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Trevor Cahill has become the ace of the Oakland A’s staff. Brett Anderson had the role at the beginning of the year, but because of injuries, Anderson has conceded the role. 

Today, Cahill improved his record to 12-4 today, his ERA is now at 2.56, WHIP .98, and has struck out 76 while walking 41. At 22 years of age, Cahill has blossomed. 

When the season started, it didn’t look like Cahill was going to have a shot in the rotation. He started the year off rough against Toronto, but has been tremendous since. So much so Cahill is about to tie Nolan Ryan for most starts going five plus innings with giving up six or less hits. 

Ryan did it 20 consecutive starts and Cahill, after today, is at 19. 

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While most of the media attention is going towards Ubaldo Jimenez’s quest for 25 wins and Josh Johnson’s goal of a sub-2 ERA, everyone is overlooking the historic year Cliff Lee is having.

Lee’s season is easy to overlook, especially in the “Year of the Pitcher.” The lefty only has 10 wins, which is well behind the league leaders.

Lee didn’t start his 2010 campaign ideally, as he started the year on the 15-day DL due to an abdominal strain. His time with the Mariners was limited and on July 9 the Texas Rangers traded for the ace.

He has a rock solid 2.44 ERA, but that number isn’t as eye popping as Josh Johnson’s 1.96 nor Adam Wainwright’s 2.07.

Lee’s 126 strikeouts is impressive considering he missed a month, but he is barely in the top 10 in the AL.

So, what makes Cliff Lee’s season so special?

To start things off, the former Cy Young winner has pitched seven complete games. In addition, he has two games where he has pitched nine innings, but due to lack of run support, the games ended in extras. In his 19 starts, Lee has pitched 155 innings. If you do the math, that is more than eight innings per start.

Let’s put that stat in perspective. CC Sabathia, who has a reputation of being a workhorse, averages 6.2 innings per start. Let that sink in for a while. The Rangers bullpen basically gets every 5th day off. In my opinion the workload that Lee is enduring this year deserves not only Cy Young consideration, but also MVP consideration.

Lee is also leading the majors in WHIP, with a microscopic .916. If he keeps up his historic pace, his WHIP would be ranked 9th all time for a lefty in a single season. Four of the marks ahead of him happened before 1915.

Now, here is a mind blowing number.

Lee’s walks per nine innings is a microscopic .5. Yes, you read that right, .5. Now, I’m not a math major, but that means he gives up a walk every 18 innings. His .5 walks per nine innings is the second lowest since 1880! Ironically, the only other play to beat him over that span is Carlos Silva, who in 2004 walked .4 batters per nine innings. He currently ranks first all time among lefties in that category.

As you can see, Lee has had historic control over the strike zone this season. He has also been striking out batters at a respectable rate of 6.9 per nine innings. So, where does his strikeouts per walk rank him in the history books?

Well, let’s just say his strikeouts per walk ratio is as impressive as Barry Bonds’s 73 home run season (minus the performance enhancers).

Lee strikes out fourteen batters per walk. Let’s put that stat in perspective. The record in a single season is 11. Only two other pitchers have had their ratio in the double digits. So, not only will Lee set the record, he would demolish it.

While there is still plenty of baseball left to be played, Lee is on pace to have one of the best seasons by a left-handed pitcher in baseball history. A couple of bad outings can easily destroy his quest for history, but let’s just keep in perspective what Cliff Lee is doing this season. 

This article also appears on:

 http://www.sportshaze.com/why-cliff-lee-not-ubaldo-jimenez-or-josh-johnston-is-having-a-season-to-remember/

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As Alex Rodriguez rounded the bases for the 600th time in the major leagues, he joined Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds as the only players to reach that plateau. 

At the age of 35, media members quickly touted A-Rod for being the youngest player in history to break 600.  Most people began to speculate when, not if, he will break Barry Bonds’ record of 762 round trippers.

However, the numbers tell a slightly different story.  At age 35, A-Rod has connected on 600 home runs in 8,691 career ABs, or one home run every 14.48 trips to the plate. 

Over the last three years, his numbers have dipped to one home run every 16.35 at bats.  This season, A-Rod’s numbers have plunged even further, to one home run every 22.76 plate appearances.  If A-Rod continues at the 22.76 at bats per home run clip, he won’t be approaching Barry Bonds’ home run record until after he turns 41.

