Alex Rodriguez has gone from villain to hero in improbable fashion. He was suspended for all of 2014 for PED use and has come back this season to make history in more ways than one.
On Friday night the 39-year-old belted a home run off of Justin Verlander in the first inning to record his 3,000th hit and become the 29th player in history to do so. He's now tied with Roberto Clemente for 28th on the all-time hits list. Check out his historic swing below:
The Yankees went on to defeat the Tigers 7-2 and A-Rod finished 1-for-4. The former AL MVP added to his memorable 2015 campaign, during which he has already passed Willie Mays on the all-time home run list and Lou Gerhig and Barry Bonds on the all-time RBI list. He achieved his 3,000th hit in style with a home run, as former teammate Derek Jeter did back in 2011.
The New York tabloids mocked the slugger's 3,000th hit with steroid references, as you can see below, but it's Rodriguez who will be the last one laughing.
"I'm grateful. I'm extremely appreciative to the Yankees, giving me an opportunity to put the uniform back on," Rodriguez said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "There were days last year that I never thought I would sometimes get that uniform back on and to be able to play in this stadium in front of these fans. And for that I'm thankful to the Steinbrenner family and the whole Yankee organization."
A crowd of 44,588 at Yankee Stadium had the privelege to witness history and if Rodriguez keeps up his consistent offensive production there could be more milestones to see in the years to come.
