A-Rod On The Precipice Of Purgatory

Written by: Drew Sarver on 23rd July 2010

A-Rod On The Precipice Of Purgatory | read this item

It should be a time of great excitement. A time for baseball fans to rejoice, to mark another milestone. A time when Alex Rodriguez should join the next pantheon of great home run hitters. But as soon as ball meets bat and sails into the seats at Yankee Stadium or some other venue, I’ll have the feeling of “Now what?”.

Ever since Rodriguez admitted his steroid use during his time in Texas, the air has gone out of the home run balloon. Whatever was left of it. There was widespread hope – that Rodriguez was clean and he would eventually erase Barry Bonds from the record books. And that he would make us forget about the tainted home run totals of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Rafael Palmiero.

Sosa and Bonds had been two of the last three players (Ken Griffey Jr. being the other) to reach the 600-HR mark. Sosa and Bonds both continue their “Not me” mantra in response to performance enhancing drugs. McGwire, who hit 583 home runs, came forward but claimed taking steroids had done nothing to improve his game.

So how will fans react to Rodriguez’s assault on 600?

Much in the same way San Francisco reacted to Bonds when he passed Hank Aaron. The way Cardinals fans still worship McGwire in St. Louis. Yankees fans will, for the most part, embrace Rodriguez’s 600th home run. The rest of America will still call him a cheater.

Attitudes have changed in the metropolitan area in the last year. In addition to Rodriguez’s “mea culpa” to Peter Gammons, the Yankees won a World Series championship in which Rodriguez was an integral part. Many of the same fans who once vilified him now cheer for him on a regular basis.

There’s no right or wrong here. To quote that great philosopher Brian McNamee, “It is what it is.”.

So where will A-Rod wind up in history? Will he be enshrined into the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown? That will all depend on how things shake out between now and the time A-Rod’s name comes before the Baseball Writer’s Association of America (BBWAA).

If A-Rod stays healthy, the BBWAA won’t have to consider the matter for about 10 years (Let’s figure 5 more years of playing time + 5 years to wait for eligibility). In the four years that McGwire has been on the Hall ballot, he has not received more than 23.7% of the vote and 75% is needed for enshrinement.

Bonds, Sosa, and Palmiero have not been out of the game the requisite time necessary, but one would have to figure that the latter two would certainly receive the same treatment as McGwire, though they were both better all around players than the current Cardinals hitting coach. Bonds remains an unknown commodity because of ongoing litigation and the sense that he was already going to be a Hall of Fame member prior to the years he is purported to have used PEDs.

So to answer my earlier question, “Will A-Rod get in the Hall of Fame?”… I don’t know. The only thing I do know for sure is that his 600th home run will be celebrated in grand style in the NY area, whether it’s right or wrong.

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and contributor for BaseballDigest.com. You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and followed on Twitter.

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Topics: Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Baseball Fans, Baseball Hall Of Fame, Baseball Hall Of Fame In Cooperstown, Baseball Writer, Bbwaa, brian mcnamee, Great Philosopher, Home Run Hitters, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Mea Culpa, Performance Enhancing Drugs, Pergatory, Peter Gammons, Rafael Palmiero, Sammy Sosa, Steroid Use, Time In Texas, Yankee Stadium

Leslie says:

July 24, 2010 at 1:17 am

It’s hard for me to celebrate a steroid user accomplishing a milestone, and it’s hard for me to embrace someone who is breaking records. I can’t get into A-Rod’s accomplishments, and he is not a Hall of Famer period. Steroid users have no business being in the Hall.
A-Rod Hits 600th | Baseball Digest says:

December 31, 2010 at 6:43 pm

[...] So how does A-Rod stack up in history? That remains to be determined. [...]