While it’s not likely he will continue hitting one home run every 23 ABs, it is safe to assume that his career rate of 1/14.48 was inflated by his alleged systematic use of HGH, steroids, and other performance enhancers during his peak years.  Let’s examine how the other members of the 600 club, not linked to the use of performance enhancing drugs, fared after they turned 35.  

Babe Ruth finished his 22-year career with 714 home runs, including 198 after the age of 35 (28 percent of total HRs).  He averaged one home run every 11.76 plate appearances for his career, falling slightly to 12.14 after his 35th birthday. 

Willie Mays slugged 660 HRs during his career, 163 of which came after he turned 35 (25 percent of total HRs).  He hit one home run every 16.48 ABs during his 22-year career, dipping sharply to 21.66 after 35.  

Hank Aaron sent 755 baseballs out of the ballpark during his 23-year career, including 245 after his 35th (32 percent of total HRs).  Aaron averaged one home run every 16.37 ABs for his career,  remarkably rising to 14.18 after he turned 35. 

Ken Griffey Jr. touched them all 630 times during his 21-year career, 147 of which came after his 35th birthday (23 percent of total HRs).  Griffey averaged one home run every 15.55 ABs for his career, sliding to 19.80 after his 35th.  

It is by no means a certainty that A-Rod will eclipse Barry Bonds’ mark of 762.  A-Rod’s numbers have sharply dipped this season and nobody knows why.  Is it because of the lack of performance enhancers, 35 years of age starting to set in, or perhaps just a down year?

Regardless of the reasons, if he continues to homer once every 23 plate appearances, he could very easily fall short of Bonds’ record. 

Until then, we will just watch and wait.

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Back in December, the Phillies traded for Roy Halladay and promptly signed him to a three year, $60 million dollar contract. They were willing to make the commitment to the 32-year-old ace because of his track record as a dominant pitcher who takes pride in spending as much time on the mound as some of the greats from an earlier era.

The first eight months of Halladay’s tenure with the Phillies have only confirmed his reputation as an old-school workhorse.

In 23 starts this year, Halladay has thrown a major league leading 178 innings (that’s an average of 7.2 innings per start). As already highlighted, this is not unusual for the Phillies ace. He led the majors in innings pitched in 2009, was second in 2008, and third in 2007.

It’s where he could be headed by season’s end that is a bit frightening.

With 54 games remaining, Roy should take the mound 11 more times before the end of the regular season. Based on his average innings pitched, this could add 85 more innings to his season total. That would bring his total innings pitched for the regular season to 263 (very likely the highest total in majors yet again).

How would that compare to the highest season totals of his career?

It would be the second highest number of innings he has pitched in his 12 years as a professional. In 2003, Roy tossed a whopping 266 innings on his way to a 22-win season and the Cy Young Award.

What followed that glorious season is what may hold the most relevance for his current team. The 2004 season saw Halladay experience physical breakdowns. He only managed 133 innings while encountering two stints on the disabled list with shoulder problems.

Back in the present day, the Phillies are starting to look like a team capable of making another deep playoff run. When they finally overcome the rash of injuries that have plagued them this summer, it would be hard to envision them not reaching the World Series in a league whose biggest threats are the Braves, Giants, and Reds.

For Roy Halladay, a World Series trip could mean an extra five to seven starts (one or two in a division series, two in the NLCS, two to three in the World Series). If we use a conservative estimate of seven innings per start, this would result in an extra 35-49 innings that were never a factor for Halladay as his former Blue Jay teams began their offseasons well before October each year.

If you’ve been working ahead, these added postseason innings would leave the big fella with a total of somewhere between 298 and 312 innings for the 2010 season.

To put these numbers into perspective, it has been 30 years since a major league pitcher registered 300 innings (Here’s a hint: he also wore Phillies pinstripes, but was a Cy-Young winning leftie for the 1980 World Series champs).

Clearly, we are witnessing a season that would be extraordinary for a pitcher working in the era of conservative workloads for starters. However, one needs to look no further than the Phillies current third starter for a cautionary tale.

