With Alex Rodriguez hitting the 600 HR mark, it’s worth noting that Alex is the first infielder to reach that level. Of the 25 players with 500 home runs or more, 14 spent almost all their careers as outfielders (15 if you count Gary Sheffield as an outfielder). The other infielders tended to play the corners, with six (including Ernie Banks) spending a lot of time at first base. Infielders take a lot of abuse, especially middle infielders, and just don’t last as long in general.