A-Rod's 630 Home Runs Compared with Ken Griffey Jr.'s 630 Home Runs

Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. each have 630 career home runs. A-Rod was part of the 2009 world champion New York Yankees, while Griffey has never appeared in the World Series.

Baseball-Reference has added information with respect to each major league player's home runs. The site provides a home-run log that uses available data to detail each home run a selected player has hit.

Rodriguez and Griffey were teammates on the Seattle Mariners from 1994-99. On Feb. 10, 2000, the Mariners traded Griffey to the Cincinnati Reds.

Now to compare their home runs, which should be fascinating, since A-Rod, deservedly or not, has the reputation of not being Yogi Berra or Paul O'Neill in clutch situations.

The following, courtesy of Baseball-Reference, shows how many home runs Griffey hit when his team was ahead by four or more runs and behind by as many as four or more runs.

Score	HRs
+4	78
+3	30
+2	48
+1	67
Tied	178
-1	75
-2	50
-3	33
-4	71

Ahead    223
Tied    178
Behind    229

Here is A-Rod's table:

Score	HRs
+4	83
+3	51
+2	36
+1	70
Tied	176
-1	70
-2	43
-3	30
-4	71

Ahead    240
Tied    176
Behind    214

The key number is that Griffey home runs put his team ahead 178 times when the game was tied, while Rodriguez put his team ahead 176 times. It couldn't be much closer.

When his team trailed by one run, Griffey hit a home run to tie the game or put his team ahead 75 times. A-Rod has done that 70 times.  Amazingly, each has hit 71 home runs when his team was at least four runs behind.

Griffey has 43 home runs in the ninth inning and nine in extra innings. Rodriguez has 39 ninth-inning home runs and nine in extra innings.

The home-run statistics only proves that both players were dangerous. Detailed statistics aren't necessary to draw that conclusion.

Here are the links to Griffey's home runs and A-Rod's home runs. It's a great way to waste some time.