As anyone not living at the bottom of a coal mine knows, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees has hit 599 home runs in his illustrious if controversial career and the world breathlessly awaits No. 600.  And waits and waits.  But No. 600 is a long time gestating, 43 at bats so far since his last homer on July 22nd.

Last night, I was annoyed while watching the Mets v. Braves game that ESPN continually cut away from an interesting and important game so that we could see A-Rod try to hit one of his special baseballs (given to the umpire when he comes to bat) out of the park.  Frankly my desire is that Mr. Rodriguez not hit another home run until, say, mid- to late September.  By that time we’ll be so sick of his quest and so sick of him that no one will want to see another Yankees game – or, indeed, another Yankee – for another ten years.