Did you know: A-Rod and the 3,000-hit club
Alex Rodriguez joined another exclusive club in Major League history Friday night at Yankee Stadium, becoming the 29th player to record at least 3,000 career hits.
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Rodriguez did so with a solo home run off Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander in the bottom of the first.
Here's a look at some fun facts and trivia regarding A-Rod's historic hit.
• Rodriguez is the first No. 1 overall Draft pick to join the 3,000-hit club. The first MLB Draft took place in 1965, with Rodriguez being selected first overall by the Mariners in 1993.
• A-Rod is only the third player in big league history with at least 3,000 hits and 600 home runs, joining Hank Aaron (3,771 hits; 755 homers) and Willie Mays (3,283; 660). Rodriguez has 667 career homers.
• Rodriguez joins Aaron in the even more exclusive 3,000-hit, 2,000-RBI club, and his eight career 40-homer seasons are tied with Aaron for the most by any player with 3,000 hits.
Video: DET@NYY: A-Rod discusses joining exclusive company
• Perhaps most impressive: Rodriguez is the only player in Major League history with at least 3,000 hits, 600 home runs, 2,000 RBIs and 300 steals.
• The last player to reach the 3,000-hit mark was Derek Jeter -- Rodriguez's teammate for 10 years -- back in 2011. This is the first time back-to-back entrants into the 3,000-hit club have come from the same team.
• What's more, Jeter and Rodriguez were the first and second players, respectively, to record their 3,000th hit with the Yankees.
• Rodriguez, 39, is neither the oldest nor youngest player at the time of his 3,000th hit. The oldest was the first, Cap Anson, who was 45 years old on July 18, 1897. Jeter was 37 years old when he reached the milestone, the fourth-youngest to ever do so behind Robin Yount, Aaron and Ty Cobb, who was just 34 at the time of his 3,000th hit.
• The last player to hit a homer for his 3,000th hit was Jeter. Rodriguez, Jeter and Wade Boggs are the only ones to homer for No. 3,000.
• Larry Rothschild witnessed all three. Rothschild was Boggs' manager with the Rays in 1999, and he was in the dugout serving as the Yankees' pitching coach when Jeter and Rodriguez hit their homers.
Video: A-Rod, Jeter and Boggs all hit homers for 3,000th hit
• Rodriguez joins Dave Winfield as the only players to get their 3,000th hit off a former Cy Young Award winner. Winfield reached the milestone in 1993 off Dennis Eckersley. Jeter recorded his 3,000th hit off David Price, but the former Rays hurler won the AL Cy Young Award the following year.
• Rodriguez is only the second member of the 3,000-hit club to collect at least 500 hits with three different teams, joining Hall of Famer Paul Molitor. Rodriguez racked up 966 hits with the Mariners from 1994-2000, another 569 with the Rangers from 2001-03 and has 1,465 in his 11 seasons with the Yanks through his milestone hit. As for Molitor, he exceeded that mark with the Brewers (2,281), Twins (530) and Blue Jays (508).
• Rodriguez joins Rod Carew and Yount as the only 3,000-hit players to log at least 1,000 starts at two different positions. A-Rod has 1,256 starts at shortstop and 1,181 at third base, while Carew exceeded 1,000 starts at both first base and second base and Yount did so at both shortstop and center field.
• With hit No. 3,000, A-Rod tied Roberto Clemente for 28th on the all-time hits list. Who else might he catch this season?
Rodriguez should easily bypass Al Kaline (3,007), Boggs (3,010), Anson (3,011), Rafael Palmeiro (3,020) and Lou Brock (3,023). That would put him in 23rd place. He has a shot to pass Carew (3,053), Rickey Henderson (3,055) and Craig Biggio (3,060). That would put him behind Winfield, who is 20th all-time with 3,110 hits.