AP News
(2010-07-23 02:19:44)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez hit his 599th career home run on Thursday, driving an 0-2 pitch from Kansas City Royals reliever Robinson Tejeda over the right field wall in the seventh inning.
A-Rod, as he is known, is trying to become the seventh player in Major League Baseball history to hit 600 home runs and the youngest ever to reach the milestone at 34.
Rodriguez, the highest paid player in baseball at $33 million this year, is on pace to catch career home run leader Barry Bonds, who hit 762 from 1986 to 2007. His home run on Thursday was his 16th of the season and gave the Yankees a 6-4 lead.
Rodriguez averaged more than 40 homers a season over his first 14 full years in the big leagues and would reach Bonds in four more seasons at that rate. Even without another home run this year he could match Bonds by averaging about 23 homers a season over the final seven years of his contract.
His 10-year contract -- worth at least $275 million but with a series of bonuses paying another $30 million if he passes Bonds -- expires after the 2017 season, when he would be 42.
(Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Steve Ginsburg)
