A-Rod Joined the 3,000-Hit Club in Style Five Years Ago Today
Five years ago today, Alex Rodriguez took Justin Verlander deep on the first pitch of his first at-bat for his 3,000th career hit. He was the third person in history to reach the milestone via homer and the last to do so.
It’s funny how Alex Rodriguez’s career has turned out, though. Yankees fans cheered when he joined the exclusive club five years back, but his time in New York had its fair share of bumps and he wasn’t always a fan-favorite. Presently, he’s the most popular baseball analyst in the country, engaged to Jennifer Lopez, and putting together a bid to potentially buy an MLB team. Usually players fade when they stop playing — that’s not the case with A-Rod. He’s more popular and lovable now four years removed from his last game than he was on June 19th, 2015 or at any point in his active career. So much, in fact, that he’s the star of a show on CNBC — Back in the Game — that helps athletes and celebrities repair their image and finances.
Nevertheless, today is the five-year anniversary of his grand achievement and he deserves his roses as a player. After all, only two current players have 2500-plus hits (Robinson Cano, 2570; Miguel Cabrera, 2815) and they’re both 36 years old; neither will reach the mark in the near future. It could be 2022 before we have another player join the 3000-hit club.
A-Rod finished up with 3,115 hits, 696 home runs, and a .295 batting average, plus hardware galore. The New York native made 14 all-star games, won three MVP awards and snagged a ring with the Yankees in 2009.