The Bio

As a Yankee, A-Rod is more than just a celebrity. Alex Rodriguez was one of the most talked-about prospects in baseball when he started playing professionally. He is now thought to be one of the best baseball players of all time. Still, he is the Yankees player who is known the most for big-hitting offense as well as bad things. He’s that baseball player who got banned for using steroids, but what he did on the field made him a lot more famous than that. When people think of Alex Rodriguez, they think of both good and bad things. His image has been in the public eye for almost 30 years, and often for all the wrong reasons. But if there are times, he seems to be the most hated, there are also times when A-Rod seems to be the most loved.

Many people were jealous of his record-high salary in 2001 when he was 25 years old. However, his 156 home runs over the next three seasons seemed to prove that all that money was worth it. In 2009, after eight years, Alex Rodriguez was at the center of a scandal that he mostly caused himself. But he came out of it to become history in himself.

Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez was born in New York City on July 27, 1975. His parents were from the Dominican Republic and lived and ran a shoe store in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. At Westminster Christian School in Miami, Alex Rodriguez did well and became one of the best high school players in the country.

In 1993, the Mariners took Alex Rodriguez with the first pick in the MLB draft. He made his big league debut the next year when he was only 18. In 1996, he was the starting shortstop for the Mariners and won the major league batting title while coming second in the voting for the AL Most Valuable Player Award. His combination of power, speed, and defense made him a key player for the team, but Alex Rodriguez left Seattle after the 2000 season to join the Rangers after becoming a free agent. At the time, his 10-year, $252 million deal was the richest in baseball history. During his three years with Texas, Alex Rodriguez played well. His best year was 2003 when he won his first AL MVP Award. However, the team never made the playoffs while he was there. Before the 2004 season, Alex Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees. To make room for shortstop Derek Jeter, the Yankees turned A-Rod into a third baseman.

Aaron Boone, the Yankees’ third baseman, hurt his knee while playing pick-up basketball. He missed the whole 2004 season and left a hole at third base. On February 15, 2004, the Rangers traded Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for second-baseman Alfonso Soriano and Joaquín Árias. This was only the second time in the history of MLB that the reigning MVP was traded. The first time was in 1914 when Eddie Collins was sent from the Philadelphia Athletics to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for cash.

Alex Rodriguez also had to change his uniform number. He had always worn 3, but the Yankees retired that number to honor Babe Ruth. Instead, Rodriguez changed his number to 13 to honor quarterback Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins. He grew up in Miami and used to watch Marino play. When he played quarterback in high school, he also wore number 13.

Alex Rodriguez’s first year with the Yankees, he hit .286 with 36 home runs, 106 RBIs, 112 runs scored, and 28 stolen bases. He joined Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx, two of the greatest ever baseball hitters, as one of only three players in Major League history to hit at least 35 home runs, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs in seven straight seasons. During the 2004 season, he also became the youngest player to hit 350 home runs and the third youngest to reach 1,000 RBIs.

In 2005, Alex Rodriguez hit .321, which was the best in the American League. He scored 124 runs, hit 48 home runs, and drove in 130 runs. A-Rod became the first Yankee since Reggie Jackson in 1980 to win the American League home run title. He also became one of only two players in the history of the Major League to hit at least 35 home runs, score at least 100 runs, and drive in at least 100 runs. Jimmie Foxx was the first one to have this record for nine seasons in a row between 1932 and 1940. Alex Rodriguez broke Joe DiMaggio’s record of 46 home runs in a single season, which was the team record for a right-handed batter. His 47 home runs from the third base are an American League single-season record. Rodriguez hit 26 home runs at Yankee Stadium in 2005. Alex Rodriguez won the MVP award for the second time, making him one of only five players to do so with two different teams.

