Alex Rodriguez is making the quietest history in the long and storied line of Major League Baseball. The Yankees 3rd baseman will take the field tonight with 598 career home runs, 2 short of becoming only the 7th player to ever hit 600. No one is covering the story, and folks seem more interested in the off-field shenanigans of the Florida football team or USC returning Reggie Bush's Heisman trophy than the unbelievable feat accomplished by A-Rod.
Of course, no one is covering the story because A-Rod is a cheat. A scam. He hit homers because he was on the juice, right? Well, duh. EVERYONE was on the juice. Pitchers were on the juice, hitters were on the juice, managers were probably on the juice. You think A-Rod ever hit a donger against a pitcher taking PEDs? Of course he did. The fact is, performance enhancers or not, hitting 600 HRs is something only 6 humans have done before. It's impressive, and the lack of fanfare is sad, even for a doper like A-Rod.
He cheated. So what? Keep him out of the Hall of Fame if you want. But everyone acknowledges that Pete Rose, also a cheater, is one of the elite players in the history of the sport. A-Rod will be too. The fact that his cheating action involved using PEDs in an era where the use of HGH and other anabolic steriods was as common as drinking water illustrates that A-Rod remains a singular talent, the likes of which we've seen only 6 times before.
The playing field was level - A-Rod cheated in a way that everyone else cheated, and he still outshines all of his fellow sluggers, and outdueled many of his cheating bretheren on the mound to crush his way into baseball history. He should be acknowledged and appreciated for the impressive feat.
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