Once upon a time, hitting 500 home runs at the Major League Baseball (MLB) level was considered a noteworthy accomplishment, and virtually guaranteed baseball players admission into the Hall of Fame on their first try. As of 1998, only three players in the history of the game had hit 600 home runs or more: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays. Since then, FOUR PLAYERS reached that milestone: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., and most recently, Alex Rodriguez.
Of the last four players, only Ken Griffey Jr., who was mired with injuries throughout the second half of his career, wasn’t linked to any steroid allegations. The others were, and Alex Rodriguez, the most recent member of the 600 home run club (hit off Shaun Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays), had claimed to only take steroids during the three years he was playing for the Texas Rangers, and not since then.
Such a statement instantly makes fans wonder how much he should be believed. After all, it would be very convenient to claim to not take steroids while with New York, as a) the home fans would boo him non-stop, and b) it might invalidate his $300 million USD contract. It’s interesting to see how this controversy is played out in the social media world. Some fans support him, while others feel that his accomplishment is tainted.
Popular Twitter Hash Tags as of 1:30 PM EST on August 5th
Among Twitter-ers, a brief search on some popular Hash Tags has produced the following results:
| #arod | #a-rod | #a-roid | #aroid |
|---|---|---|---|
| jalenrose
#AROD 600HR–NO ATHLETE that is caught &/or admits using performance enhancing drugs should be celebrated or put in the HOF of ANY SPORT! Jerfest In honor of A-rod’s accomplishments — a few other ways to spell 600: 600* Roman -DC; Medical – HGH, PED DustinTD A-Roid’s 600th HR is about as meaningful as a Bristol Palin engagement shower . #mlb #ARod #Yankees GoCrazySTL @JustRalphJ I was ranting earlier. It’s not special. He admitted to doing steroids. His career is forever tainted; as are his records. #ARod |
paulpaz
Enjoy it for now #A-Rod cause in a few years#RyanHoward will become the true, non-juiced Home Run King. Go#Phillies! kj245 RT @BleacherReport Alex Rodriguez: Baseball’s Anti-Lebronhttp://bit.ly/97fYIO #yankees #lebron #mlb #nba #a-rod #600 AmandaDiFranco BTW Big congrats to #A-Rod on hitting his 600th HR last night 😀 !!! SOO HAPPY !!! LET’S GO YANKEES 😉 Fan4Calvin #A-rod congrats. gald u only took steriods for 3 years, it is a big accomplishment. who is dumber? pple applauding or Yanks 4 paying u $$$$ oscarbaltazar Congratulations to #A-Rod on hitting 600 Home Runs. One of the best and of my favorites in my era. |
rashjordan
@espn I can’t believe a cheater’s 600th career HR was your number-one play on Sportscenter. Why honor a cheater? #A-roid #mlb mickrunondunkin @MikeAndMike It means working hard will get you somewhere, but working hard with a turbo boost will make you great. #a-roid BobbyWiggles SportNewsTop #sport #news A-Rod hits 600th Home Run! Do You Care? – MLB Baseball – JRSportBrief http://bit.ly/cMOKYi #600#A-Roid #alexrodriguez #arod |
OReilly15 RT @Cmosch: #AROID P.S. Let’s not forget his link to Dr. Galea who is now under arrest for HGH distributionhttp://tweetphoto.com/36976193 jill_lw OMG! Dick: …Can A-Rod catch Bonds on the HR list. Bert: Who cares? LOVE IT! #Twins #ARoid NickStull SupermanPVF will_rennie as much as I despise the #yankees and #aroid 600 homers is 600 homers, you still gotta hit big league pitching, steroids or no steroids metschick28 gbdawkins It’s not that he cheated.We’ve all cheated at something; he owned up to it.Good for him. Forgiven. It’s that he’s a ginormous douche. #ARoid Kurt1820 |
YouTube Comments as of 1:30 PM on August 5th
On YouTube, the video on Alex Rodriguez hitting his 600th home run has generated the following user comments:
yanksrock1000
12 hours ago 18
Congratulations Arod for 600 homers! im sorry that there r so many haters out there. if you dont like arod, dont watch this video!! the only reason you went here is to write a nasty comment, and that ain’t right!
TheNewYorkSwag
12 hours ago 5
@Cortana431 LOL Yeah, he used steriods BEFORE he got to the yankees. Never used steriods as a yankee. Next time, do full research before bring up 1 side of the story, noob. 🙂
PillowSnake87
24 minutes ago
@TheNewYorkSwag it doesn’t matter if he used steroids before he came to the Yankees performance enhancers make an effect on you for your career because that muscle mass he built up carries on to his future seasons. The only chance he has of EVER making the Hall of Fame is that he was on the Yankees. Just ask Sammy Sosa……remember he hit 600 right? How close is he to the Hall of Fame? I hope the writers stay true and never vote for these losers. 600 is the new 400!!!
Facebook Numbers
On Facebook, there are over 189,000 fan pages on the name “Alex Rodriguez,” with the 2 most popular containing, in descending order, 50,181 and 21,047 fans. At the same time, there were 7 fan pages entitled “A-Roid.”
Conclusion
There is no doubt that Alex Rodriguez achieved an enormous accomplishment. However, today’s social media phenomenon has led to achievements being scrutinized and debated worldwide very quickly. Many fans have been unforgiving to Alex Rodriguez, to a point where it’s been almost unfair. At a recent Blue Jays-Yankees game at the Rogers Centre (a.k.a. Skydome), the boo’s and chants of “A-ROID” were deafening. It makes one wonder if there is a connection between the increased rate of fallen heroes and the increased speed and amount of information being transmitted by the web.
For example, would Babe Ruth be acclaimed “legendary” and “immortal” were he to play in today’s era? All it would take would be a “tweet” on Twitter claiming that he was using a corked bat to hit his home runs!
