Nine homers in 13 games now for A-Rod. Just remarkable. And you know who has to be cheering on A-Rod more than even Yankees fans? Bud Selig.
Imagine if this baseball summer features not only Barry Bonds' passing of Hank Aaron for the all-time home run record, but A-Rod's pursuit of Bonds' single-season mark (73 in 2001). A-Rod may not be very popular in the Bronx, but the commissioner's office loves him. There's not a shred of evidence that A-Rod's home run totals are tainted. And A-Rod won't snarl at the fans and media.
Of course, we're a long way away from that happening. At the same time, we're not talking about some one-hit wonder putting together the month of a lifetime. No one would dispute that A-Rod has the skills and work ethic to make a run at Bonds. Can he handle the pressure? We'd have to see.
But in the eyes of baseball's CEO, anything that took away from Bonds' historic moment _ well, almost anything _ would be a delightful distraction.