by Jonathan Greengrass

Created on: August 07, 2010   Last Updated: August 08, 2010

A major baseball milestone was cleared this week, but it barely caused a ripple in the sports universe. That's right, Alex Rodriguez finally ended his 46 at-bat homer drought by blasting a shot over the centre field wall for number 600. It had been the longest drought between no 599 and no 600 of any of the seven men to have reached that sacred mark. In earlier days this would have been front and back page news, the papers would make the special consideration of documenting his career and throw in as much hyperbole as their readers could stomach. Not with A-Rod.

The nonchalence regarding this milestone stems from the disappointment people feel in A-Rod. As soon as Barry Bonds blasted no. 756, fans were looking for a legitmate contender to take back baseball's most hallowed record from the dirtied hands of the supposed doper Bonds. A-Rod was almost immediately named as that hero, his crusade to reach that record was already proceding at a blistering pace. With every homer, with every movement up the all time list, fans everywhere were rooting for him more and more to break the record. There was almost a sense of inevitability about it which provided solace to anyone who felt betrayed by baseball's steroid era. And then came the revelations.

Following being called out as a doper in the press in spring 2009, A-Rod held that famous press conference when he admitted to taking PEDs. Even though he owned up almost as soon as he was outed (unlike famous deniers Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds), the baseball world had lost all trust in him. The prospects of a legitimate home run king this decade went from high to decidedly uneasy. This brings us full circle to this week and home run number 600. Its not that its not a high milestone any more, it is, its just that the public don't have any stake in A-Rod's pursuit of the record. Instead of the passing of the record from tainted hands to virtuous ones, Rodriguez's march towards history is merely seen as a transference of the record between players who don't deserve to hold it. In many people's minds Hank Aaron remains the legitimate home run king, until one day maybe Albert Pujols surpasses him.

If anything, A-Rod reaching 600 is nothing more than the further dirtying of a previously sacred mark. In the first 131 years of Major League Baseball, only three men reached that lofty height. In short space of time since, four players have rached the mark, only one of them (Griffey Jr) can ever be considered clean. Baseball more than any other sport is one that values and celebrates its history. It's records are seen as marks of individual brilliance, unlike those of more team oriented sports like football. The Hall of Fame isn't just a collection of great players, its a pantheon to the gods of baseball. Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Joe DiMaggio, these are names that inspire pride in anyone lucky enough to watch them play. Compared to them, the names of Bonds, Sosa, McGwire and Rodriguez are just pretenders. They took the short cut to history rather than get there by the hard graft of their predecessors. Thats why no one cares about how many homers A-Rod hits, even if he ends up hitting 800.

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