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.
In Miami Rodriguez would begin his baseball career playing for his high school team. It was here that Alex would go All-American his senior year and be the first high school player to 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.
He was quickly picked up by the Seattle Mariners, where he played as the third 18 year old short stop since the turn of the century. His star was rising, but the season was cut short due to the Major League strike of 1994.
As a result, it wasn’t until 1996 that5 Rodriguez really came into his own. In this season, he batted a very impressive .358, scoring 36 home runs and 123 RBIs, the highest average for any right hand batter in the AL since Joe Di Maggio. This was also the 3rd highest batting average for a short stop in any league - Rodriguez would finish out the season with the Major League’s highest total of hits, runs, doubles and extra base hits, earning him the Major League Player of the Year title.
He would play with several more teams until in 2004 he signed with the New York Yankees. During his years with the Yankees, he would set more records of home runs; RBI’s and win Most Valuable Player in 2005 and again in 2007. Despite all his accomplishments, A-Rod would begin to receive criticism for being unable to perform well in clutch situations, that is under extreme pressure. Fans and sport writers alike would criticize his abilities. Much of this he simply takes in stride and has been quoted as 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.” He must be doing something right however because in 2007 the Yankees and Rodriguez came to an agreement for a ten year contract at the tune of two hundred and seventy five million dollars and millions more if he breaks 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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