In 2008, Cole Hamels befuddled opposing hitters on his way to a World Series MVP, and a career-high 262.1 innings. This total was 79 innings more than he had ever thrown in a season, and the resulting hangover from this overtime schedule led to a very disappointing encore performance. In 2009, Hamels posted the worst record (10-11) and ERA (4.32) of his five-year Major League career. Moreover, his 7.58 playoff ERA could be viewed as one of the main reasons the Phillies did not repeat as World Champs.

So, while the Phillies acquired Roy Halladay for his dependability, they also chose him over Cliff Lee because they knew he would be topping their rotation for at least another three years.

The Phillies long-term commitment to Halladay necessitates that they do not treat him like a three-month rental of the CC Sabathia variety. If you remember, the Milwaukee Brewers called on Sabathia for long innings and short rest throughout the stretch run of the 2008 season because they knew he was a summer rental whose arm would soon be the property of someone else (as long as it was still attached to his body).

Although Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee are surely not looking for advice in the handling of their pitching staff, I will provide it anyway.

When it comes to Roy Halladay, respect him as an ace and as one of the best in the business, but don’t be so quick defer to his desire to close out games. The perfect example of this tendency was last week’s start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies held a 7-0 lead going into the ninth, and Halladay’s pitch count was already in the triple digits. While another complete game and shutout would have been great for Halladay‘s resume, the win was no longer in doubt and there was an opportunity to save his arm from throwing another inning (and the 10 extra pitches that brought his total for the night to 114).

The Phillies bullpen can be a scary proposition sometimes, but this was a lead that even Danys Baez or David Herndon couldn’t give away.

The 2010 Phillies are clearly built to win now, and that is exactly what Phillies fans want. Fans can also be excited about having Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels for at least another year. The health and effectiveness of this trio could hinge on whether or not they are handled intelligently.

To some extent, the current season’s hay is in the barn when it comes to taking care of Halladay’s golden right arm, but Phillies fans can still hope that Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee find ways to ease the workload of the big guy when the opportunities arise during the season‘s final three months. Their 2011 and 2012 plans could very much depend on it.

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With the news that Kevin Youkilis is out for the season for the Boston Red Sox, baseball pundits have deemed this series a do or die series for the Sox against the rival New York Yankees this weekend.

As the four game series at Yankee Stadium commences, Boston is six games back of the first place Yankees, 5.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the Wild Card, and in the midst of a lethal stretch where they play 17 games in a row, including their next 10 on the road. Yet, many wonder if the Sox can bounce from losing Youk and make up pivotal ground in the AL East.

Although it is only August, this series at Yankee Stadium should have a playoff-like atmosphere, as a series win by the Yankees could effectively end the Red Sox season, while wins by the Sox could make it an even tighter three-team division race.

Given the magnitude of this series, Here at SeatGeek we wanted to see how high ticket prices were transacting on the secondary market for each game.

Generally, Yankees vs. Red Sox tickets are going to go for more than any other ticket, as demand is very high for this historic rivalry. Yet, it seems as if the importance of this series is driving the ticket prices up even more than usual.

For this four game series, the average transaction price is $132. Each game is transacting well above $100, with the highest priced game being Saturday, August 7. The average transaction price for that game is $162—the most expensive game at Yankee Stadium this season thus far.

*READ MORE*

This article is also featured on the SeatGeek Blog

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Carlos Gonzalez is making Rockies’ fans forget all about Matt Holliday.

Ever since breaking out in last year’s playoffs, Gonzalez has been on an absolute tear.

The young outfielder is in the top ten in all National League offensive categories, and is second in Power-Speed, a statistic invented by Bill James that measures the harmonic mean between a player’s home runs and stolen bases.

And at the ripe age of 24, he’s one of baseball’s budding young stars.

But forgive me if I’m skeptical of his amazing stats.

After all, in his 85 games with Oakland, he hit just .242/.273/.361, and the Athletics saw fit to trade him in a package for Rockies star left fielder Matt Holliday.

Now, in baseball’s famous hitters’ haven of Coors Field, he’s putting up MVP-type numbers at an incredibly young age.

So I decided to take a further look at CarGo’s numbers. I hoped to prove myself wrong.

But sometimes, you don’t get what you hope.

