All Things A-Rod
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
All Things A-Rod

For fans of Alex Rodriguez.
 
HomeSearchLatest imagesRegisterLog in

 

 Yanks slugger at a pace to erase Bonds from record books

Go down 
AuthorMessage
Yankee Girl
Admin
Yankee Girl


Number of posts : 120
Localisation : Oklahoma
Registration date : 2007-07-13

Yanks slugger at a pace to erase Bonds from record books Empty
PostSubject: Yanks slugger at a pace to erase Bonds from record books   Yanks slugger at a pace to erase Bonds from record books Icon_minitimeFri Aug 10, 2007 1:45 pm

I'll just call him "WONDERFUL!" king


Just call him 'Next-Rod'
Yanks slugger at a pace to erase Bonds from record books
By Tom Singer / MLB.com

At just 32, Alex Rodriguez is on a career home run pace that is unmatched in baseball history. (Bill Kostroun/AP)
Yankees Headlines

When Hank Aaron stepped away from the game after the 1976 season, the baseball cognoscenti was certain he was taking an unbreakable record into retirement. His 755 home runs were seen in the same light as Cy Young's 511 wins and Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.
And no wonder. With Aaron's retirement, the mantle of the Majors' leading active home-run hitter fell on Willie McCovey, who had 465 and bad knees supporting a 39-year-old body.

There were no flexing threats on the horizon. Only four Major Leaguers had even topped 30 during Aaron's farewell season, headed by 38 from Mike Schmidt, pushing his career total at the age of 27 to 131.

Current events pose quite a contrast. The remarkable power posse behind Barry Bonds includes one guy (Sammy Sosa) already past 600, another (Ken Griffey Jr.) almost there, five others hovering around 500 and several Major League "babies" already in triple figures.

So, although Bonds is not even through yet, committed to playing on in 2008 if anyone will have him, however high he pushes his homer tally, it's not expected to be high enough.

But there is only one real threat to turning Bonds' reign brief. Whatever 757 winds up being, it won't be considered out of the reach of Alex Rodriguez.

Just call him Next-Rod.

A few days after becoming by far the youngest to enter the 500-circle, Rodriguez in fact was already hounding Bonds. As remarkable as was Bonds breaking Aaron's record with No. 756 on Tuesday, more remarkable was Rodriguez's recurring role in the drama.

In every Bonds headline, Next-Rod was the subhead. In every Bonds story, Next-Rod was the sidebar. In every Bonds portrait, Next-Rod was the inset.

Indeed, Rodriguez reduced Bonds' monumental pursuit of Aaron and 755 to a mere opening act, a prologue for his own odyssey. With his 756th, Bonds didn't claim the career record as much as simply borrowed it, until Rodriguez gets around to blowing by him in the final laps of his tour as the greatest player of baseball's first 140 years.

"I've got to believe he'll do it," Toronto manager John Gibbons said of Rodriguez's prospects. "He does it so easy, and every year he puts up those big numbers. If you're a betting man, you'd have to believe he'll do it."

Yankees captain Derek Jeter said of his teammate, "If he stays healthy, I'm sure he'll have a crack at hitting 800 home runs."

Even before the reality of 756 brought Next-Rod's destiny into sharper focus, Atlanta manager Bobby Cox had shrugged off the hype mushrooming around Bonds by saying, "I don't think it's going to matter that much anyways. I think Alex Rodriguez will break this thing in another five years."

Yankees manager Joe Torre injected a bit of uncertainty by saying, "The biggest question for me with Alex is if he's going to be able to stay as passionate about the game, knowing how much scrutiny he's under all the time." But then Torre added, "At this point, I'd say he'll play for another 10 years."

If he does, forget about 800. We could be looking at 900.

Mathematically, Rodriguez can't be deterred: At even 75 percent of his current rate (allowing for age, though that may be unnecessary, since proverbially hitters don't even reach their primes until 33, 34) he would reach 760 during the 2014 season -- which he would start as a 38-year-old.

The preceding projection is sheer folly, but even that has a point: In the seasons they entered at 38, Babe Ruth had 652 homers, Aaron had 639 -- and Bonds had 567.

On the diamonds and in the front-office suites and press-box seats overlooking them -- and in Barry Bonds' mirror -- there is shocking anonymity about Next-Rod's fate.

Shocking, because in a relative blink he is expected to grab a mark that has now been broken twice in 72 years (Ruth retired in 1935 with 714, which Aaron pushed to 755 in 1976).

Bonds is in total agreement. In a recent revealing and comprehensive interview on FOX Sports Net, when asked who he thinks might eventually top him, Bonds says without hesitation, "Alex Rodriguez."

"I also told him he won't have to call me," Bonds adds, "because I'll be right there in the front row, cheering."

Even the man himself appears to be getting increasingly comfortable with the notion of soon replacing Bonds in the bubble. Only a couple of years ago, Rodriguez discounted his prospects by saying he couldn't envision "hanging around" just for a shot at the record.

Having hit No. 500 eight days past his 32nd birthday -- or 328 days younger than the previous record (by Jimmie Foxx) -- he has removed himself from the "hanging around" stage.

Compare Rodriguez's speed track to the game's other fabled sluggers: Ruth, Aaron, Willie Mays, Sosa and Griffey ... they all reached 500 at 34 (Bonds got there at 36).

None of this allows Rodriguez to be any more comfortable talking about his long-range prospects, but neither does he continue to just shrug them off.

A couple of recent encounters in San Francisco with Bonds -- during the Yankees' Interleague series in late June, then the All-Star Game -- afforded opportunities for Rodriguez to openly gaze into his future as the Next Chosen.

At one point, A-Rod said, "I'm not worried about that. It's hard to think about individual things when you desperately want to win. The other thing is I got to this point by not thinking about myself and thinking about the team. This is Barry's time, not my time."

On another occasion, Rodriguez revealed his disdain for projections, saying, "I kind of feel shy talking about it, because I hit 14 home runs in April and they said I was going to hit 140. When you're [still hundreds] away ... I think it's kind of ridiculous."

What may be even more ridiculous is conceding any other current slugger a shot at Bonds' record. No one else has Next-Rod's platform.

Among those ahead of him on the charts: Sosa is 38, Griffey 37, Frank Thomas 39; of the quintet with 400-plus homers, no one is younger than 35 (Manny Ramirez and Carlos Delgado).

Among the young bucks, Albert Pujols is indeed a compelling prospect. But with 274 home runs at 27, he would have to keep averaging 40 across the next 12 seasons to approach the current record. Such production, it must be argued, is not out of Prince Albert's reach.

As for other current candidates ... there aren't any. Miguel Cabrera (24, 132 homers) could graduate into that status with improved discipline. Ryan Howard is a popular choice of many, but those nominating him overlook the fact he was an "old" rookie; also 27, he is actually older (by 58 days) than Pujols.

So the only genuine threats to Barry Bonds' newly-minted record are Alex Rodriguez and some guys we haven't yet heard of. Most likely because they are still little kids on the sandlots, waiting for their turn at T-ball.

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Back to top Go down
https://arod.forumotion.com
 
Yanks slugger at a pace to erase Bonds from record books
Back to top 
Page 1 of 1
 Similar topics
-
» Barry Bonds
» Yanks, Jays empty benches twice
» Yanks to deal Proctor for Betemit

Permissions in this forum:You cannot reply to topics in this forum
All Things A-Rod :: At Third Base :: In The News-
Jump to: