Rodriguez Becomes 2nd Player to Record 3,000th Hit in Yankees Uniform
June 19, 2015 · Bleacher Report Milestones · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez recorded the 3,000th hit of his career on a solo home run off of Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in the first inning of Friday’s 7-2 win, joining Derek Jeter as the only players to reach the 3,000-hit mark in a Yankees uniform, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Surprisingly enough, Jeter’s milestone hit was a blast to deep left field, while Rodriguez reached 3,000 on an opposite-field homer over the short right field porch that Jeter so often took advantage of. It wasn’t a cheap home run by any means, but it also wasn’t an especially impressive one by Rodriguez’s lofty standards.
In addition to Jeter and Rodriguez, former Yankee Wade Boggs is the only other player to swat a home run for hit No. 3,000, although he did it in a Tampa Bay Devil Rays uniform, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Rodriguez is also just the second player to record his 3,000th hit off of a former Cy Young Award winner, joining another former Yankee, Dave Winfield, who accomplished the feat against Dennis Eckersley while playing for the Minnesota Twins in 1993, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).
It should come as no surprise that Rodriguez took Verlander deep, as the 39-year-old has an impressive track record of success against the 2011 American League Cy Young Award winner.
Even after Verlander retired Rodriguez in each of his next three trips to the plate Friday night, Rodriguez has 11 hits in 32 career at-bats (.343 batting average) against the right-hander, with five home runs and 10 RBI.
Now sitting at 667 career home runs, Rodriguez has homered for 22 percent of his 3,000 hits, tops among the 29 members of the 3,000-hit club, per the New York Times.
Hank Aaron’s 755 homers lead the club in that department, and while Rodriguez is enjoying a surprisingly excellent bounce-back season, he still needs 88 more long balls to catch Hammerin’ Hank.
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