As of Wednesday, August 4, Gonzalez has played one more home game than road. A basic look at his splits cast his whole season into doubt.

First, the home runs.

Coors Field has always been notorious for producing the long ball. So much so, that recently they began a practice of humidifying baseballs to take the sting out of the thin mountain air.

As for Gonzalez, the Rockies star hit his 22nd and 23rd home runs of the season on Wednesday. That gives him 19 at Coors Field, and just four on the road.

Put it this way.

If Gonzalez played an entire 162 game season at Coors Field, he’d hit a superhuman 64 home runs.

If he played all of his games on the road, he’d hit just 13 homers. Yikes.

He also slugs .700+ at home, but just .385 on the road.

Obviously, his power numbers are influenced by the Rocky Mountain air.

And home runs and slugging percentage aren’t the only mirages in CarGo’s stat line.

He bats more than .100 higher at home than on the road. That’s shocking for a player who is second in the National League in average.

He even strikes out twice as often on the road.

So it’s obvious that most of his numbers are a product of Coors Field.

And I thought that would be the end of my investigation. I was wrong. Dead wrong.

It turns out, the Denver air isn’t the only thing fueling Gonzalez’s super human statistics.

He’s also had a fair bit of luck to his credit. On the season, he has a BAbip of .369, almost .3 above his career average.

Even more shocking, his BAbip during the month of July is .441, a number that I had a hard time finding, as it was so high in the stratosphere. His HR/FB rates are also above his career average.

Can CarGo keep up his miracle season?

For now, the only number we can assume is real is his .995 fielding percentage.

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Coming into a MLB game in the ninth inning, listening to your favorite rock or rap song surely will get you a bit nervous/pumped up/downright scared.

In my case, that song happens to be “Wonderwall” by Oasis. Yes, it may seem like a sissy song to walk out to, but read the lyrics , especially the refrain, and you will understand.

For MLB closers like Heath Bell, the nervousness/adrenaline/fear are what he thrives on. The pressure is what makes him good. At 6’3″ and a husky 250 pounds, Bell looks like the butcher at your local deli who didn’t give enough meat to his dog. He is a fun guy, and regularly uses his Wii Fit board to stay in shape. Off a baseball field, Bell doesn’t seem like an imposing man.

But once he steps onto the mound at Petco Park in the ninth inning to the tune of “Blow Me Away” by Breaking Benjamin, he is quite imposing.

Bell’s high-90s fastball sure helps.

Heat is a common denominator with closers. All closers throw upwards of 90 mph, and most throw over 95. But the gift all closers have is pure stuff.

Mariano Rivera might not throw 95 mph anymore, but his cutter is downright filthy, and even though he throws it nearly every pitch, it still is nasty enough to break hitters’ bats and paint corners.

Chad Qualls, the former closer for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and now a late-inning relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, throws a heavy sinker at 92 mph. The vertical break on his sinker is nasty, and not many sinkerballers can throw that hard. His slider is also hard, coming in at 86 mph and breaking heavily away from right-handed hitters.

But this year, Qualls hasn’t kept the ball down, leading to his sinkers sinking to mid-thigh height and becoming easily hittable, hence Qualls’s 8.01 ERA this season.

Jonathan Broxton, the closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is a freak. With an intimidating frame of 6’4″ and 295 pounds, Broxton brings it into triple digits regularly. His sinker is like Qualls’s, only Broxton’s is around five mph faster. He isn’t afraid of any hitter, and that may be his greatest asset.

Well, I wouldn’t be afraid of anybody if I was 6’4″, 295, would you?

Francisco Rodriguez, “K-Rod,” the closer for the New York Mets, is another in the long list of closers who have dominating stuff. K-Rod regularly cranks his fastball into the upper 90s, with corner-to-corner tailing movement on his heater. His curveball nearly hits 80 mph and is a devastating strikeout pitch. His emotions sometimes get the best of him, but K-Rod is fun to watch.

Ah, my favorite closer, Brian Wilson. Wilson, even though he isn’t as physically imposing as Broxton or Bell, is one of the best in the business. Wilson throws 99 mph regularly, and the scary part is that he paints corners with his heater. His cutter hovers around 90 mph, which makes my Pirates look that much worse, because almost all of their starting rotation’s fastballs are slower than Wilson’s cutter.

