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A-Rod homers on his 40th birthday, joins an exclusive club

Mike Oz

Hate him all you want — and, boy, some of you do — but Alex Rodriguez continues to make history in his surprising comeback season with the New York Yankees. As you know, he passed Willie Mays on the all-time home run list, joined the 3,000 hit club and took another step up the all-time RBI last.

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The bit of history he grabbed Monday night is different, though. It's a factoid you probably never thought about and a group of players you probably wouldn't expect. But you can definitely use it to impress your friends.

A-Rod turned 40 on Monday and he homered in the sixth inning of the New York Yankees' 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers. With that, he became just the fourth player in the long history of Major League Baseball to homer before he was 20 and after he turned 40. ESPN Stats & Info has the list:

The over-the-fence birthday present to himself was A-Rod's 24th homer of the year. Only eight players in MLB have more this season, and they're a lot younger than 40. The Yankees, meanwhile, are in first place in the AL East by an increasingly comfortable margin. It's now seven games.

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Sounds like one lucky birthday boy is seeing all his wishes come true.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!