New York Yankees Editorial: Alex Rodriguez passes Bonds, Musial; 9 hits away from 3,000

By Caleb Gebrewold | Jun 7, 2015

Alex Rodriguez continues to climb the all-time ranks, passing two more legendary names in Barry Bonds and Stan Musial. While RBI wasn’t an official stat until 1920, according to the record books, the New York Yankees designated hitter has more RBI’s than anyone in baseball history not named Hank Aaron and his 2,297 RBI’s. Rodriguez’s fifth-inning RBI single gave him 1,997 for his career.

While Babe Ruth officially is credited with 1,992, some have him placed at 2,214, as he was playing for several years before 1920. Cap Anson is also credited with 2,075, but his whole career took place years before RBI became an official stat, as he retired in 1897.

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Rodriguez was happy to pass Bonds, but even more that he continues to pile up milestones at Yankee Stadium:

"It just means I’m getting older, every day. I’m happy. I’m in a good place. It doesn’t escape me that all these milestones are coming at home in front of our fans. The fans for me have been a huge part of this. They’ve welcomed me from day one in Tampa and New York, made me feel very comfortable."

Rodriguez also scored, what turned out to be the winning run in the seventh inning, for the 1,950th time in his career, moving past Musial for sole possession of eighth place on the all-time runs list. While his ascension on the all-time runs list has not gotten the same attention as some of his other feats, he has passed two baseball icons in Musial and former teammate Derek Jeter this season.

Rodriguez, who has looked rejuvenated in 2015, picked up his first four-hit game since 2011, giving him 2,991 on his career, while raising his slash to .284/.374/.530. Rodriguez needs nine more hits to become the 29th player to ever reach 3,000 hits, and the first since Jeter did it in 2011, something that has crossed his mind:

"You think about it when the year starts, you think you have an opportunity, but I’m focused on helping the team win each and every day; we’re doing that and I’m having fun."

Entering the season, many fans and critics doubted Rodriguez, but he has shown that he is still capable of performing at a premier level. The Yankees surely hope he maintains his production throughout the season, and remainder of his contract, and is somehow able to give Aaron and Bonds a chase for the all-time RBI and home run records, respectively.

Next: New York Yankees Editorial: Healthy Mark Teixeira a major asset for first-place Yankees

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