So closers all pretty much have one thing in common: A special gift. That gift may be great velocity, great movement, great control, or great craftiness, but all closers have a special gift.

(They all pretty much have a good fist pump too!)

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What’s that saying? “What’s one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure?” However it goes, that saying doesn’t hold more true than with the case of Pat Burrell.

Burrell was complete garbage in Tampa. He signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the Rays in the winter of 2009 and he couldn’t have been more of a bust.

In a season and a third in a Rays uniform, Burrell hit just .218 with 16 home runs and a .672 OPS. He was supposed to be the Rays’ big right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup and it just never worked.

Burrell looked old and worn out. It seemed like he never adjusted to be a full-time DH and it looked like his career was over.

Burrell was released by the Rays in May and the San Francisco Giants took a flier on him. Now it looks like one of the best low-risk, high-reward fliers of the season.

No longer a DH and playing the outfield, Burrell has been rejuvenated in San Francisco. Burrell hit his seventh home run last night in the Giants’ 10-0 win over the Colorado Rockies and the former Miami Hurricane is now hitting .282 with a .372 OBP and a .500 slugging in 145 at-bats.

He is right now for the Giants what he was supposed to be in Tampa. It’s amazing what a change of scenery can do for a guy.

So what is the reason for Burrell’s resurgence in San Francisco? I think it’s the simple answer of Burrell’s playing the field again. And I don’t mean picking up chicks in Miami.

Look at Burrell’s splits as a DH and a left fielder. It’s amazing.

DH: .209/.305/.365 with three home runs in 91 at-bats.

LF: .297/.388/.514 with six home runs in 111 at-bats.

I always thought it was hogwash when an announcer or team official would show concern over a player adjusting to the DH position. I always wondered what the big deal was? But apparently it is.

If you watch Burrell play now in San Francisco, he looks fresher and quicker at the plate and the stats match up with the eye test. He is making more contact in the strike zone (Z-Contact Percentage has improved from 79 percent to 87 percent) and he has improved drastically fastballs (wFB has improved from -4.7 to 2.3).

The Giants are leading the NL Wild Card race and Burrell’s resurgence is a big reason why.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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Alex Rodriguez has had a down year for himself this season, but his numbers during his most recent slump, since he’s hit home run No. 599, have been dragged down even further.

Here’s how A-Rod has done since hitting homer no. 599:

12 G, 45 AB, 2 R, 8 H, 2 2B, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 10 SO, .178 BA, .240 OBP, .222 SLG, .462 OPS.

This most recent slump has dragged his overall numbers into an ugly territory. Checkout these season numbers:

100 G, .264 BA, .335 OBP, .467 SLG, .802 OPS.

A-Rod made the All-Star team this year, but if the team was selected now ,there would be no way he would even come close. His only decent stat, RBI’s, which he has 85 in 100 games, reflects more on the team than himself personally. Everything else is way down this year.

His batting average is at least 20 points lower than it’s even been since he became a full-time player, his OBP is in the same territory, and his slugging is a full 45 points lower than in any year since 1995.

There are other contributing factors, including a hip problem which wasn’t nearly as big a problem a year ago, PED questions, which were still there a year ago when he wasn’t this bad, but the biggest overall contributing factor is his age. It’s the only variable that hasn’t been consistent since 2009, a year when he carried the Yankees on his back all the way to the World Series.

So what does the future have in store for A-Rod? 763 isn’t nearly the lock we once thought it to be.

Related Stories

August 4, 2010: Could Brandon Laird be Bronx Bound? (0)

August 1, 2010: Yankees Notes: Cano, A-Rod, Pettitte, The Boss (0)

August 1, 2010: Yankees and Rangers Position Themselves For Playoffs, Possible ALCS Matchup? (1)

July 29, 2010: A-Rod Is Pressing for 600 (15)

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The New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez wrapped up their road trip Sunday with a disappointing loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Equally as disappointing (especially for Rays fans looking to cash in on catching A-Rod’s 600th home run ball) was that A-Rod was not in the starting lineup and struck out in his only at-bat.

He’s still stuck at 599 career home runs, yet he heads back to Yankee Stadium hoping to hit the milestone home run in front of the home crowd.

