Alex Rodriguez surpassed Willie Mays last night by batting career home run 661. Not all of them came out of a bottle or from stiletto hypodermic needle.

When the New York Yankees signed A-Rod, when the late George Steinbrenner their legendary principal owner signed A-Rod, the expectation was “first American to bat 800 home runs in a career.” First Hispanic-American at that.

Maybe even the all-time record of 868 dingers from Sadaharu Oh would fall, re-projecting this preeminent sports record of power to the U.S…where the game as we know it was invented and where many believe it is best played. More importantly in the American-baseball psyche, this record would always be a projection of Yankees power. It will not happen, and the story why is well known.

As W. H. Auden puts it, for the time being (below) hear the nonetheless-historic call by announcer John Sterling.