Rodriguez Baseball
Known as A-Rod to fans and teammates, Alex Rodriguez plays third base for the New York Yankees. Born in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood, Rodriguez moved to the Dominican Republic at the age of four. However, the family soon returned to the US and settled in Miami. Soon after, is father abandoned Alex and his mother, moving to New Jersey.
It was while living in Florida that A-Rod began to excel at the sport, becoming the star player on his high school team. He was an All-American player while in his senior year and was the first high school player ever to try out for Team America.
Upon finishing high school, Rodriguez signed a letter of intent to play for the baseball team at the University of Miami - but he decided to pursue a professional career in baseball instead, entering the amateur draft.
A-Rod was quickly drafted by the Seattle Mariners, becoming only the third 18 year old short stop since 1900! Unfortunately, his first season was cut short by 1994’s major league baseball strike.
Rodriguez did not let the strike slow him down much and in 1996, he had his break out year. He took over as the Seattle Mariners short stop and quickly showed everyone what he was made of batting an impressive .358 average with 36 home runs and 123 RBI’s. This was the highest average of an American League right hand batter since DiMaggio. Plus it was the third highest ever for a short stop if any league. The year would continue with Alex having the highest totals in runs, hits, doubles, extra base hits, and slugging, ending the year as Major League Player of the Year and nearly the youngest to boot.
Rodriguez played with the Texas Rangers briefly before signing with the New York Yankees in 2004. As a Yankee, Rodriguez continued to be a record-setting player, winning MVP in 2005 and 2007. Despite his performance on the field, Rodriguez has often been criticized by fans for failing to deliver under pressure. Rodriguez is unrattled by the criticism, saying: “I could care less. In my career, I’ve been hearing it for a long time. It will never stop until you win five or six World Series in a row, and hit a Joe Carter home run. I’ve done a lot of special things in this game, and for none of that to be considered clutch, it’s an injustice.” No matter what some fans may think, Rodriguez is highly valued by his team, signing a 10-year contact in 2007 with the Yankees for $275 million - with the prospect of more should Rodriguez manage to break the home run record.
The player’s personal life has also been a topic of discussion, with A-Rod having been spotted in the company of another woman at a strip club (he and his wife are divorcing). There have also been rumors that he and the singer Madonna have had an affair, something supported by the singer’s divorce from husband Guy Ritchie.
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