The collective baseball minds at ESPN have determined that only 20 players in the history of Major Baseball have been better than Alex Rodriguez.According to Baseball-Reference.com, the online encyclopedia of the sport, that encompasses some 18,485 players who have appeared in at least one major league game.And yet, a case can be made that A-Rod was better than that, better statistically than at least two of the hitters ranked ahead of him -- Ken Griffey Jr. and Joe DiMaggio --?and perhaps more than that, given that only three players in history have hit more home runs than Rodriguezs 696 or driven in more runs than his 2,084 and only nine had a higher career OPS than his .932.Rodriguezs career WAR of 118.3 is higher than that of all but eight position players. It is nearly 10 points higher than that of Mickey Mantle and six points higher than that of Lou Gehrig. It is 35 points higher than that of Griffey Jr., his former teammate on the Seattle Mariners, who sits higher in our rankings, despite retiring with 66 fewer home runs, 248 fewer RBIs and a career batting average 11 points lower than A-Rods .295.That brings us to the essential problem with, and the tragedy of, Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez. No one knows how good he was or is or could have been because of what he once termed the pink elephant in the room.That curious animal, of course, was a euphemism for performance-enhancing drug violations, a crime against baseball that Rodriguez has copped to twice. And that is why, despite his incredible numbers on a baseball field, his number in our all-time rankings is a bit lower than you might expect.Rodriguezs misdeeds off the field left many voters scratching their heads over where he belongs in baseball history and how many of his gaudy numbers can be trusted.?I wrote a column about this in June 2015 on the occasion of his 3,000th hit. It is worth reading again, if only to remind us of what Rodriguez is and, more importantly, what he might have been.Interestingly, strong indications of PED use were not enough to work against Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens, who finished ahead of A-Rod. In both cases, the numbers are both too impressive to ignore and too ridiculous to fully trust -- for me, anyway.For some reason, A-Rods numbers did not work in his favor the same way. Perhaps after he retires and another 20 or so home runs are added to his total, a younger and presumably more permissive generation will see fit to rank him higher. Maybe hell even, along with Bonds and Clemens, get serious consideration for the Hall of Fame, which at one time seemed to be the destination of all three.There are other curiosities in the final voting, some of them no doubt generational. Were Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux really better pitchers than Bob Gibson and Tom Seaver? Was Mike Piazza, at No. 99, truly one of the 100 greatest ball players who ever lived? Was Griffey Jr. really a better player, by a considerable margin, than Rodriguez? Clearly, our voters put more trust in Griffeys numbers than in those of A-Rod, who bests him in virtually every offensive category.Arguments such as that are what make lists such as this so popular and entertaining. Theyre the reason these polls will be done again and again by numerous outlets. No doubt, ESPN will do another one sometime in the future.When we do, it will be interesting to note what a future generation sees when it looks at Rodriguezs career. Greatness? Artifice?Or simply an unsolvable mystery, which, it seems, is how many of us view him now.Qadree Ollison Falcons Jersey . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Brett Favre Youth Jersey . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Calvin-Ridley-Jersey/ . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Steve Bartkowski Falcons Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Chris Lindstrom Jersey . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament.MIAMI -- Marcell Ozuna has given the Miami Marlins big hits and some hope for the future. The 22-year-old rookie outfielder drove in two runs to help the Marlins to a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in interleague play. "Hes put together a lot of great at-bats, big at-bats, and he did again tonight," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. Ozuna is hitting .438 (21 for 48) with runners in scoring position, driving in 22 runs for the last-place Marlins. "Just going to home plate and thinking, see the ball up a little bit and if its in the middle, swing or if its away and up, swing no matter what," Ozuna said. Derek Dietrich also provided some offence with a home run for the Marlins, who have won four of five. A.J. Ramos (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings in relief and Steve Cishek worked the ninth for his 13th save. Minnesota dropped its third game in the last four. "It wasnt our night," Twins manager Rod Gardenhire said. "We left some pitches up in the zone late. Every time we did, they seemed to whack it. We also made three errors. You dont win too many games when you make three errors whether it costs you runs or not." Miami starter Jose Fernandez allowed one run and four hits in five innings. The 20-year-old phenom struck out three and walked three while throwing 94 pitches, 59 for strikes. "He kept us in it," Redmond said. "You think about a young kid who didnt really have his best stuff, but still was pretty impressive out there and made pitches when he absolutely needed to. Thats the kind of guy he is." Fernandez is 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in five June starts. "I wanted to keep pitching, but my stuff wasnt there today and I agree with the decision," Fernandez said. Minnesotas Justin Morneau appeared to line into a double play to end the eighth, but first baseman Logan Morrison dropped the throw, allowing Joe Mauer to remain on base. Two batters later, Trevor Plouffe took advantage of Morrisons error with an RBI single, scoring Mauer to cut the deficit to 3-2. Ozunas RBI double in the bottom oof the eighth after Morrison doubled pushed the lead to 4-2.dddddddddddd "Im really proud of (Ozuna) and surprised hes doing so well especially driving in tough runs," Morrison said. Cishek retired the Twins in order in the ninth. Josh Willinghams RBI single in the third opened the scoring for Minnesota. Kevin Correia (6-5) held the Marlins scoreless through five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. After Ed Lucas singled and Giancarlo Stanton walked, Morrison singled to load the bases. Ozuna singled to centre, scoring Lucas as centre fielder Clete Thomas bobbled the ball, also allowing Stanton to score for a 2-1 lead. "I felt I made one bad pitch that inning and that was enough to give up a couple of runs," Correia said. Correia allowed two runs and five hits in six innings after beating the Marlins on April 23. Brian Duensing relieved Correia and yielded a home run to Dietrich, his seventh, for a 3-1 advantage. It was a rare home run as Duensing had not surrendered one in his previous 48 appearances and Dietrich was hitless in 17 at-bats before the homer. "He made a simple adjustment for that at-bat," Redmond said. "He couldnt find his elbow guard and I told him, Well, dont wear the elbow guard and he hit a home run. Then the next time he had the elbow guard on and I said, Take the elbow guard off and he still got out, but I think were headed in the right direction." NOTES: Morrison has five multi-hit games in 11 games since returning from the disabled list. ... Twins RHP Mike Pelfrey was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday retroactive to June 19, but Gardenhire believes the break will benefit Pelfrey, who missed last season with Tommy John surgery. "This is probably a good time of the season to take a step back, miss a couple of starts," Gardenhire said. "He told me hes probably 90 per cent right now, so believe me, he wont miss much work." ... Minnesota will send LHP Scott Diamond (5-6, 5.27 ERA) to the mound in the Wednesday afternoon finale against RHP Tom Koehler (1-5, 4.65 ERA). ' ' '