How is a milestone marketed?

Beats me.  Maybe like this:

Brand: Camel Manufacturer: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Quote: "I've smoked Camels for 8 years. They have the mildness that counts with me." 1941
By Camel Cigarettes [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

When Alex Rodriguez passes Willie Mays in home runs ... Friday, April 24, 2015

OK, May 7, two days ago at Yankee Stadium, Alex Rodriguez passed Willie Mays.  A-Rod was treated the opposite of how he had been in Boston when he tied Mays in home runs at 660.  Yankee fans cheered and even influenced Rodriguez to take a brief curtain call after Rodriguez had gotten impromptu clearance from manager Joe Girardi.  There was even a message displayed very briefly on the scoreboard.

Now what?  Ordinarily, the player's team would have been promoting the inevitable event in order to encourage fans to attend games.  Maybe some thought would have been given to altering the player's appearances in road games to increase the likelihood that the milestone would occur at home.  This was considered by Braves owner Ted Turner over 40 years ago.  Here are the home run leaders through 1973:

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Babe Ruth	714	1914	1935	19-40	2504	10622	8399	2174	2873	506	136	2214	2062		1330	43	113		2	123	117	.342	.474	.690	1.164	971/H83	BOS-NYY-BSN
2	Hank Aaron	713	1954	1973	20-39	2964	12708	11288	2060	3509	584	96	2133	1258	283	1265	31	19	111	299	239	71	.311	.378	.569	.947	*9873/H45	MLN-ATL
3	Willie Mays	660	1951	1973	20-42	2992	12496	10881	2062	3283	523	140	1903	1464	192	1526	44	13	91	251	338	103	.302	.384	.557	.941	*8H/39675	NYG-SFG-NYM
4	Frank Robinson	552	1956	1973	20-37	2579	10935	9344	1724	2783	496	69	1710	1295	201	1410	188	15	94	254	199	75	.298	.391	.543	.934	973D8/H5	CIN-BAL-LAD-CAL
5	Harmon Killebrew	546	1954	1973	18-37	2207	9082	7502	1230	1950	270	24	1486	1460	150	1568	47	0	71	226	18	16	.260	.381	.521	.901	357H/4D9	WSH-MIN
6	Mickey Mantle	536	1951	1968	19-36	2401	9907	8102	1676	2415	344	72	1509	1733	126	1710	13	14	47	113	153	38	.298	.421	.557	.977	*8397H/645	NYY
7	Jimmie Foxx	534	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9676	8134	1751	2646	458	125	1922	1452		1311	13	71		69	87	73	.325	.428	.609	1.038	*35H2/7916	PHA-BOS-CHC-PHI
8	Ted Williams	521	1939	1960	20-41	2292	9788	7706	1798	2654	525	71	1839	2021	86	709	39	5	20	197	24	17	.344	.482	.634	1.116	*79H/1	BOS
9	Ernie Banks	512	1953	1971	22-40	2528	10394	9421	1305	2583	407	90	1636	763	198	1236	70	45	96	229	50	53	.274	.330	.500	.830	36/H57	CHC
10	Eddie Mathews	512	1952	1968	20-36	2391	10100	8537	1509	2315	354	72	1453	1444	107	1487	26	36	58	123	68	39	.271	.376	.509	.885	*53/H7	BSN-MLN-ATL-HOU-DET
11	Mel Ott	511	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11348	9456	1859	2876	488	72	1860	1708		896	64	109		82	89		.304	.414	.533	.947	*95H8/74	NYG
12	Lou Gehrig	493	1923	1939	20-36	2164	9663	8001	1888	2721	534	163	1995	1508		790	45	106		2	102	100	.340	.447	.632	1.080	*3/H976	NYY
13	Stan Musial	475	1941	1963	20-42	3026	12717	10972	1949	3630	725	177	1951	1599	127	696	53	35	53	243	78	31	.331	.417	.559	.976	3798H/1	STL

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/9/2015.

Mays was already retired and Aaron was only one homer behind Ruth.  Aaron had long since past Ruth in at bats: 11,288 to 8,399.

Thursday, April 4, 1974, Riverfront Stadium
Attendance: 52,154, Time of Game: 3:09
Reds 7, Braves 6

HR: H Aaron (1, off Jack Billingham, 1st inn, 2 on, 1 out to LF-CF).

As you can see Aaron had the ill timing to tie the Babe in his very first plate appearance in 1974 and he did it on the road in Cincinnati.  Fortunately for Turner, Aaron did not break the record in that game.  Aaron did not play in game two (attendance 17, 703) two days later, which the Braves lost 7-5.

