We all have to give high fives to SB's main man A Rod on hitting his 400th homer last night, setting a record for the youngest player to reach 400 homers. Way to go!!

[img]http://images.snapfish.com/343%3B5543232...994989486nu0mrj[/img]


A-Rod hits 400th homer against Brewers
Rodriguez becomes 40th, youngest player to reach milestone
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com

Alex Rodriguez poses with his 400th home run ball.


MILWAUKEE -- When Alex Rodriguez hit his 398th home run on May 26, his fifth in eight games, it seemed like it would only be a matter of days -- if not hours -- that he became the 40th player in history to reach the 400-homer plateau.
But 11 games later, Rodriguez was still stuck on 398, having gone that long without hitting one out or even driving in a single run.

He made up for lost time on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, going 4-for-4 with two home runs -- Nos. 399 and 400 -- and four RBIs in the Yankees' 12-3 win over the Brewers.

"It's obviously a very special day, especially to do it in a win we needed so desperately," Rodriguez said. "To do it with a Yankees uniform on, it's something I'll never forget."

"He's been doing all of these things from the day he came into the league," said Mike Mussina, who was the recipient of the run support on Wednesday. "Four hundred home runs for him is just a chapter in a pretty long book. I'm sure it's not his last one, and I'm sure it's not his last one with two zeroes after it."

At 29 years old, Rodriguez reached 400 earlier than any player in history. Ken Griffey Jr., A-Rod's former teammate in Seattle, had held the previous record for the most homers hit before his 30th birthday with 398, but Rodriguez, who turns 30 on July 27, knocked his old friend out of the record books.

"To be 29 years old and have 400 home runs, that's pretty incredible," said manager Joe Torre. "With the shape he's in and the way he works, who knows where he's going?"

"These guys get sick of hearing me talk about A-Rod," said Brewers hitting coach Butch Wynegar, who was a roving hitting instructor and Minor League manager in the Rangers' organization from 1995-2002 and worked with Rodriguez from 2001-02. "His bank account says, 'Hey, I don't have to work another day in my life.' But he goes in that cage every day. I used to see him go in there four times before a game, and that's when he was playing everyday shortstop. He deserves this."

A-Rod, whose 11-game skid without an RBI was the second-longest of his career, drilled No. 399 in the first inning, taking left-hander Chris Capuano deep for a two-run shot to left field on a 3-1 pitch. The homer was estimated at 410 feet.

"I hadn't hit one in a while," he said. "I hit it pretty good."

That homer tied A-Rod with Al Kaline and Andres Galarraga for 40th place on the all-time list.

In the eighth, Rodriguez added a solo shot against southpaw Jorge De La Rosa, crushing a 2-2 pitch 381 feet over the right-field wall. His 19 homers this season lead the Majors.

"Alex had a super night, and to cap it off with the 400th home run was great," Torre said. "That's as loose as he's been, even more than the three-home run game [April 26 against the Angels]. He seemed light on his feet today."

"He doesn't limit himself to one field," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "He hits one out to left [field] and then hits No. 400 out to right."

Rodriguez became the sixth player to hit his 400th homer for the Yankees, joining Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson and Gary Sheffield. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he also became the third player to reach the milestone in Milwaukee, joining Eddie Matthews and Billy Williams.

"I'm a young man out of Miami," Rodriguez said. "I never thought I'd be doing some of the things that I've done."