A-Rod & 3,000 hits … do collectors care?

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Arod2015

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

Alex Rodriguez is knocking on the door of the 3,000-hit club, a group that only 29 players in MLB history have joined.

Even fewer in history have 3,000 hits and also smacked 600 or more home runs — just Hank Aaron and Willie Mays — and at some point he might join Aaron as the only 3,000-700 players. However, we all know why Rodriguez’s statistics and his cards just don’t have the kind of image that they used to.

So with history nearly in hand — and plenty of history in just the last year or so, too — we ask a few questions about A-Rod (checklist/OPG here) and what you, the collectors, think …

Do Alex Rodriguez's on-field accomplishments make you want his cards?

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Do Alex Rodriguez's off-the-field issues make you want his cards less?

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Are you an A-Rod collector?

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Would you want A-Rod's autograph?

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A-Rod: Buy, sell or hold?

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Do you think A-Rod will break Barry Bonds' home run record?

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Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

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17 comments

  1. Danielle 18 June, 2015 at 20:41

    My A-Rod collection slowed when he left Seattle for Texas and stalled when he joined Yankees. I have not picked up another single one of his cards after his initial steroids nonsense. Still have those cards from times earlier but almost wish he would just go away. But happy for him that he worked hard to get back to baseball after year off and has been racking up accomplishments, however tainted.

  2. Ron 19 June, 2015 at 08:27

    I kept the A-Roid cards that I had in my collection as I had pulled autos of him as a Mariner, a Ranger and then a Tribute auto as a Yankee. I have kept them but would not spend a dime on buying any of his cards. Matter of fact, just pulled an extra 2015 Topps base card of him from series two and put the card in my commons pile of extras.

  3. Robert Braxton 19 June, 2015 at 08:52

    I agree with Joe. Not only will he not get near Barry’s HR (tainted) record, but he won’t get near Hank’s (legit) record. I’m not even sure he’ll pass the Babe.

  4. Craig Matsumora 19 June, 2015 at 10:27

    Man I used to love him when he was in Seattle. I was a huge fan until he got caught with cheating and lying. I never thought it would come to this. I was an A-Rod collector but not anymore. I got rid of everything I could and the rest is tucked in binders… and thinking about trashing them because they are worthless commons.. I do still kind of want his 1994 SP Rc still because of the nostalgia it invokes but its hard to overcome the negative feelings his name conjures up now.

  5. phillies_joe 19 June, 2015 at 11:37

    As a collector, I do care! I care that his cards will still be being produced and hope that one of my “hits” aren’t of him (I’m a pack-opening-aholic). Never really a collecting fan of his as I always felt he played in weak divisions prior to joining the Yankees, but am glad to see that he is doing fairly well in his “comeback”. Like my post, he is irrelevent.

  6. Paul K 19 June, 2015 at 13:10

    I was an A-Rod collector until he went to the Yankees. After all the steroids stuff, I began trading his collectibles off to those that still value his stuff. I will keep key cards, but everything else is up for trade and has been for some time.

  7. Mike 19 June, 2015 at 15:36

    The guy shouldn’t even be allowed to play,but MLB and the Yankees are making money off of him so let’s keep him around.There’s so many good solid players that have been overshadowed by A-Rod and all the other cheaters. Clean hard working players making peanuts compared to the cheaters.What does that tell the younger players? My response to A-Rod getting to 3,000 hit and all the other number milestones? Who cares.Why should anyone celebrate a milestone that he only reached by cheating? He doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Ruth,Aaron,and Mays.What a joke.

  8. George Loyola 19 June, 2015 at 17:28

    There are an immense amount of players who used illegal substances to gain an advantage not only in baseball & in other competitive professional sports…..what makes A-Rod any different from other players who cheated only once or several times in their career that got caught. I strongly believe that there are many athletes that have cheated in the past or are currently cheating but have never got caught….Why are collectors, critics, sports writers & the media are giving A-Rod a hard time? Why? Is it because A-Rod is a minority, lied to the public & sports fans, or cheated during the competition…..you’ll be surprise if we ever find out how many athletes across the world have been unfaithful, dishonest & ungrateful to the sport industry. We all make mistakes in life as we are not perfect human beings….some players make poor choices & decisions within their sports career and simply get caught & others get away with it. I give much respect to the blue collar athletes who work hard & play the game right all the time…some players admit to their cheating habits while others will deny it even when they get caught. Blame those individuals who brought these illegal substances to the U.S. & distributed these drugs to athletes to exchange for money….A-Rod, Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Ryan Braun, Pete Rose, etc., should all be in the Hall of Fame for their accomplishments even though they got caught cheating & gambling. I’m pretty sure these players & others regret what they did and deserve to get recognition for the longevity of playing sports. Also, blame the poor drug policies that the sport commissioners & team owners have intact for the athletes. We have to remember that players are human and are bound to make mistakes period. We have to forgive & move on & make better choices in life…..

