Alex Rodriguez
Labeled a "can't miss" prospect when he came up as a teenager with the Mariners in the mid-1990s, Alex Rodriguez delivered on that promise in a huge way. After developing into an All-Star shortstop with tremendous power and great defensive ability, he matured into a powerful slugger and earned baseball's first $200 million contract. Before his 30th birthday, he had hit 400 home runs and driven in more than 1,100 runs. He was dealt to the New York Yankees in a controversial deal prior to the 2004 season, after nearly joining the Boston Red Sox. With the Yankees, "ARod" made the switch to third base, rather than supplant Derek Jeter, and settled in for a pursuit of a World Series ring.
| Career Batting Stats |
| G |
AB |
H |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
OBP |
OPS |
OPS+ |
| 2042 |
7860 |
2404 |
1605 |
553 |
1606 |
283 |
.306 |
.578 |
.389 |
.967 |
125.5 |
|
Quotes About Alex Rodriguez
"It was always about the numbers in [Seattle and Texas] for him. And that doesn't matter here. Winning is all you're judged on here." � unnamed Yankee on Alex Rodriguez, in 2006
"He puts in the work before games and looks textbook out there. But all of a sudden the game starts, and he quits using his feet and he's fielding with a lazy lower half. That causes his arm to drop, and the ball sails on him." � Yankee coach Larry Bowa, on Alex Rodriguez's fielding problems in 2006.
"If he stays healthy, I'm sure he'll have a crack at hitting 800 home runs." — Derek Jeter on Alex Rodriguez, 2007
Quotes From Alex Rodriguez
"It actually reached the point of being so ridiculous that I just had to laugh. It's like if you show up at work one day with a red shirt, and I go, 'Man, that's an ugly shirt.' And the next day you wear a blue shirt, and I go, 'Man, that's an ugly shirt.' And the next day, yellow shirt, same thing. And on and on, every day. At some point you understand it's not really about the shirts. And it becomes easy to dismiss the criticism." � Alex Rodriguez, on criticism from Yankee fans
Where does Alex Rodriguez rank among baseball greats?
Alex Rodriguez ranks #1 among the Top 50 all-time at SS. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 2000
You could just as easily choose 1996, 2001, 2002, or 2005. But in 2000, A-Rod had a monster regular season both offensively and defensively, and followed it up with an excellent post-season. In his final season with the M's, he hit .316 with a .606 SLG and career-best .420 OBP. He made just 10 errors at shortstop. In the playoffs he collected 13 hits, two homers, and seven RBI in nine games.
Factoids
On July 21, 2006, Alex Rodriguez hit his 450th career homer, and also recorded his 2,000th career hit, with the same swing of the bat.
In 2007, Alex Rodriguez became the first player in history to hit 35 or more home runs and drive in 100 or more runs in 10 consecutive seasons.
Most Game-Ending Grand Slams
Alex Rodriguez... 3
Vern Stephens... 3
Cy Williams... 3
Bob Aspromonte... 2
Albert Belle... 2
Bobby Bonds... 2
Steve Finley... 2
Ruppert Jones... 2
Ralph Kiner... 2
Davey Lopes... 2
Mark McGwire... 2
Jim Presley... 2
Nomar Garciaparra... 2
David Eckstein... 2
Most Consecutive Games with an Extra-Base Hit
14 - Paul Waner, PIT NL, 6/3/1927-6/19/1927
14 - Chipper Jones, ATL NL, 6/26/2006-7/16/2006
12 - Tip O'Neill, STL AA, 8/24/1887-9/5/1887
12 - Rogers Hornsby, BOS NL, 5/27/1928(G1)-6/9/1928(G1)
11 - Rogers Hornsby, STL NL, 8/20/1924(G1)-8/27/1924
11 - Hank Greenberg, DET AL, 9/4/1940-9/14/1940
11 - Bob Bailey, MON NL, 6/22/1970(G2)-7/12/1970
11 - Jesse Barfield, TOR AL, 8/17/1985-8/27/1985
11 - Bobby Abreu, PHI NL, 5/7/2005-5/18/2005
11 - Alex Rodriguez, NY AL, 9/29/2006-4/11/2007
A-Rod's Milestone Homers
1: Tom Gordon, Royals, June 12, 1995
50: Felipe Lira, Tigers, June 5, 1997
100: Nerio Rodriguez, Blue Jays, August 12, 1998
150: Andy Pettitte, Yankees, April 7, 2000
200: Jon Garland, White Sox, May 12, 2001
250: Luke Prokopec, Blue Jays, April 30, 2002
300: Ramon Ortiz, Angels, April 2, 2003
350: Mark Mulder, Athletics, May 4, 2004
400: Jorge de la Rosa, Brewers, June 8, 2005
450: A.J. Burnett, Blue Jays, July 21, 2006
500: Kyle Davies, Royals, August 4, 2007
Where He Played
Rodriguez had the best range of any shortstop in the American League, but when he was traded to the Yankees prior to the 2004 season, he was asked to switch to third base.
