600 Down, 163 To Go

As that great Detroit Tiger fan Gerald Ford would have said, "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over."

600 at last! Alex Rodriguez hit the milestone home run off Shaun Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays in the bottom of the 1st inning of today's game at Yankee Stadium II.

Fittingly, it landed in the netting over Monument Park in center field.

That's the good news. The bad news is, it came in the bottom of the 1st, with Derek Jeter on base. Three times in the last week, including last night, the Yanks took a 2-0 lead in the 1st with Jeter on 1st followed by a home run, once with Nick Swisher and twice with Mark Teixeira.

However, at this writing, the Yankees are leading 3-0 in the top of the 4th... Uh-oh, scratch that, the Jays have scored a run, and are threatening for more. Phil Hughes is in trouble...

Okay, he got out of it. 3-1 Yankees, going to the bottom of the 4th.

Interestingly, he got it 3 years to the day after his 500th. I was there for that one. Not for this one.

UPDATE: The Yankees won, 5-1.

*

Here the All-Time Home Run List, as of right now, including every player with at least 500 home runs, and every active player with at least 300, and whether I think he'll make it to 500:

Barry Bonds 762*
Hank Aaron 755
Babe Ruth 714
Willie Mays 660
Ken Griffey 630
Sammy Sosa 609*
Alex Rodriguez 600*
Frank Robinson 586
Mark McGwire 583*
Jim Thome 577
Harmon Killebrew 573
Rafael Palmeiro 569*
Reggie Jackson 563
Manny Ramirez 554*
Mike Schmidt 548
Mickey Mantle 536
Jimmie Foxx 534
Willie McCovey 521
Frank Thomas 521
Ted Williams 521
Ernie Banks 512
Eddie Mathews 512
Mel Ott 511
Gary Sheffield 509*
Eddie Murray 504
Carlos Delgado 473 -- too hurt, won't make it
Chipper Jones 434 -- nah, he's almost done
Vladimir Guerrero 428 -- could do it if he stays healthy
Jason Giambi 412* -- forget it, he's done
Andruw Jones 403 -- he looked like he would but not anymore
Albert Pujols 392 -- barring ethical/medical calamity, will chase 762
Paul Konerko 352 -- has a chance
Adam Dunn 342 -- has a chance
David Ortiz 339* -- hard to tell, sometimes looks done but maybe not
Todd Helton 327 -- no, was never a home-run guy anyway
Lance Berkman 326 -- as lefty now at YS, maybe, has slumped badly
Carlos Lee 321 -- I don't think so
Troy Glaus 318 -- no, injuries doomed his chance
Alfonso Soriano 309 -- no way
Ivan Rodriguez 307* -- why does he still bother?
Derrek Lee 305 -- no, but he may get close
Scott Rolen 301 -- maybe, if moves to AL and becomes DH in 2 years

UPDATE: Pujols and Ortiz were the only ones who made it to 500.