas Rangers organization which spanned from 2001-2003. Prior to his admitted usage of performance enhancing drugs, Rodriguez was the one guy everyone was rooting for in hopes of breaking the all-time home run record which was set 3-years ago by Barry Bonds, due to his links to PED's. Instead those fans' hopes were shattered once A-Rod made public of his banned substance usage just a year ago.

With A-Rod's two week homer drought finally reaching its climax, there's no telling how much pressure would be on him to hit no. 700 and beyond if he were to remain healthy. With that being said, hopefully he'll spare both his team and the rest of us baseball fans by not reaching the 700 HR mark. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, I don't know how many more constant in-game look-ins I can take.

"Stick it A-Rod!"

The Unwritten Rule - Several weeks ago, Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics made the news for one of the games more bizarre, yet funnier reasons. In an afternoon game at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland against the defending world champion New York Yankees, one of baseball's unwritten rules were broken according to the left-handed Braden. With Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez on first base, Robinson Cano stood at the plate. Cano hit a high pop-up into foul territory, resulting in Rodriguez to trot around the bases nearing third. Once the ball drifted out into the stands, A-Rod was forced to return to first. When doing so, he decided to take a short cut by crossing the pitcher's mound. Something Dallas Braden wasn't too fond of.

The two began exchanging words when Braden yelled out "Get off my mound!", sending him into a tirade after the inning where he furiously threw his glove upon reaching the dugout. In a post-game interview, Braden talked about the incident, calling it a classless move by a player from what many have considered to be the classiest team in sports. He went on to say, "If I've got the ball in my hand and I'm on the mound, that's MY mound. There will be repercussions if it happens again." A-Rod fired back, claiming he never heard of such nonsense and ridiculed Braden's career record of 18-wins and 23-losses by saying, "I was a little surprised, I never quite heard that, especially from a guy who has a handful of wins in his career."

What I want to know is why Rodriguez would step over the mound to begin with? As stupid as it sounds, he risked injuring himself. But then again, A-Rod's been known for doing some very questionable antics in the past, whether they include distracting and shouting "Mine!" behind a Blue Jay player trying to field a routine pop-up or trying to slap the ball out of former Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo's mitt. After nearly three weeks of silence, Braden let it be known that he wasn't finished steaming about the incident that took place weeks earlier. Braden told CSN Bay Area, "There are things that are going to have to happen, possibly ending with knuckles." Again, Rodriguez shot back saying, "Look, I really don't want to extend his extra 15 minutes of fame." And if you asked me, I'd say Braden held his own since then by responding in the biggest of ways.

27 Up, 27 Down - Last Sunday as most celebrated Mother's Day, Braden threw the rarest of the rare -- a perfect game. Braden's gem was the 19th perfect game in Major League history (7th by a lefty), as he became only the second Athletic in franchise history to reach the feat. The other -- Catfish Hunter in 1968. Coincidentally, Braden's remarkable achievement comes on Mother's Day, the same day his mother died 8 years earlier from skin cancer while he was a senior in high school. Braden, a 9th round pick out of Texas Tech University in 2004, struck out six batters and needed only 109-pitches to make history. Braden became the first pitcher to ever throw a perfect game against a team that entered the day with the best record in the majors. With his grandmother in attendance, a touching moment of the two hugging on the field was shared after the celebration that mobbed Braden. "Stick it A-Rod!", Said Braden's grandmother.

After trying to hold out from extending Braden's "15 minutes of fame", Rodriguez found himself center stage surrounded by the media once again, being bombarded with questions regarding Braden's record setting day. "He threw a perfect game, good for him. And better yet, he beat the Rays." In a game against the arch-rival Boston Red Sox, A-Rod would make history of his own by connecting for his third home run of the season and the 586th of his career, tying him for 7th on the all-time list with Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. Braden, the guy that A-Rod said only had a handful of wins, now has something only a handful of players have accomplished. With a no-hitter, a perfect game and a 20 inning game already in the books this season, the only thing missing is a good 'ol brawl. Something we could expect when A-Rod and Braden meet again in July. At least that's what I'm hoping for... *DING DING*

A-Rod Gets His

Just over a year ago, the Yankees and their fans bidded a fairwell to the old Yankee stadium and all the treasures that went with it. But something the organization brought along to the new stadium across the street, was the recent memories and the ones soon to be created. And similar to when renevations were made at the old Yankee stadium back in 19, the team brought home the gold in the stadium's first year. & For a tittle that means everything in the world to the players, means that much more to the Steinbrenner's. The homegrown Yankees -- Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera all said this one was for the boss. But A-rod knows this one means just enough to him as it does the fans.

A season that started on a sour note for Alex Rodriguez ends in the best way possible. Before the season started, Rodriguez was caught lying about using steroids back in his early years with the Texas Rangers and then publicly admitted using performance enhancers in an interview with Katie Couric, the same woman he lied to in an interview years back. Things then got worse from there as he injured his hip during spring training and later underwent surgery. In his first game upon his return against Baltimore, A-rod proved he was healthy by hitting a home run on the first pitch of his first at-bat.

Finally 16 years in the making, Rodriguez won his first world series championship and helped New York bring home their 27th world tittle and first in a 9-year drought. All of this came with the help of a productive A-rod, who prior to this year's postseason, wasn't a huge contributor when it came to postseason play. Instead, he played a huge role and contributed a ton in the team's championship run. A-rod capped off an 18 rbi postseason by batting .365 to go along with 6 home runs. Many are thanking actress and girlfriend of Rodriguez' Kate Hudson for his odd postseason success. & Over the weekend, A-rod and a few others from the 2009 championship team were introduced at a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.