Birthday Blaster

Give credit where credit is due: Alex Rodriguez (seen here July 3rd, at home against the Rays) set a record Monday. On his 40th birthday, the Yankees DH became the first ballplayer ever to homer on six of his birthdays. This is a bit of a fluke, as many of the game's greats -- such as Hank Aaron (born on February 5th) Babe Ruth (February 6th) and Ken Griffey Junior (November 21st) -- never had the chance to play on their birthdays, simply because their birthdays fell in the off season.
Still, it's a fascinating achievement -- especially when you can also now add Alex to the elite circle of Rusty Staub, Ty Cobb and Gary Sheffield as the only players to hit home runs before their 20th birthday, and after they turned 40.

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