5 Adjectives to Describe Our Joy at A-Rod’s 600th

Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th career home run this week. With the Yankee star’s winning personality and spotless personal history – there has rarely been a sports moment that’s provided more warm hearts than this long ball. It’s hard to really describe how beautiful this achievement is, but a person has to try. So here’s five adjectives that I think really encapsulate the grandeur of Rodriguez joining this formerly exclusive club.

#1 – Gleeful

“Elated: full of high-spirited delight; “a joyful heart”

It’s just ‘a great day for America everybody’ (in the words of comedian Craig Ferguson)! There are few people it’s easier to be happier for than A-Rod. This man has shown us all that with hard work, a quarter-billion dollar contract with baseball’s richest franchise, and a bit of artificial performance enhancement, there’s no end to what you can accomplish. And that’s a fairy tale come true that puts a smile on the face.

#2 – Historic

“Belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past; “historic victories”; “historical (or historic) times”; “a historical character”

Baseball is a game intertwined more closely with its past than any other. As the great quote uttered by James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams puts it:

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.”

There’s nothing quite like seeing a gentleman of Rodriguez’s character and natural, unaided skill join a club populated by the most hallowed figures in baseball lore – Ruth, Aaron & Mays (Barry & Sammy Sosa are there too).

#3 – Ecstatic

“Feeling great rapture or delight”

There are some people you just pull for, you know. When you  see somebody go about their business with just a lot of class, it’s difficult not to really just have your whole heart involved when celebrating their accomplishments…

A-Rod’s blast ranks right up there with the day the Soviet’s launched Sputnik and those winter mornings on the prairie before school when I was sitting in my frigid car before the heater started working.

#4 – Exemplary

“worthy of imitation; “exemplary behavior”; “model citizens”

You know, as in – setting a great example for the young ones. What better image can there be to pass on to our kiddos than a man who has clearly never done illegal drugs to achieve success being celebrated so wholeheartedly? It’s really a great message to pass along.

#5 – Relevant

“having a bearing on or connection with the subject at issue; “the scientist corresponds with colleagues in order to learn about matters relevant…”

It’s definitely relevant that Alex Rodriguez did this. There is clearly no hit administered to the importance and gravitas of the 600 home run marker by his admitted drug use, the drug use of countless numbers of his peers (including that teddy bear, Barry Bonds) and the general similarity of his deportment to that of a 12 year old girl.