  9. Mike 19 June, 2015 at 19:04

    Those other athletes,as well as A-Rod,did it to themselves and have no place among the greats.How is it in other sports,accomplishments are taken away from the athlete caught? True that some athletes caught,did make a bad choice and got caught.However,I have no justification for those that cheated,got caught,did it again,got caught, and lied about it.How many chances should he be given? Yes humans make mistakes,but when you have a job that strictly prohibits illegal substances and you disregard that and get caught multiple times you shouldn’t still have that job.If it’s any regular person,they’d get fired for failing a drug test.I mean Nelson Cruz got busted for being involved in that whole fiasco,got suspended,came back and gets like $8M,and then gets a huge payday from Seattle. Why? Because MLB and the teams makes so much money off of all those guys.

    Pete Rose has no place in the same grouping.He gambled,he didn’t cheat,and he didn’t throw games.I keep forgetting MLB thinks he’s such a bad person,when MLB is partners with a gambling site,and way worse than players who cheated to make more money and become legends;but lets give those guys unlimited chances.

  10. Corey 19 June, 2015 at 19:16

    All this stressing of Hammering Hank being clean, need we forget that he did admit to taking amphetamines?

  11. George Loyola 20 June, 2015 at 04:23

    Thank you Corey for the reminder! Bottom line, we as sports collectors & fans will never know how many players have cheated throughout the sport industry. You can sit there and say this player is a cheater & that athlete has always been clean…..basically we have no idea what takes place behind closed doors & we will never know which legend players did or did not cheat to gain an advantage. I agree that positive change needs to happen as I’m against cheating & the use of illegal substances….I do not condone this type of behavior & it should not be allowed in sports at all….no exceptions to the rules. If you cheat and get caught, that athlete should be held accountable for their actions. But we have a bigger problem here as illegal substances should have no place here in the U.S. and do leaders even care about eliminating bad drugs from our societies….I say no b/c there is too much Greed in our country that is poorly affecting the good image & reputation of sports. Professional athletes are under so much pressure which is why the mistakes happen. Some players get injured & recover the legal way which is the right thing to do while others choose or are introduced the illegal route which is the wrong path to take. What I’m trying to say is that the focus should not be why is A-Rod & other elite players cheaters, it should be on the root cause of our illegal drug problem here in the U.S. What positive collaborative efforts should be taken by powerful leaders to help clean sports for good…this should be the focal point to this major issue that we continue to debate on.

  12. Sharon 20 June, 2015 at 14:11

    A-Rod,M.Mcquire ,B.Bonds and S.Sosa were all mixed up with steroids and none of them should even have their name near Hank Aaron. They all should be ashamed of themselves!!!! They also should never get in the Hall Of Fame!!!

  13. Mark 22 June, 2015 at 06:53

    Sharon – Hate to tell you but, Hank Aaron ADMITTED to taking amphetamines so, therefore he was not CLEAN!
    ‘He who is without sin, cast the first stone’. We are ALL human and make mistakes each and everyone of us. We learn from our mistakes and move on. Every Athlete you mentioned were ‘incredibly’ TALENTED and deserve
    their right in history. You could give me steroids, amphetamines and 20-other drugs and I could NOT hit a major league ball 40-feet much less out of the park. Mark Mcgwire ‘is’ and always ‘will’ be awesome in my book. The same goes for Sosa, Bonds and of course A-Rod! Even the ‘old-timers’ drank Coca-Cola before and during the game which was KNOWN to contain cocaine back in the day and knocked ’em out of the park all-day. There is NOT one person on here commenting that could come anywhere close to doing what these super-stars have accomplished. It’s time for all of us to grow-up learn from our mistakes and move on.

  14. John Bissell 22 June, 2015 at 09:49

    I get the amphetamines argument. However, baseball fans have clearly drawn a distinction between the amphetamines of the past and the PED’s of the present. The attempt at concealment and deceit coupled with outright arrogance amongst modern day PED abusers makes the public far less forgiving of them.

  15. George Loyola 24 June, 2015 at 02:04

    Well said Mark! I relished reading your comment & agree. If a player makes a mistake, that individual is suppose to learn from it. If a player doesn’t & commits the offense again then you pay for your actions…..it is that simple!!!! Therefore a baseball athlete who has played the sport for a very long time and has been an ambassador of the game & a dominant all-star for over a decade, in my eyes this player deserves to be in the Hall of Fame even if they made a mistake or two taking illegal substances….you can put an asterisk next to their name or just view that athlete differently but to say that the individual does not belong in the Hall of Fame is ludicrous…..To be a professional athlete, it is extremely difficult to accomplish & be successful day in & day out due to the mental & physical part of the sport. We need to stop dwelling on athletes who used illegal drugs as no one in life is perfect…..Like I said there are an immense amount of athletes who used drugs of all sorts but never got caught. Many parties are to blame here….don’t hate the players, forgive & move on!

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