THE SECOND HALF WILL BE ALL ABOUT ALEX

The first half of the baseball season is behind us. Now is the time when the Yankees start to show everyone what a dominant second half team they are. It started Friday when the Yanks came from behind to beat the Angels 6-5.  Then yesterday they won again, read HERE. This is usually about the time when the Yankees start breaking records and reaching milestones. This season, the record I am looking at is the career leader in home runs.

Since April, each time Alex Rodriguez has belted out a home run I find myself counting down until he ties with the great Willie Mays.

So far this season he has passed Ken Griffey Jr. He now stands at fifth place with 642 homer’s total.

In 2010, Alex became the youngest player in baseball to reach 600 home runs. And, really, who did that surprise? Even when Alex played for the Mariners, he was one of the most talented players in baseball. He has this really smooth swing that’s incredible to watch. Since reaching 600, he has been slowly and steadily climbing up the leaders board.

Like I said, the Yankees are a dominant second half team. Alex is no different. If you look at his game-by-game stats as far back at 2001, you can see that he is a better hitter after the all start break. In 2010 he had eleven home runs in the first half and nineteen in the second half for instance. Not only do his home run numbers increase, his RBI’s almost double in the second half.

Alex is eighteen homers away from tying Mays on the home-run leaders board.There's no doubt in my mind that he will turn it on, get into a groove and show the world that he still has it.  True, we have written here many times that Alex is no longer that superstar we saw years ago, he's just an average player, read REFLECTING ON THE YANKEES FIRST HALF, Casey wrote: " Alex is no longer a Super hero, he’s a regular ballplayer.  If we can get 20 homers from him with a .295 AVG, that may be the best we’re going to get." Sure, it makes sense, he's alittle older and alittle slower, but it's hard NOT to have a strong second half when the rest of the team is coming alive. This will help motivate Alex and propel him to the next great milestone in his career. We're all pulling for you big guy!

--Erica Morales, BYB Writer



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