Is Alex Rodriguez chasing the least-suspicious mark of them all -- the American League home-run record of 61, set by Roger Maris in 1961.
A-Rod hit his 26th home run today in his 66th game of the season. He's on pace to break the 46-year-old club and league mark, but remains slightly behind Maris' pace -- Roger hit his 26th in his 64th game off Joe Nuxhall and had #27 in game 66.
As a note, when Alex had his career-high 57 home runs, he didn't hit #26 until more than halfway through the year.
Rodriguez, however, can catch up in the next week or so, as Maris then went until game #74 without a blast. It'll be interesting to see how, if at all, this is followed.
There's no pressure, really. The only chance for some of that is if the media, as they did with Ryan Howard, last year, takes it upon themselves to anoint a "real" record holder without authority or facts. Even then, the badgering should be nothing new to A-Rod.