The Braves had one more game in Cincinnati before heading home to Atlanta to play the Dodgers.  Turner considered having Aaron benched again but commissioner Bowie Kuhn forbade it and Aaron started in game three:

Sunday, April 7, 1974, Riverfront Stadium
Attendance: 35,588, Time of Game: 2:00
Braves 5, Reds 3

Aaron batted three times, the last in the 5th inning: no hits, two strike outs.  With the Braves leading 5-3 going to the bottom of the 7th, Rowland Office replaced Aaron batting clean up.  Office was the third batter in the 8th; all three struck out.

Monday, April 8, 1974, Atlanta Stadium
Attendance: 53,775, Time of Game: 2:27
Braves 7, Dodgers 4

HR: H Aaron (2, off Al Downing, 4th inn, 1 on, 0 outs to Deep LF).

Aaron walked in the second inning then hit number 715 in his second plate appearance at home in 1974.  Ted Turner had just that one packed house.  Rowland Office replaced Aaron again, this time for the top of the 8th with the Braves leading 7-4.  The next night the Braves lost 9-2 before 10,648 fans; Aaron did not play.

Aaron was lauded during a break in the game after he hit 715 but I don't know what else was done.  When Derek Jeter was approaching hit number 3,000, a milestone but not a record, the Yankees made the most of it, I guess.  These days, there's a lot more memorabilia manufactured and sold.  I guess money was made on commemorative tee shirts, etc.  How much?  Beats me.  TV ratings may have improved, too.

The issue with Rodriguez seems to have been a way for the team and player to address a gap in the new contract being negotiated eight years ago.  It's my general understanding that Rodriguez wanted $300 million for ten years and the Yankees were willing to pay $270 million.  A separate contract was dreamed up giving the Yankees the right to make money marketing, whatever that means, milestone home runs hit by Rodriguez.  Specifically, $6 million would be paid to Rodriguez for reaching 700 home runs and for each of four players he passed in career home runs: Mays, Ruth, Aaron, Bonds.

Given that the Yankees made such a big deal about Jeter getting 3,000 hits, it's odd that they tied A-Rod's bonuses exclusively to home runs.  Didn't they realize that A-Rod, too, would reach 3,000 hits?  And unlike Jeter, A-Rod would likely also reach 2,000 RBI and 2,000 Runs.  Even having missed 2014 because of his performance enhancing drug (PED) suspension Rodriguez is fast approaching 2,000 RBI and 3,000 hits.  What will the Yankees do about them?  And if they do something, won't that undermine their argument that Rodriguez ruined the value of his home run milestones?  If the Yankees do nothing about RBI and Hits, then the Steinbrenner Kids are dumber than even I thought.

Here are the 23 players with at least 500 home runs through 2007.  Rodriguez was number 17 with 518.  Ken Griffey, Jr. had 593 and was the only other player likely to join the five who already had at least 600.  Why wasn't 600 a bonus milestone for Rodriguez?

