
NEW YORK — So when is a milestone not a milestone?
The Yankees are about to find out since designated hitter Alex Rodriguez needs one home run to tie Hall of Famer Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list with 660 home runs.
On Sunday, Rodriguez moved closer to Mays by hitting a solo home run with two outs in the first inning of a 6-4 victory over the New York Mets.
“It’s pretty amazing when you think about it, 660 home runs, that’s a lot of home runs,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “Obviously you hope it comes tomorrow and you hope there’s a couple of guys on when he hits it. That’s what you hope for but he’s been a big part of our offense this first month and we need it to continue.”
When the next home run happens, a $6 million clause is supposed to kick in as part of a series of marketing clauses Rodriguez and the Yankees agreed to following the 2007 season.
Besides tying Mays, Rodriguez’s contract contains clauses for tying Babe Ruth (714 home runs), Hank Aaron (755 home runs) and Barry Bonds (762). He also gets a bonus should he surpass Bonds and should he collect each bonus, it’s an extra $30 million.
Those clauses were included in the 10-year, $275 deal that was renegotiated following the 2007 season. Rodriguez won his second MVP award with the Yankees that year and during the World Series opted out of the original 10-year, $252 million deal he signed with the Texas Rangers after the 2000 season.
That deal was signed about a year and a half before Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in 2009. It also was signed well before his historic 162-game suspension for being involved in Biogenesis and that is why the Yankees are reluctant to acknowledge him reaching 660 home runs through merchandise let alone paying the money.
Even with a potentially awkward situation approaching, there was little talk about it late Sunday night. One of the two questions asked about it even generated a few laughs when Rodriguez ended his brief postgame interview by saying:
“I don’t have a marketing degree. So I’m just focused on playing baseball.”
The Yankees marketed his 500th home run in 2007 and his 600th home run three years later, but it’s unlikely you will find anyone wearing t-shirts celebrating him tying Mays.
So far, Rodriguez has stuck to the script of saying the right things such as being humbled and happy to be back playing baseball.
If he doesn’t get his bonus as expected, it might mean an offseason arbitration hearing where his comments might deviate from the script.
“No idea, but I am so grateful to be back playing baseball and I am so happy to be back in Yankee Stadium,” Rodriguez said.