For SeatGeek and Hit Tracker, we’re back to square one. Our original prediction for where A-Rod may hit his 600th home run was for Yankee Stadium. “The Money Seat” is Section 135, Row 18, Seat 6, and the most likely section in which A-Rod may hit the ball is Section 136. Click here to see the full report!

For everyone that only took a guess at Yankee Stadium, you have lucked out now that you have a second chance. To everyone else, you should take a guess at the section the ball will land for a shot at free stuff.

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Meanwhile, baseball fans nationwide are wondering the same thing we are: When is A-Rod actually going to hit 600? According to the chart below, there is a 22 percent chance it occurs during tonight’s game and an 86 percent chance it occurs during this home stand, which consists of three games against the Toronto Blue Jays and four versus the Boston Red Sox.

It’s been 43 plate appearances (38 official at-bats) and seven games since A-Rod hit 599 on July 22 versus the Kansas City Royals. So, 600 has to come soon, right?

For many, A-Rod’s coverage of 600 has been frustrating, since 600 is really only a milestone since it’s a round number. People have been asking what makes 600 different than 601, or 650, or any of the other home runs A-Rod hits in the future.

We spoke with our friend Ross over at NYY Stadium Insider, a Yankees fan advocacy blog, to get his thoughts on this whole situation. Ross, who is a Yankees season ticket holder and diehard fan, thinks that the allure of the situation is due in large part to the money involved with A-Rod’s 600th home run. Rodriguez’s 500th HR ball sold for $103,000, and it is reasonable to expect a similar resale price for 600.

For fans like Ross, whose seats are in the upper deck, the story is fun to follow, but he doesn’t care too much about 600 itself, since he has no chance of catching the ball in his seats. He knows that A-Rod has better milestones to look forward to, such as hitting career home run 757 and breaking Barry Bonds’ home run record, so the most special thing about this home run is its value.

Unfortunately, Yankee Stadium isn’t quite as fan-friendly of a stadium for catching 600 as other stadiums, especially when compared to Progressive Field, where the Yankees recently played. The problem with Yankee Stadium is that there are no standing room only areas to hang out and watch the game, unlike the Home Run Porch at Progressive (in our interview with ball snagging expert Zack Hample, we discussed this in more detail).

Also, strict security rules prevent fans from walking around the stadium and from catching a glimpse of the game from either Section 135 or 136 (where tickets are $90 face value), which are the top two most likely sections for A-Rod’s 600th HR ball to land.

For fans, if you want to have the best chance at catching A-Rod’s 600th and cashing in, you’ll have to make sure you get a seat in one of the most likely sections, as Ross explains in one of his blog posts. “There is no freeloading at Yankee Stadium,” he says.

Fortunately, tickets for the Yankees’ upcoming series versus the Blue Jays are actually transacting for a higher price than the tickets are listing for!

The average transaction price for this series is $63, which means fans are willing to pay around $63 for tickets to see the Yanks play. Yet average listing price for the three-game series is only $49, including two tickets in Section 136 for $77 each (81 percent of face value)! Click on a game below to see SeatGeek’s ticket deals:

• Monday, Aug. 2: Yankees vs. Blue Jays
• Tuesday, Aug. 3: Yankees vs. Blue Jays
• Wednesday, Aug. 4: Yankees vs. Blue Jays

When comparing this series’ transaction ticket prices to that of the other two series in which the Blue Jays played at Yankee Stadium, this series’ prices are less than the other series and much less than the Yankees’ series average. As previously mentioned, this series’ average transaction price is $63, which is the same price as tickets for the series in September and less than the first time the Blue Jays came to town in July.

Presumably, few expected A-Rod’s home run chase to last this long. As a result, the price of tickets for the Blue Jays games have not spiked, and fans can still get reasonably priced tickets to witness the milestone and maybe even catch the ball—if he ever hits it!

When A-Rod actually hits his 600th career home run, best of luck catching the ball. Be sure to email justin[at]seatgeek.com with any inquiries, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @SeatGeek.

Special thanks to Ross from NYY Stadium Insider for his thoughts on A-Rod’s 600th home run. Ross can be found on Twitter @StadiumInsider.

This article is also featured on the SeatGeek Blog.

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