A-Rod Youngest to 300; Too Bad He Can’t Pitch

It was another milestone moment in a career likely to make his $252-million contract look like a bargain, if he hasn’t done that already.

It was a three-run homer in the fifth inning of a game otherwise dominated by the Angels, 11-5, and it enabled Texas Ranger shortstop Alex Rodriguez to become the youngest player in baseball history to hit 300 home runs.

Now in the equivalent of his ninth season at only 27, Rodriguez said he is very proud of the first third of his career and “hopefully I can continue at the same pace over the last two thirds. Hopefully this is indicative of what I can do over the next 12 or 13 years. I like to think I’m getting better with age.”

Wait a minute. Another two-thirds like the first third and Rodriguez will blow by Hank Aaron and anyone else on that ladder and hit 900 home runs, which may seem preposterous except that his three-year run of 41 or more was merely a tuneup for the last two years when he joined the Rangers and slugged 52 in 2001 and 57 in 2002, setting and then breaking his major league record for shortstops.

He is baseball’s preeminent player, as Angel Manager Mike Scioscia reiterated Wednesday, but his 300th homer, reducing an Angel lead to 5-4, was treated with such disdain that the person who retrieved the ball in the right-center-field bleachers threw it back on the field as quickly and emphatically as Rodriguez had rifled it in at the expense of Ramon Ortiz.

Clearly, the person had no use for any Texas home run or no knowledge of the historic significance given that the ball represented a significant bartering chip in the memorabilia market or with Rodriguez himself.

“We were prepared for a long negotiation,” Rodriguez said with a laugh later. “We would have started with an autographed ball but then gone to jerseys, bats and whatever it took.”

No negotiations were needed.

The ball was easily returned to Rodriguez, who would soon be involved in another milestone moment that had the Edison Field crowd of 25,821 far more excited than his 300th homer.

It happened in the seventh inning that A-Rod met K-Rod for the first time and went down swinging.

So did Hank Blalock to start that inning and so did Juan Gonzalez to finish it, the crowd on its feet in roaring delight as Francisco Rodriguez made his first appearance of the new season and rekindled October memories with a fusillade of heat on a cool afternoon.

“Electric,” A-Rod said of K-Rod’s stuff, having gone down on four pitches, the last a 96-mph fastball.

“It was the first time we’ve seen him, and maybe the next time it will be different,” A-Rod continued, “but he’s got great stuff and isn’t afraid to challenge you with it. It’s exciting in that way.”

K-Rod spun off the mound and circled it after striking out A-Rod, but the 21-year-old Angel insisted that there was nothing special about the confrontation even though David Eckstein said the atmosphere was “absolutely awesome.”

“It was a great moment for the fans and a great moment for us as well,” Eckstein said in sharp contrast to K-Rod, who seemed to say ho-hum.

After all, when you’ve faced Barry Bonds in the World Series ...

“To me, it was just another player up there,” the Angels’ Rodriguez said. “I wasn’t going to put any added pressure on myself by saying it was Alex Rodriguez or anyone else. I was just trying to challenge him and put him away.”

K-Rod wasn’t quite as dominant in the eighth inning when he yielded a home run to Rafael Palmeiro -- No. 491 as he closes in on a milestone of his own -- and a single to Todd Greene, but otherwise got three infield ground outs before Troy Percival, also in his first appearance, wrapped up this second consecutive hammering of a Texas pitching staff that appears no better than the arson squad of last year and incapable of reversing those 90 losses.

The Angels collected 27 hits and 21 runs in the final two games of a memorable opening series in which they raised the World Series flag, received their diamond and gold rings (to the salivating glee of their insurance agents) and shattered any illusion that the Rangers are anything more than a longshot in the tough and competitive American League West.

Three games into the new season, Texas Manager Buck Showalter didn’t dispute the perception that pitching is an overriding concern.

“We were concerned about it coming out of last year and we were concerned this spring,” he said. “You’re always concerned when a part of your game isn’t clicking. The only way to turn it around is to pitch better. It’s like the golfer complaining about his handicap. The only way to lower it is to play better.”

Whether the Rangers have the ability to pitch better is questionable. Showalter didn’t answer when that question was posed. Neither did A-Rod answer when asked if he feared another long season.

At 27 years and 249 days, his second homer of the opening series allowed him to surpass Jimmie Foxx, who was 27 years and 328 days, as the youngest to reach 300 and allowed him to put his back problems of late spring another day behind him, even though he said “I feel as if I’m still in mid-camp.”

Of course, he has two-thirds of his career left.

He is at 300 and definitely counting.