Alex Rodriguez was the first player in Major League history to hit at least 35 home runs, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs in 10 straight seasons. He did this in 2007. Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras, said on October 28, 2007, that he would not renew his contract with the Yankees because he “didn’t know what the team would look like in the future.” It caused a lot of criticism. On November 15, 2007, Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees agreed on the “basic framework” of a 10-year, $275 million contract that would keep him playing until he was 42. Rodriguez hit a home run about once every 14.6 times he went up to bat in 2008. This was the second-best rate on the team, behind Jason Giambi. Even though Alex Rodriguez was hurt and only played in 124 games in 2009, Rodriguez was second on the Yankees in home runs (30) and RBIs (100).

In 2009, the Yankees were back in the playoffs. They beat the Minnesota Twins in the Division Series in three straight games and then beat the Los Angeles Angels in six games in the ALCS to get back to the World Series for the first time in eight years. In both series, Alex Rodriguez did a great job. He went 5-for-11 against the Twins and hit two home runs, including one in the third game’s seventh inning that gave the Yankees their first run of the game. He went 9 for 21 with three home runs and six RBIs against the Angels.

In the World Series, the Yankees played against the Philadelphia Phillies and won the title in six games. In Games 3 and 4, New York’s wins, Alex Rodriguez was a key player. In Game 3, his two-run homer in the fourth inning got the Yankees on the board, and they went on to win 8-5. The next day, Alex Rodriguez came up to bat in the top of the ninth inning with the score tied at 4-4. There were two outs, and runners were on second and third. Through his double, Johnny Damon scored the game’s first run, and the Yankees went on to win 7–4.

Alex Rodriguez had at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs for the 13th straight year in 2010. He was accused of playing in illegal underground poker games and had his first season without his much-praised offense the following year. A-Rod had surgery on January 16, 2013, to fix a torn labrum in his hip. The surgery was done with arthroscopy. Alex Rodriguez was in a lot of bad news while he was recuperating. He was at the center of the Biogenesis baseball scandal, and MLB was looking into whether he used drugs to improve his performance.

Alex Rodriguez came back with the Yankees on August 5, 2013. On the same day, MLB said he would be suspended for the 2014 season for his part in the Biogenesis scandal unless he wins an appeal. Because of the fight between him and the team, the Yankees’ president Randy Levine said that he would be happy if A-Rod never play again.

On August 18, 2013, Alex Rodriguez played an important role against Ryan Dempster during a game against the Red Sox. He was hit by a pitch when he first faced Dempster. Home plate umpire Brian O’Nora warned both benches and threw out Girardi, but Dempster was allowed to stay in the game. Later in the top of the sixth inning, Alex Rodriguez faced Dempster again. This time, he hit a home run that went 442 feet to straightaway center.

In August 2013, MLB said that Alex Rodriguez would be banned for 211 games because he was involved in the scandal. After a hearing, the suspension was cut down to 162 games, which meant he couldn’t play on the field for the whole 2014 season. In 2014, he was officially suspended after it was found that he had broken the league’s Performance Enhancing Drugs policy. Specifically, he had “used and possessed numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years” and “tried to cover up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner.”

Alex Rodriguez wrote a letter of apology on February 17, 2015, and sent it to “Major League Baseball, the Yankees, the Steinbrenner family, the Players Association, and you, the fans.” His first game back after his suspension was against the Blue Jays on the first day of the season at Yankee Stadium. He was the designated hitter, and the Yankees lost to the Blue Jays 1–6. He went 1 for 2 and walked. On April 17, Alex Rodriguez hit his third and fourth home runs of the season. One of them was a 471-foot (144-meter) blast off Nate Karns of Tampa Bay, which gave him four RBIs in a 5–4 win. He was the Yankees’ leader in home runs, getting on base, slugging, getting on base and slugging, and bases on balls. Alex Rodriguez became the 15th player in baseball history to hit 30 or more home runs.

Alex Rodriguez told reporters at a press conference on August 7, 2016, that he would play his last game for the Yankees on August 12 against the Rays at Yankee Stadium. Also, it was said that the Yankees would give him a new contract that would keep him with the team as a special instructor and advisor until 2017. A-Rod would work as a special advisor in the front office of the Yankees during the off-season. The club remembered Alex Rodriguez’s last game as a Yankee by showing highlights of his career on the stadium videoboard, giving him a framed number 13 jersey and a base signed by teammates. The game was played in front of a sold-out crowd. He hit third and was the designated hitter to start the game. He went 1 for 4 with a double that drove in a run. In the ninth inning, he played third base for one batter. This was his only defensive appearance for the Yankees in 2016. When he left the field, the fans gave him a “raucous ovation.” The Yankees let him go the next day without any conditions.