Born
Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez was born on July 27, 1975, in New York, NY.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Major League Debut
7 8,
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1994
Garret Anderson
Alex Rodriguez
Jeff Cirillo
Alex Gonzalez
Charles Johnson
Chan Ho Park
Mike Matheny
Mike Lieberthal
Jose Lima
Nicknames
A-Rod
Uniform Numbers
#3 (1994-2003), #13 (2004-)
Similar Players
If Hank Aaron had been a gold glove shortstop, that would be fairly close.
Related Players
Ken Griffey Jr., Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada, Nomar Garciaparra, Barry Bonds... When he clubbed his 500th homer in 2007, A-Rod became the youngest to ever reach that milestone, eclipsing the previos youngest, Jimmie Foxx
Post-Season Appearances
1995 American League Championship Series
1995 American League Divisional Series
1997 American League Divisional Series
2000 American League Championship Series
2000 American League Divisional Series
2004 American League Championship Series
2004 American League Divisional Series
2005 American League Divisional Series
Post-Season Notes
Rodriguez's most famous post-season moment came in the eighth inning of Game Six of the 2004 ALCS, at Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox. After hitting a routine grounder toward first, Rodriguez slapped the ball out of Red Sox' pitcher Bronson Arroyo's glove, earning an interference call and an out.
Awards and Honors
2002 AL Gold Glove
2003 AL Gold Glove
2003 AL MVP
2005 AL MVP
2007 AL MVP
Feats
Rodriguez is one of only two players to hit 50 doubles in a season and hit 50 homers in another season. He clubbed 50 homers in 2001 and 2002, and hit 50 doubles in 1996.
Milestones
Home run milestones: #100 on Aug. 12, 1998, at Toronto; #200 on May 21, 2001, at Chicago; #300 on April 2, 2003, at Anaheim; and #400 on June 8, 2005, at Milwaukee.
Milestones
- May 12, 2001: 200th HR... Fifth youngest to reach the 200-homer plateau.
- June 8, 2005: 400th HR... Became the youngest player in history to hit 400 homers (29 years and 316 days old)… Hit it off of Jorge De La Rosa, and it was his second homer of the game… Had gone 11 games without a homer.
Batting Feats
Notes
From June 1 to August 30, 2006 - a stretch of 80 games - Rodriguez hit .257 with 81 strikeouts. He also committed 13 errors.
Hitting Streaks
20 games (1996)
18 games (2007)
Transactions
June 3, 1993: Drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 1993 amateur draft.
October 30, 2000: Granted Free Agency
January 26, 2001: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers sent shockwaves through the sports world when they inked ARod to a 10-year, $252 million deal.
February 16, 2004: Traded by the Texas Rangers with cash to the New York Yankees for Alfonso Soriano. When he was dealt to the Yanks, it was - in large part - an effort by Texas to unload the huge contract.
This trade has the chance to be one of the Yankees greatest ever, or a bust. As always in New York, it will come down to whether or not ARod wins a ring and plays well in October.
All-Star Selections
1996 AL
1997 AL
1998 AL
2000 AL
2001 AL
2002 AL
2003 AL
2004 AL
2005 AL
Replaced
Felix Fermin
Best Strength as a Player
Ability to drive the low pitch to all parts of the field.
Largest Weakness as a Player
No glaring weaknesses.
Learn More about Alex Rodriguez
Search Amazon.com for Books about Alex Rodriguez ⇒
Search for Alex Rodriguez at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒
Sources used for the Alex Rodriguez Player Page:
Trent McCotter, SABR