Alex Rodríguez
From BR Bullpen
Alexander Emmanuel Rodríguez (A-Rod, Karate Kid, Alexander the Great)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.
- High School Westminster Christian High School (Palmetto Bay)
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[edit] Biographical Information
Alex Rodriguez, often called A-Rod, is one of the biggest stars in major league baseball. Coming up originally at age 18, through July 23, 2007 he has already hit 500 home runs and played 13 major league seasons. He has won three MVP awards. He turned 32 years old late in the 2007 season.
He is the only person to play major league baseball at age 18 ("baseball age") since the 1970's.
Rodriguez hit .264 and slugged .509 for the US in the 1992 World Junior Championship, when they won Silver. He did lead the team with 16 RBI and was second with 15 runs (trailing Brian McClure).
A-Rod was the # 1 draft pick in the 1993 amateur draft after leading his team to a national high school #1 ranking. His school record for home runs was later tied by J.P. Arencibia in 2004.
In his first year in the minors in 1994, he went from Single A to AA to AAA ball in the same season, hitting over .300 with power at two of the three stops. He spent about half of 1995 in Triple A ball at Tacoma of the PCL, hitting .360 with a .654 slugging percentage. In 1996 he spent only two games with Tacoma, and since then has been in the majors full time.
Although a huge star, his highest single-season Adjusted OPS prior to 2007 was 167, which is nowhere near the top 100 single season performances. However, in 2007 he had his best year (based on Adjusted OPS+), with a 177.
He is a perennial All-Star, and has won two Gold Gloves while playing shortstop. He has led the league in numerous categories, as shown by his Black Ink score of 65 through 2007 (the average Hall of Famer has 27).
He moved to third base when he joined the New York Yankees before the 2004 season, out of deference to Derek Jeter, although he had won a couple Gold Gloves while Jeter had won none. However, in the three years (through 2006) that the two have played in the Yankees infield together, Jeter won the shortstop Gold Glove each year.
While universally regarded as one of the best players in baseball, it is interesting to note that both teams that Alex Rodríguez has left have performed better the first year after he departed than they did during his final season with them.
He gained some measure of infamy during the 2004 ALCS against Boston when he "karate chopped" Boston pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who was tagging him out at first base.
He is a three-time winner of the American League MVP Award, in 2003, 2005, and 2007. He broke the New York Yankees' single-season record for home runs by a right-handed hitter in 2005, held for more than 50 years by all-time Yankee great Joe DiMaggio. In April 2007, he tied a record by hitting 12 home runs in his first 15 games.
He reached the 400 HR level at the age of 30, a rare achievement, then became the youngest player to hit 500 home runs when he connected off Kyle Davies of the Kansas City Royals on August 4, 2007; Jimmie Foxx had been the fastest to 500 HR before Rodriguez. He also became the third player to reach the 500 plateau as a Yankee, after Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle.
He is one of only four 40/40 players in Major League Baseball history(i.e. hitting 40 or more home runs and stealing 40 or more bases in a season), along with José Canseco, Barry Bonds and Alfonso Soriano.
Through 2007 he was currently the highest paid player in MLB at $252 million over 10 years, since he signed with the Texas Rangers before the 2001 season. However, he was frequently booed in New York in 2006 in spite of driving in 121 runs. Expectations were higher. Rodriguez set the record for home runs by a major league third baseman in 2007. He hit #49 off of Brian Bannister on September 8 and tacked on another off of Bannister later in the day.
As a mark of how unusual A-Rod is, the similarity scores method shows virtually no player similar to him. The most similar player (though age 29) gets a score of just 818, and is Ken Griffey. No other player has a similarity score of as high as 800 out of 1000. Eight of the ten players on the list are Hall of Famers, and the other two will probably eventually be (Griffey and Vladimir Guerrero). None of the players is a shortstop, unless you count Rogers Hornsby, who played his first three out of four years in the majors primarily at shortstop. A-Rod played his first 10 years primarily at shortstop.
Through age 30 it continues to be true that only one player, Griffey, has a similarity score of greater than 800 with respect to A-Rod.
On October 28, 2007, Rodriguez opted out of the 10 year/252 million dollar deal, thus becoming a free agent. In November he signed with the Yankees, though, after hearing advice from his friend Warren Buffett, the famous billionaire investor. Agent Scott Boras had encouraged him to ask for much more on the free agent market but Rodriguez did not heed his demands.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 11-time AL All-Star (1996-1998 & 2000-2007)
- 3-time AL MVP (2003, 2005 & 2007)
- 2-time AL Gold Glove Winner (2002/SS & 2003/SS)
- 9-time AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (1996/SS, 1998-2003/SS, 2005/3B & 2007/3B)
- AL Batting Average Leader (1996)
- 3-time AL Slugging Percentage Leader (2003, 2005 & 2007)
- 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: 12 (1996-2007)
- 30-Home Run Seasons: 11 (1996 & 1998-2007)
- 40-Home Run Seasons: 7 (1998-2003, 2005 & 2007)
- 50-Home Run Seasons: 3 (2001, 2002 & 2007)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 11 (1996 & 1998-2007)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 12 (1996-2007)
- 200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1996, 1998 & 2001)
| AL MVP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| Miguel Tejada | Alex Rodriguez | Vladimir Guerrero |
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Vladimir Guerrero | Alex Rodriguez | Justin Morneau |
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Justin Morneau | Alex Rodriguez | incumbent |
[edit] Records Held
- Home runs, shortstop, season, 57, 2002
- Home runs, third baseman, season, 52, 2007
[edit] Record Pace
Alex Rodríguez turned 31 on July 27, 2006. (Rodríguez' stats through 2005 season)
All-Time Leaders When They Turned 31:
- Pete Rose had 1724 Career Hits. Alex Rodríguez has 1901.
- Hank Aaron had 366 Career Home Runs. Alex Rodríguez has 429.
- Rickey Henderson had 1171 Runs Scored. Alex Rodríguez has 1245.
- Hank Aaron had 1216 Runs Batted In. Alex Rodríguez has 1226.
- Hank Aaron had 3692 Total Bases. Alex Rodríguez has 3576.
- Hank Aaron had 796 Extra-Base Hits. Alex Rodríguez has 792.
- Pete Rose reached base 2295 Times. Alex Rodríguez 2729 times.
- Craig Biggio had been Hit By Pitch 85 Times. Rodríguez has been hit 98 times.
- Eddie Murray had 65 Sacrifice Flies. Alex Rodríguez has 61.
- Pete Rose had 5582 At Bats. Alex Rodríguez has 6195.
- Pete Rose played in 1383 Games. Alex Rodríguez has played in 1592.
