Comments on: A-Rod is about to hit his 600th home run. Do you care?

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:21:42 +0000

As long as Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa are on that list then it matters, regardless of PED’s or not 600 homers is still a great feat.

By: RichardInBigD

RichardInBigD — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:00:38 +0000

I’m with you, walk. I enjoy a good pitcher’s duel immesurably more than a slugfest. Home runs are the result of mistakes. A quality pitch will rarely find it’s way to the wrong side of the fence. It requires a gaffe on the pitcher’s part for that to happen.

By: walk

walk — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:26:33 +0000

I recognised more pitchers from the mitchell report than i did hitters. Just something to consider as you mull over the 600 hr mark.

By: Eternal Optimist

Eternal Optimist — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:21:17 +0000

I don’t care about A-Rod and 600. I know that I am in the minority, but the use of PED’s turns me off. I think that the guy is really talented, but I would have worshipped him even if he only had 400 homers at this stage. I just want to watch baseball. An occasional home run is OK. I don’t need to see one launched every 3rd at bat.

By: Eternal Optimist

Eternal Optimist — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:18:20 +0000

. . . best answer in the bunch. Well done!

By: Holmgrenheroes22

Holmgrenheroes22 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:05:24 +0000

I absolutely do were not talking about long ball Barry were talking about a complete 5 tool ball player who may be the best of all time.

By: CJ

CJ — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:34:58 +0000

As a wise man once said, I don’t “give a rat’s patootie”

By: Reflex

Reflex — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:30:11 +0000

Nope, don’t give a damn. Did give a damn about Griffey. And Bonds even though I have since grown to dislike him. Never liked Sosa. And my distaste for A-Rod started when it became clear he was just playing with the Mariner’s about any chance of staying in Seattle. He’s Scott Boras as a player. I won’t give a damn when he hits 700 or even 800. Hopefully by then I’ll be rooting for someone like Joey Votto or Kyle Blanks for some of the lower milestone numbers.

By: Md23Rewls

Md23Rewls — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:29:18 +0000

I care in that it’s a big milestone and a ton of home runs, but my care factor will go up much more when he starts nearing the record. He still has a ways to go to get to that level.

By: kyle s

kyle s — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:21:30 +0000

just the facts, do you caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare

By: The Real Shuxion

The Real Shuxion — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:03:15 +0000

Probably not. It will be like “Good for him” and then I will go back to watching porn.

By: geoknows

geoknows — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:40:08 +0000

Some interesting possible symmetry: A-Rod hit his 500th off Kyle Davies, and Davies goes for the Royals tomorrow, so he could get his 600th off the same guy. Unless he gets it out of the way tonight.

By: Paper Lions

Paper Lions — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:12:01 +0000

One reason people aren’t interested in his 600th is because it isn’t viewed as a destination, but a road marker along the way. Everyone always expected him to pass 600, so it doesn’t have any feel of historical significance.
Plus, the media has been pounding us with “land mark achievements” for the last decade. They never are exciting to follow and we just don’t care about them when they don’t represent a record.

By: aleskel

aleskel — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:05:36 +0000

it’s the whole “magic number” element. People make a big deal over 500 home runs (and they did when ARod, Thome, and Manny all approached it, just to name some recent examples) because it’s generally considered what will get you into the Hall of Fame. 600, on the other hand, doesn’t have that same association – maybe it did when it was a class of three (Aaron, Ruth and Mays), but that’s been weakened in the past few years.
It’s similar to pitcher wins – 300 is a big deal, but 350 gets a nice round of applause.

By: Mr. Heyward

Mr. Heyward — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:55:35 +0000

He’s on my fantasy squad along with sexy Texy so I fully endorse his 600th and all subsequent dongs. Hopefully Tex will be on base every single time (like last night).

By: Nic Geerz

Nic Geerz — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:50:34 +0000

I SAY we have a bbq to celebrate

By: Nic Geerz

Nic Geerz — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:35:11 +0000

By: Utley's hair

Utley's hair — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:34:47 +0000

In short, no.
1.) He’s a Yanker;
2.) He’s a putz;
3.) The PEDs, etc.;
4.) He boinked Madonna, which brings up the judgment issue.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:25:37 +0000

From Cot’s Contracts…”$30M marketing agreement based on home run milestones ($6M each for reaching 660, 714, 755 and tying and breaking major league HR record)” So nothing for #600.

