New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez gave his team the lead in the third inning of Wednesday's game against the Kansas City Royals with a three-run home run. The hit happened to mark another MLB milestone.
Rodriguez's 11th home run of the season gave him 26 RBIs on the year and moved him into third place on the all-time RBI list. His 1,995 career RBIs moved him past former Yankee legend Lou Gehrig (1,993 RBIs) and set an American League record. A-Rod also moved ahead of Babe Ruth (1,992 RBIs) with the home run.
The two legends atop the all-time home run list - Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron - remain ahead of Rodriguez on the RBI list. Bonds has 1,996 career RBIs and Aaron is ways ahead of him with 2,297. Both sluggers played their entire careers in the National League, but A-Rod is now the king of the AL. His next RBI will tie him with Bonds, but he'll have a lot of work to do to reach Aaron.
The 39-year-old was suspended for all of 2014 for PED use as well as his involvement in the Biogenesis Scandal, but he has made his mark on the MLB in 2015. He passed Willie Mays on the all-time home run list earlier this month to take sole possession of fourth place behind only Ruth (714), Aaron (755) and Bonds (762).
Rodriguez will more than likely also reach the 3,000-hit milestone at some point in the season, barring a major injury of course. His home run today (along with the single he hit in the seventh inning) leaves him 19 shy of the career mark, which will put him in an exclusive club that consists of only 28 players. A-Rod's former teammate, Derek Jeter, was the most recent player to reach 3,000 hits back in 2011.
The Yankees have been pleased with Rodriguez's production this season. He's batting .276/.374/.566 with 27 runs scored, 11 home runs and 26 RBIs in 43 games this season. He's signed through the 2017 season and will likely remain the club's designated hitter as third baseman Chase Headley has gotten nearly all of the starts in the field this season.
We'll be keeping track of Rodriguez in the coming weeks.
