» A-Rod Hits 500th Homer Yankees Blog

August 04, 2007

Saturday at the Stadium, Alex rodriguez, in his first at bat of the game, hit a 3 run homerun to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead. The home run was A-Rod’s 500th career homerun, making him the youngest player in baseball history to reach that milestone (32 years old, 8 days).

“The energy of the fans just put it in perspective a little bit,” Rodriguez said. “It seemed like they cared more about it than I did. For me, I wanted to do it at home. I knew it would come at some point this year, but with two days remaining before we go on the road, I wanted to make sure we did it at home.”

Rodriguez became just the third player to hit his 500th home run in a Yankees uniform, joining Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle — a fact he said he had only learned recently. Asked what it means to him, Rodriguez quickly replied, “It means the world.”
“To do it at home and to wear this beautiful uniform that I appreciate and respect so much, it’s special,” Rodriguez said. “New York is a special place. I’ve had my trials and tribulations here in New York, I’ve learned from them. I’ve had some great times, I’ve had some good times and I’ve had some tough times.