By: Alf3

Alf3 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:18:50 +0000

As a Yankee fan, I care, but not as much as I probably should because of the reasons already mentioned here. To me, it’ll be interesting to see how the Yankees celebrate it (assuming he hits number 600 at Yankee Stadium) and how clumsily he handles all the attention.
Also, when they re-signed him to this most recent albatross of a contract, weren’t all kinds of milestone incentives built into the deal? Is it publicly known what he’ll get in terms of a bonus when he does hit number 600?

By: Ditto65

Ditto65 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:17:15 +0000

Off topic (and I am judging by your name you can answerthis question) – if limited to just one topwater lure for Musky, what would it be?

By: Ditto65

Ditto65 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:15:08 +0000

Since so much more is expected of him, 600 is far below those expectations, and the recent spate of players reaching that milestone make it less of a big deal. Personality and PEDs don’t weigh that heavily on my reasoning as much as his expected awesomeness.

By: Proudly Canadian

Proudly Canadian — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:04:24 +0000

He is on my fantasy team. Of course I care.

By: lar @ wezen-ball

lar @ wezen-ball — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:01:36 +0000

You know, I’ve never disliked A-Rod the same way everyone else seems to. I wouldn’t exactly call myself an A-Rod fan, but I like him a lot more than most people. And I’m not all that excited about #600.
It’s like you said, with Griffey, Sosa, and Bonds all reaching the milestone recently, it’s just not special anymore. It doesn’t feel any different than, say, 580, which, before Mac came along, had only been reached 4 times before (Aaron, Ruth, Mays, and Frank Robinson). Jim Thome is only 5 home runs away from that milestone, and people don’t even realize that it’s notable.
And if anybody is comparing A-Rod’s reaching #600 to Griffey doing the same, it’s important to note that a) we all like Griffey better to begin with and b) we all knew that #600 was the only milestone Griffey would ever reach. A-Rod is supposed to be on his way to 700 or 763 or 800 or something, so the #600 barrier doesn’t seem all that impressive anymore. He still has a long way to go before he reaches our expectations…

By: RickyB

RickyB — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:54:05 +0000

Yer dern skippy I care. I’m taking my six-year-old to his first big league game on Saturday at the Stadium. Even if I weren’t, I would care. But for my son to have the opportunity to see A-Rod make his bid at something historical such as this, with the crowd getting as excited as it did last night in his last at-bat, it makes it even that much more special.

By: Don

Don — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:53:22 +0000

Absolutely interested but will be much more so when he hits his 800th.

By: Bull Durham

Bull Durham — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:49:48 +0000

Our lack of excitement for the feat is due in part to our feelings for A-Rod and his admitted PED use but more so due to the lack of credibility and foundation for home run records in general in the PED-era. Baseball was unique in the significance of its numbers, most notably homerun numbers – 714, 61, 500 – they all meant something even to casual fans. Our belief in those numbers has been shaken to say the least, more likely reducing them to near irrevelance. We’ve seen every homerun-related record rewritten several times over just in the last 10-15 years and we can no longer differentiate between “clean”records and those fraudulently acquired. I, for one, cannot foresee ever placing stock in any hitter’s homerun-related accomplishment again.

By: YankeesfanLen

YankeesfanLen — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:41:37 +0000

Since you already have me going off like an eight-day clock today, I’ll have to vote for CARE. I remember exactly where I was for #500 on Sat 8/4/07 in the first inning. It had taken 29 at bats for the milestone to be achieved, so the anticipation had built up.
To say that somehow that it will be tainted by PEDs (and you have my back here) is something mature fans and writers will have to get around in their own way. That will remain in dispute as long as the Maris in a longer season lasted.
It will still be a baseball landmark and on HOF weekend, almost ironic.

By: MuskyHunter2542

MuskyHunter2542 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:39:16 +0000

Nope!!!

By: Simon DelMonte

Simon DelMonte — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:36:40 +0000

No. Can’t say I do. I think he’s a great player. I think he belongs in the Hall, and that his home runs aren’t all that tainted. But there is just something about him that fills me with apathy. Not hate, not disgust, just apathy. Yes, I root for the other guys in NY, but this doesn’t even feel like the usual level of “oh god, not the Yankees again” I get. He’s just there.
But call me when he approaches Bonds’ number. That might be interesting, from afar.