Late to his own party, A-Rod finally celebrates No. 500
New York Daily News
Sunday, August 5th 2007, 4:00 AM
He dropped his bat not far from the plate to watch a patch of white, spherical cowhide on its historic flight. Tilting to his right, Alex Rodriguez wondered if the ball would curve foul, just left of the pole, and if his trial by flashbulbs would go on forever.
That's the way things had been going for him, hooking the wrong way for days. But then, he would say, the ball righted itself, "almost like a fade in golf." The drive landed safely fair in the lower deck, just below a walkway, and a lucky Rutgers student came away with the ball.
A-Rod trotted around the bases like a man who no longer was toting Jimmie Foxx, the Bleacher Creatures, sniping columnists and most of the Bronx on his back. "The Natural" played in the background, and while he rounded the bases, his wife, Cynthia, was hustling like crazy into the Stadium hoping to catch just a glimpse. She was running late for the game - "30 minutes late, right on cue," A-Rod joked - so she'd parked her car illegally and made a dash for it.
"I saw him cross home plate," Cynthia said. A-Rod waved to her seat as he reached home plate, though she hadn't quite reached it.
And there it was. An empty seat, a meaningful homer. Rodriguez had his 500th, at the ridiculous age of 32 years, eight days. His three-run shot in the first inning had come early enough for him to enjoy the whole, sultry afternoon and a 16-8 victory. It had arrived in time to make everyone happy, except the Kansas City Royals.
For the record, it was the very first pitch from Kyle Davies that served the slugger so well. There was what he later called "a high school reception" waiting for Rodriguez near the dugout, led by none other than Derek Jeter. A-Rod had earned these hugs the hard way, after 28 official at-bats, three hits and zero homers over a tortuous nine days. There were times when Rodriguez looked anxious, almost confused at the plate. But he settled into the circumstances by Thursday, when it became more a matter of time than of mind.
"The energy of the fans put it in perspective," Rodriguez said. "It seemed they cared more about it than I did."
There was a loud ovation at the old, lame-duck Stadium, and of course a curtain call. A-Rod raised both fists toward the sky, leaving us to ponder the mythic power of the longball. It never quite falls out of vogue, despite the steroid backlash and the inflated numbers.
This much we know: 500 homers is not the mark it once was, and A-Rod will surely smack many, many more. There are four active players ahead of Rodriguez in the career category, and Rafael Palmeiro retired not that long ago with 569. Going into the games yesterday, Jim Thome had 489, Manny Ramirez had 488 and Gary Sheffield was at 478. Home runs are so plentiful now that by the end of the day, Rodriguez was actually further behind Frank Thomas in the standings than he was at the start.
Still, this was Rodriguez's moment, fair and square. And with A-Rod, there is always a subtext or two. People wondered whether this milestone and the good cheer it created would push him a bit more toward sticking here beyond the season.
Rodriguez said that it had taken him three or four years to get comfortable in New York, but who really knows what happens next? Joe Torre just said that Rodriguez looked very good in the uniform. It has only been 10 months since the manager penciled in his third baseman for the eighth spot in the batting order. On a day like yesterday, it felt much longer.
"This is a stopoff for him, not a destination," Torre said, about No.500. "He's certainly going to stand tall with the others who wore the pinstripes. We obviously know he gets all the attention all the time and that it's not easy to live with."
Everybody had wanted to get this done, to move on to the wild card race and the schedule crush that lies ahead. If the Yankees can keep amassing these runs against tougher competition, then they have a shot at October after all. They've scored at least seven runs in each of the last six games, and in 13 of their last 15. They've averaged nearly 10 runs over that stretch.
After carrying the team through much of the early season, A-Rod had little to do with this recent outburst. Then yesterday he hit that 500th homer, for three runs. No resting now. Rodriguez is always a special case. He could hit 999, and everybody would wonder why 1,000 was taking so long.
fjbondy@netscape.net
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