A-Rod is Youngest Ever to 500 [David Stefanini]

Alex Rodriguez has officially become the youngest player to ever hit 500 career home runs. We all knew he would eventually have this record, the question was just when. Well that question was answered in the first inning, on the very first pitch that A-Rod saw.

It is beautiful to watch a player with such a perfect swing achieve milestones like this. When A-Rod swings the bat it looks perfect. He does it with such ease he makes the players around him look bad.

However, I think there is cause for concern on behalf of Yankee nation. When the pressure was on for him to get this home run it took him forever. It put him into a career-tying long 0-21 slump. The past few games he started swinging the bat well though. I think a lot of Yankee fans have to take a step back and say is this going to happen in October? We all know how good A-Rod is in the regular season, we now know he can be great in the 9th inning of baseball games, the question still remains can he do it in the postseason?

With all that said, we should be grateful to have the opportunity to watch A-Rod play. Now the countdown is going to be to #600. Then after that #700, and who knows from there. I look forward to seeing A-Rod play a long and healthy career. If he does that, Barry Bonds will easily be forgotten.

Photos: A-Rod Hits Number 500 [David Stefanini]

Frank Thomas Hits Homer Number 500 [David Stefanini]

Frank Thomas hit his 500th career home run the right way... or so he says. He became the 21st player in MLB history to reach this historic milestone.

He was already well on his way to being a Hall of Famer, but this cemented his place. Now there is no doubt he will get in on the first ballot. Thomas has been a feared hitter for more than a decade and it is nice to see him get to this milestone. There was a time this year I thought ARod would be the first one to get to 500, but Thomas beat him. It's great to see a guy who has carried himself in such a professional way get to such an elite club.

Thomas also may have become the first player to hit career home run #500 and get ejected in the same game. Thomas was thrown out after arguing a called 3rd strike in the 9th inning. Way to go Franky!

Here is the video of this historic home run: