The Arizona Diamondbacks veteran slugger reached the 2,000-hit milestone, cementing his legacy alongside baseball icons.
The Arizona Diamondbacks had the Athletics where they wanted them, but a three-run seventh inning changed everything.
Arizona fell to 51-49 on the year as the Athletics improved to 43-57 thanks to their 5-2 victory.
Kevin Ginkel earned the loss as he allowed three earned runs on four hits in his one inning pitched. Ginkel now falls to 3-3 after he failed to build on what was a relatively solid start from Mitch Bratt.
Elsewhere, Nolan Arenado reached a historic milestone. It's not like he was able to celebrate in a big way due to the team losing, but it's still incredible to think he recorded his 2,000th hit on Monday, July 20.
Arenado joins 2,000-hit club
Currently, there are only five other active players who have recorded at least 2,000 hits in their career. Arenado, 35, has been in the MLB since 2013 but is only playing for his third team.
There's a world where he would've rather seen this accomplishment take place with the Colorado Rockies or St. Louis Cardinals, but if anything, it shows his fight and determination to stay active and try to be the best hitter he possibly can be, no matter the circumstances.
Not only is Arenado in the 2,000-hit club, but he's in an even more exclusive group that has 350 or more home runs and has won 10 or more Gold Glove awards. After the game, Arenado asked what it was like to be grouped with Ken Griffey Jr., Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench, and Al Kaline.
"Those guys are legends of this game, icons, people that you know," Arenado said, according to MLB.com. "The first time I ever met Ken Griffey Jr., I couldn't believe it. Almost forgot what he even said [to me]. Willie Mays is obviously in that category of just legends, so just to be mentioned with them … then obviously seeing Mike Schmidt up there, who's the GOAT."
Arenado continued, "Mike Schmidt was the first guy when I was coming up when I started to perform better, he was the first guy to say, ‘I love the way this guy plays.’ That meant a lot to me. So I'll never forget that."
"It feels really good," he added. "I'm not gonna lie. This one feels good. I try not to talk about things like that whenever I get some accomplishments, but this one feels pretty good. Just thank God that I've been healthy enough to do it. I'm happy to do it here [with] a team that wanted me. I don't know what else to say, but it's kind of tough when you lose, too. I’ve got mixed emotions right now."
The Diamondbacks are still half a game out of a Wild Card spot, but there's no doubt Arenado is trying to get back to the playoffs for his first time since 2022.
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