Considering the circumstances, Alex Rodriguez might consider himself the luckiest man on the face of this baseball earth.
A-Rod passed Lou Gehrig Friday night with the 24th grand slam of his career, the most in major league history, to lead the Yankees to a 5-1 win over the offensively-challenged Giants at Yankee Stadium. The fact Rodriguez is still playing despite his 211-game suspension makes him one lucky man.
He now owns one special major league home run record.
No matter how you feel about A-Rod, the Yankees are lucky to have him in the lineup these days. The Yankees will need all the luck they can get to get back in the wild-card race.
A-Rod is a big fan of Gehrig, he really is, and when asked about Gehrig, he noted just that, saying: “I am a huge fan of Lou Gehrig, everything he’s done, even going back to his college days here in New York. He’s kind of like the gold standard for a Yankee. It’s a special moment and I’ll think about it someday.’’
This was A-Rod’s seventh home run of the season and 654th of his career (Willie Mays is next at 660) and it came at a time when he has been horrible at the plate, struggling with hamstring and calf injuries. A-Rod managed all of one hit over his last 25 at-bats before lifting reliever George Kontos’ pitch to right and into the jet stream that benefits hitters at Yankee Stadium in the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie.
“I’m not thinking home run there, that’s the last thing I’m thinking,’’ Rodriguez admitted.
This was a game the Yankees just had to have because they essentially need to win-out just to have a shot at the postseason. This was one wild Friday for the team. Andy Pettitte announced his retirement. Mariano Rivera, who also will retire, at the end of the season, came on for the final three outs.
Yankees history is changing daily.
It was on July 4, 1939 when Gehrig gave the greatest speech in baseball history, saying he considered himself ‘the luckiest man on the face of the earth’’ even though he was facing a terrible battle with ALS. Gehrig would die at the age of 37 in 1941.
Now A-Rod has moved ahead of the great Gehrig in the grand slam department.
A lot of people may not like that, but this is the baseball world we live in these days.