Now that Barry has hit No. 756, A-Rod is officially on the clock. Yes, Alex Rodriguez is a mere 257 homers from surpassing Bonds and he's only 32.
Alas, last night served as the latest reminder that the inevitable A-Rod Chase won't be much more universally beloved than the endless Bonds Watch. There isn't much suspicion that A-Rod used steroids (though who can tell these days), but A-Rod often comes off as genuine as a $3 bill. Sometimes it seems that he tries so hard to do and say what he thinks is the right thing that when it finally comes out, it actually sounds rehearsed and fake.
Take A-Rod's ongoing disagreement with the Blue Jays. Back in May, remember, he distracted Howie Clark on a key popup late in the game by yelling, depending on whose account you believe, "Hey" or "Mine." It was generally agreed to be a cheesy move. So the Blue Jays threw behind A-Rod in Monday's game and then, last night, Toronto pitcher Josh Towers hit him in the calf, which might have been the first ball Towers threw accurately since 2005. The benches cleared, though no punches were thrown.
Then when A-Rod was standing on first, he thought Towers was jawing at him. (It turned out Towers was calling Yankees first base coach Tony Pena a "quitter" for resigning as Royals manager in May, 2005.) So A-Rod started toward Towers, looking all tough, and for the benefit of all amateur lip-readers clearly said, "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?" And at that moment, it was perfectly plausible to picture A-Rod practicing those lines in front of his mirror before the game just like Bobby DeNiro's Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Could he have possibly selected a more clichéd line for the occasion? (Personally, we're partial to DeNiro quotes as Midnight Run's Jack Walsh, such as, "Now here come two words for you: Shut the f--- up.")
Of course, Derek Jeter would probably have made the same line sound cool, so who knows. Not that everyone loves Jeter either. In fact, here's the Toronto Baseball Guys' 100 Reasons to Hate Derek Jeter.
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