500!

Yesterday was such a good day, my brother finally came home from his little journey and Alex Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th home run. Watch it:

Or read about it:

Yankees Revel in Witnessing History

Teammates get front-row seats to A-Rod’s 500th homer

By Caleb Breakey / MLB.com

NEW YORK — As Alex Rodriguez circled the bases after launching home run No. 500 on Saturday afternoon, fans in the left-field stands scrambled their way to the landing site, much like a reversed ripple effect.

The 54,056 at Yankee Stadium, the 27th sellout of the season, had their eyes fixed on the direction of that marked baseball, but back at home plate, and back at the top step of the Yankees’ dugout, was a mob of pinstriped players waiting to greet the 22nd man in Major League history to reach the 500-homer milestone.

A-Rod’s teammates not only had front-row seats to watch his feat, they’ve witnessed his magical season — in which he became the first player in baseball history to record 35 home runs, 100 runs scored and 100 RBIs for a 10th consecutive year — unfurl over the past four months.

At 32 years and eight days of age, Rodriguez, who also scored three runs and racked up three RBIs on Saturday, is the youngest player to hit 500 home runs. Jimmie Foxx held the previous mark at 32 years, 338 days. Rodriguez also became just the third player to hit his 500th home run in a Yankees uniform, joining Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle.

“It’s awesome,” Bobby Abreu said. “The guy is an outstanding player. He’s one of the best players in the game. When you see him playing, you know what he’s capable of doing. You know all his talents. He’s put it together and he can go out there and show off his talents. For me, it’s a lot of fun, especially hitting in front of him.”

Abreu, who was on first base when A-Rod smacked Kyle Davies’ first pitch over the left-field wall, said he had the perfect angle. There was no way that ball would go foul, Abreu said, and to be a part of the buzz rumbling throughout the stadium was something the Yankees right fielder will forever store in his memory bank.

“Just to be there when it happened,” Abreu said. “I got the perfect angle over there, and I saw the ball high. He hit it pretty good, and it was exciting to me.”

Hideki Matsui, who hasn’t been a stranger to accolades this year, either — collecting his 2,000th career professional hit and earning the July American League Player of the Month Award — said Rodriguez’s approach at the plate has led to the third baseman’s record-setting season.

“He just seems to be calm and relaxed,” Matsui said. “During the games, he’s very focused. It just seems like he’s more comfortable overall.

“I’m not surprised. Knowing him and knowing what kind of talent he has, he is certainly capable of doing the things that he’s doing.”

Wilson Betemit, who the Yankees acquired at Tuesday’s trade deadline, is already seeing the side benefits of playing for a juggernaut franchise.

“It was unbelievable. I got traded and got to see Alex Rodriguez hit a big home run,” Betemit said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Starting pitcher Phil Hughes, who made his first start since going down to a strained left hamstring and later a sprained left ankle earlier this season, didn’t sit quietly on the bench as the fans ushered Rodriguez around the bases with cheers. His concentration on the Royals’ batters would have to wait a few minutes because this, Hughes said, was something special.

The big right-hander wasn’t going to miss a second of it.

“That’s probably the last time I’ll ever see something like that in person, so I wanted to make sure I was out there,” he said. “It’s awesome for him. Not something you see every day.”

Source: The Official Site of The New York Yankess

Other Articles: Yanks Hammer Royals on Historic Day

Paths to the Top of the Home Run Charts

Rodriguez’s 500th Homer Proves Worth the Wait

Rodriguez Hits 500th Homer

IC/DC

 

“…it is young people who must take the lead…”

Invisible Children meets with DC, and this time DC’s really listening. I think what the Invisible Children has accomplished is just amazing. I’ve only heard about Invisible Children in February 2007 when they came to our school and talked to us about it and showed us the chilling movie. Invisible Children shows the power that the youth can have and that if you work hard for something that needs to be corrected, eventually it will come. Although they may have not completely reached their goal, they sure have done a whole lot to get the information out and they were right, once you see the Invisible Children movie/documentary there’s no way that you can turn your back and try to shrug it off. The only disappointment that I have is the fact that my school didn’t really do that much to help, but the Invisible Children did their job of getting the information across, it’s not their fault that there are people that refuse to listen. From their World Tours to their bracelet campaign-which I think is a pretty cool idea and when I saw the DVD that it came with it I never take that bracelet off. The bracelet actually helps me with my Deen for it reminds me to be thankful everyday for every single thing that I have that the displaced children in Northern Uganda do not have- which is basically EVERYTHING. It reminds me to be thankful for the things that I never really thought to say thank you for but hamdulillah the bracelet has caused awareness about the displaced ones in Northern Uganda and helped me get in touch with myself and my Deen as well.

But I think their movement that has had the greatest impact and amazes me the most is Displace Me, where so many people here in the United States leave their homes and hope to make a statement that will help the displaced people of Northern Uganda. This year on August 28th, 2007: “Over 68,000 people displaced themselves in 15 cities across the U.S. to demand peace in Northern Uganda and a plan to bring the people home.” The 15 cities that this took place in were: Denver, Austin, Kansas City, New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco, Nashville, Chicago, Washington DC, Phoenix, Orlando, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Seattle.

I get e-mails from Invisible Children informing me about the latest news and when I logged onto my Gmail account this morning I was quite pleased with the update that I got, here’s the video that I received and I thought it was inspirational and every now and then we all could use some inspiration and hope in this dark and troubled world:

For more information click here.

 

“Every war has an end.”