In last night’s 15-3 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles, Alex Rodriguez tied Lou Gehrig for one record and moved to within a nose of the Iron Horse for another.
During the Yankees seven run outburst in the eighth inning, Alex Rodriguez capped off the scoring with a grand slam. The bases loaded clout was the 22nd of Arod’s career, bringing him within one of the record held by Gehrig.
Grandslam Leader Board
| Grand Slams | |
| Lou Gehrig | 23 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 22 |
| Manny Ramirez | 21 |
| Eddie Murray | 19 |
| Willie McCovey | 18 |
| Robin Ventura | 18 |
| Jimmie Foxx | 17 |
| Ted Williams | 17 |
| Hank Aaron | 16 |
| Dave Kingman | 16 |
Source: Baseball-almanac.com
In the inning, which represented the first time the Yankees had scored more than three runs in a single frame (the last team in baseball to accomplish the feat), Rodriguez also increased his RBI total in the game to six. It was the 14th game in which Arod knocked in at least six runs, tying Gehrig for the most ever.
Most Games with 6 or More RBIs
| G | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
| Lou Gehrig | 14 | 26 | 96 | 0.694 | 0.732 | 2.129 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 14 | 24 | 92 | 0.662 | 0.667 | 1.789 |
| Babe Ruth | 12 | 25 | 76 | 0.691 | 0.712 | 2.218 |
| Joe DiMaggio | 12 | 20 | 79 | 0.712 | 0.742 | 1.966 |
| Dave Kingman | 11 | 25 | 73 | 0.561 | 0.583 | 1.947 |
| Ted Williams | 10 | 17 | 67 | 0.638 | 0.702 | 1.830 |
| Al Simmons | 10 | 15 | 61 | 0.632 | 0.644 | 1.596 |
| Jimmie Foxx | 9 | 17 | 63 | 0.689 | 0.725 | 2.044 |
| Mel Ott | 8 | 16 | 50 | 0.658 | 0.690 | 2.053 |
| Jack Clark | 8 | 14 | 50 | 0.600 | 0.619 | 1.829 |
Source: Baseball-reference.com
With several more productive seasons left in his career, Alex Rodriguez will have the chance to rewrite a good portion of the record book. For obvious reasons, some people might bristle at that possibility. Others might simply lament the slow eradication of names like Gehrig from atop many all-time lists. However, that last concern really isn’t warranted. The great chain of baseball history links together the game’s best players; it doesn’t break them apart.
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