Barry's Nod to A-Rod's No. 600

Most baseball fans without a New York state of mind could care less that Alex Rodriguez finally hit his 600th home run. In an article entitled "600 Reasons Not to Care", the Christian Science Monitor summed it up saying, "Has news of a ballplayer passing a major career milestone ever seemed more hollow?"

But the guy who has the most to lose here does seem to care. Though Barry Bonds is now only 163 home runs ahead of Rodriguez on baseball's all-time home run list, he still reached out graciously when A-Rod hit No. 600.

"Congratulations Alex on hitting your 600th home run today, welcome to the club," Bonds said on his official web site.

"The club" consists of those players who have hit 600 homers -- Bonds, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey, Jr., Sammy Sosa, and now Rodriguez.

"Stay healthy and focused, you only have 163 to go," Bonds also said. "I'll be watching and rooting for you along the way. Good Luck."

Bonds' fans have to be pleased that Barry took the high road.

And Bonds' detractors are wondering what he's up to here.

It could be to deflect bad publicity from his recent donations to a journalistic organization while standing trial.

Or it could be a maneuver with one eye on a comeback.

Everybody knows Bonds still thinks he can play. Rodriguez plays for the Yankees. The Yankees are known to occasionally buy veteran players for championship runs.

Bonds could be trying to cozy up to A-Rod in hopes they'd be teammates. Then would Barry have the added advantage of putting himself a few more home runs ahead of Rodriguez. 

Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who would have absolutely no problem accepting donations from Barry Bonds while Bonds is standing trial.

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