Alex Rodriguez had a career batting average of .295. He hit more than 600 home runs (696), drove in more than 2,000 runs, scored more than 2,000 runs, had more than 3,000 hits, and stole more than 300 bases. He is the only player in MLB history to do all of these things. He was also an All-Star 14 times. He won three Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards from the American League (AL), 10 Silver Slugger awards, and two Gold Glove awards. Alex Rodriguez also has 25 grand slams, which is the most of any player in history. He signed two of baseball’s most lucrative deals.

Alex Rodriguez’s Greatest Moments

• 14-time AL All-Star (1996-1998, 2000-2008, 2010 & 2011)
• 3-time AL MVP (2003, 2005 & 2007)
• 2-time AL Gold Glove Winner (2002/SS & 2003/SS)
• 10-time AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (1996/SS, 1998-2003/SS, 2005/3B, 2007/3B & 2008/3B)
• AL Batting Average Leader (1996)
• 4-time AL Slugging Percentage Leader (2003, 2005, 2007 & 2008)
• 2-time AL OPS Leader (2005 & 2007)
• AL At Bats Leader (1998)
• 5-time AL Runs Scored Leader (1996, 2001, 2003, 2005 & 2007)
• AL Hits Leader (1998)
• 4-time AL Total Bases Leader (1996, 2001, 2002 & 2007)
• AL Doubles Leader (2002)
• 5-time AL Home Runs Leader (2001-2003, 2005 & 2007)
• 2-time AL RBI Leader (2002 & 2007)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 16 (1996-2010 & 2015)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 15 (1996, 1998-2010 & 2015)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 7 (1998-2003, 2005 & 2007)
• 50-Home Run Seasons: 3 (2001, 2002 & 2007)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 14 (1996 & 1998-2010)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 13 (1996-2008)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1996, 1998 & 2001)
• Won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 2009
• 1st Team High School All-American at infield (1993)
• Babe Ruth Award (2009)
• 3× Babe Ruth Home Run Award (2002, 2003, 2007)
• Baseball America 1st-Team Minor League All-Star at shortstop (1995)
• 4× Baseball America 1st-Team Major League All-Star
  • 3× at shortstop (1998, 2000–03)
  • at third base (2005)
• 2× Baseball America Major League Player of the Year (2000, 2002)
• Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year (1993)
• GIBBY/This Year in Baseball Awards for Hitter of the Year (2007)
• GIBBY/This Year in Baseball Awards for Individual Performance of the Year (2005)
• 6× GIBBY/This Year in Baseball Awards for Outstanding Player of the Year (1996, 1998, 2001–03, 2007)
• 4× Hank Aaron Award (2001–03, 2007)
• 10× Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award
• 13× Major League Baseball Player of the Week Award
• 2× Minor League Baseball All-Star (1994 Midwest League, 1995 Triple-A)
• Pepsi Clutch Performer of the Year (2007)
• 2× Rawlings Gold Glove Award at shortstop (2002, 2003)
• Seattle Mariners Minor League Player of the Year (1994)
• 2× Seattle Mariners Player of the Year (1998, 2000)
• 10× Silver Slugger Award
  • 7× at shortstop (1996, 1998–2003)
  • 3× at third base (2005, 2007, 2008)
• 3× The Sporting News Player of the Year (1996, 2002, 2007)
• 3× Texas Rangers Player of the Year (2001–03)
• World Baseball Classic participant for United States (2006)

Achievements of Alex Rodriguez

American League statistical leader

Alex Rodriguez Records

Major League Records

American League Records

New York Yankees Records

FAQs about Alex Rodriguez

The Stats

Alex Rodriguez Standard Batting Record

Alex Rodriguez Postseason Batting Record

Alex Rodriguez Career Graph