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Barry Bonds	762	1986	2007	21-42	2986	12606	9847	2227	2935	601	77	1996	2558	688	1539	106	4	91	165	514	141	.298	.444	.607	1.051	*78H/D9	PIT-SFG
2	Hank Aaron	755	1954	1976	20-42	3298	13941	12364	2174	3771	624	98	2297	1402	293	1383	32	21	121	328	240	73	.305	.374	.555	.928	*9783DH/45	MLN-ATL-MIL
3	Babe Ruth	714	1914	1935	19-40	2504	10622	8399	2174	2873	506	136	2214	2062		1330	43	113		2	123	117	.342	.474	.690	1.164	971/H83	BOS-NYY-BSN
4	Willie Mays	660	1951	1973	20-42	2992	12496	10881	2062	3283	523	140	1903	1464	192	1526	44	13	91	251	338	103	.302	.384	.557	.941	*8H/39675	NYG-SFG-NYM
5	Sammy Sosa	609	1989	2007	20-38	2354	9896	8813	1475	2408	379	45	1667	929	154	2306	59	17	78	202	234	107	.273	.344	.534	.878	*98D/H7	CHW-CHC-BAL-TEX
6	Ken Griffey	593	1989	2007	19-37	2378	10167	8826	1545	2558	473	37	1701	1162	230	1593	77	8	94	177	184	68	.290	.374	.553	.927	*89/HD73	SEA-CIN
7	Frank Robinson	586	1956	1976	20-40	2808	11742	10006	1829	2943	528	72	1812	1420	218	1532	198	17	102	270	204	77	.294	.389	.537	.926	97D3H8/5	CIN-BAL-LAD-CAL-CLE
8	Mark McGwire	583	1986	2001	22-37	1874	7660	6187	1167	1626	252	6	1414	1317	150	1596	75	3	78	147	12	8	.263	.394	.588	.982	*3/HD59	OAK-STL
9	Harmon Killebrew	573	1954	1975	18-39	2435	9833	8147	1283	2086	290	24	1584	1559	160	1699	48	0	77	243	19	18	.256	.376	.509	.884	357DH/49	WSH-MIN-KCR
10	Rafael Palmeiro	569	1986	2005	21-40	2831	12046	10472	1663	3020	585	38	1835	1353	172	1348	87	15	119	232	97	40	.288	.371	.515	.885	*3D7/H98	CHC-TEX-BAL
11	Reggie Jackson	563	1967	1987	21-41	2820	11418	9864	1551	2584	463	49	1702	1375	164	2597	96	13	68	183	228	115	.262	.356	.490	.846	*9D8H/7	KCA-OAK-BAL-NYY-CAL
12	Mike Schmidt	548	1972	1989	22-39	2404	10062	8352	1506	2234	408	59	1595	1507	201	1883	79	16	108	156	174	92	.267	.380	.527	.908	*53/H64	PHI
13	Mickey Mantle	536	1951	1968	19-36	2401	9907	8102	1676	2415	344	72	1509	1733	126	1710	13	14	47	113	153	38	.298	.421	.557	.977	*8397H/645	NYY
14	Jimmie Foxx	534	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9676	8134	1751	2646	458	125	1922	1452		1311	13	71		69	87	73	.325	.428	.609	1.038	*35H2/7916	PHA-BOS-CHC-PHI
15	Willie McCovey	521	1959	1980	21-42	2588	9692	8197	1229	2211	353	46	1555	1345	260	1550	69	5	70	176	26	22	.270	.374	.515	.889	*3H7/9D	SFG-SDP-OAK
16	Ted Williams	521	1939	1960	20-41	2292	9788	7706	1798	2654	525	71	1839	2021	86	709	39	5	20	197	24	17	.344	.482	.634	1.116	*79H/1	BOS
17	Alex Rodriguez	518	1994	2007	18-31	1904	8482	7350	1501	2250	395	26	1503	915	70	1524	127	16	74	173	265	64	.306	.389	.578	.967	*65/DH	SEA-TEX-NYY
18	Frank Thomas	513	1990	2007	22-39	2251	9786	7953	1467	2409	488	11	1674	1628	168	1340	84	0	120	217	32	23	.303	.421	.561	.982	*D3/H	CHW-OAK-TOR
19	Ernie Banks	512	1953	1971	22-40	2528	10394	9421	1305	2583	407	90	1636	763	198	1236	70	45	96	229	50	53	.274	.330	.500	.830	36/H57	CHC
20	Eddie Mathews	512	1952	1968	20-36	2391	10100	8537	1509	2315	354	72	1453	1444	107	1487	26	36	58	123	68	39	.271	.376	.509	.885	*53/H7	BSN-MLN-ATL-HOU-DET
21	Mel Ott	511	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11348	9456	1859	2876	488	72	1860	1708		896	64	109		82	89		.304	.414	.533	.947	*95H8/74	NYG
22	Jim Thome	507	1991	2007	20-36	2011	8427	6841	1338	1925	369	24	1398	1459	150	2043	62	1	64	120	18	20	.281	.409	.565	.974	*35D/H	CLE-PHI-CHW
23	Eddie Murray	504	1977	1997	21-41	3026	12817	11336	1627	3255	560	35	1917	1333	222	1516	18	2	128	315	110	43	.287	.359	.476	.836	*3D/H57	BAL-NYM-CLE-LAD-ANA

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/9/2015.

Through 2007 here are the number of players with at least these numbers of hits:
3,000: 24
2,500: 75
2,000: 200

101: Jeter 2,356
128: Rodriguez 2,250 - only 106 behind Jeter

Rodriguez also had:
1,503 RBI - now 1,988
1,501 Runs - now 1,935
Oh, and Rodriguez now has 2,963 Hits.

What the heck are the Steinbrenner Kids thinking?  Just how dumb are they?  They denigrate and belittle their biggest star and one of the all time greats.  What the heck?

More on the selling of Derek Jeter. Sunday, September 7, 2014