Alex Rodriguez hits a pinch-hit home run to tie Willie Mays at 660 home runs

NBC Sports ^ | 5/1/2015 | Bill Baer

[fhayek]

Alex Rodriguez, not in Friday’s starting lineup against the Red Sox, still managed to make history. He pinch-hit for DH Garrett Jones in the eighth inning, facing reliever Junichi Tazawa. He got ahead in the count 3-0, then slugged a 94 MPH fastball out to left field for career home run number 660, putting the Yankees up 3-2.

[Gigantor]

He's no Willie Mays.

[T-Bird45]

Gotta love the AL — he was pinch hitting for the “Designated Hitter”...leaves me scratching my head about weird rules. You already have a “gimme” slot by the pitcher not having to bat and then you can “pinch hit” somebody else into that spot???

[gusty]

More than the other two, A-Rod’s whole career is tainted. He came from the South Florida HS football world that was loaded with steroids. His entire career from his rookie year till even today can be fairly questioned. Roger Clemens came to the majors before steroids hit the scene, so some of his career was legit. His years with the Red Sox were on the up and up. His last years with Boston we see a steady decline in his ability, then he goes to Toronto and he bursts off the charts again. Clemens career from Toronto on was chemically enhanced. As for Bonds, it was obvious. When his body changed right in front of everyone, like the Hulk. He got pissed that McGuire and Sosa were getting all the attention, so he topped them, in homers and PED’s.

[trebb]

And Willie says, “Hey! Nice poke!”

[Patton@Bastogne]

great picture !

[okie01]

How many home runs would Ruth have hit if he played in modern stadiums?

In Ruth's time, balls which bounced into the stands were counted as HR, while they are ground-rule doubles today.

On the other hand, balls hit down the lines, which cleared the fence inside the foul poles (i.e., fair), but then hooked and physically landed in foul territory, were counted as foul balls.

There are estimated counts on both these figures (based on newspaper reports), but I've forgotten what they were. If you want to do a little investigating, you might want to try the website for Project Scoresheet.

[jjotto]

There was a book about Ruth’s HRs, and a wiki entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_Babe_Ruth_Hit_104_Home_Runs

...n modern ballparks under modern rules, Ruth would have hit 104 home runs in 1921, 90 in some other seasons, and over 60 many times. The author’s research concludes that Ruth would have hit well over a thousand home runs in his career...

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

No argument from me. I followed his stats every game. He was my favorite.

[The Antiyuppie]

“Aaron had quite a strange career for an all-time home run king. He hit 755 home runs in his career but never hit 50 in a season.”

Some of those numbers come from longevity, durability, and consistency. IMO it’s a surprisingly accurate measurement of the overall “greatness” of a player. Ernie Banks (a thin, lanky first baseman!) is on the rarefied “over 500 list” for quietly and consistently knocking out home runs in the Friendly Confines.

And then, there was his glove.