Baseball Greats - Alex Rodriguez

Alex Emanuel Rodriguez is one of the youngest new hot shot baseball players in Major League Baseball. Born July 27, 1975, in New York City, the man nicknamed “A-Rod” was drifted straight out of high school by the Seattle Mariners. He later signed an unprecedented $252 million free agent deal to play short-stop for the Texas Rangers, who then traded him to the Yankees in 2004, where he played 3rd base.

A-Rod became the youngest major league player to hit 300 home runs and later the youngest with 400. He won the most valuable player award twice in the 3rd base position for the Yankees.

Though he was born in New York City, A-Rod moved back to the Dominican Republic, the native home of his parents, when he was four. Once there, his father left for New York for a “short time”, never to return. In high school, A-Rod was the star player of the Westminster Christian team. At 17 years of age, the young ball player was the number one pick of the amateur draft in 1993. He made his major league debut at 18, one of the youngest players ever to appear in the position of shortstop.

A few trivia facts about A-Rod…

• His salary in 2005 was $25,705,118, the highest ever in the MLB.
• In 2003, A-Rod gave $3.9 million to the University of Miami so that they could renovate their baseball stadium. He was slated to play here, having signed a letter of intent, but was drafted by the Mariners straight out of high school and was never able to fulfill that observation. At first, he and the major league club could not agree on terms, and he was ready to play in college. However, a few days prior to the start of classes, the Mariners offer was sweetened, and he signed on.
• His signing on to the major leagues also kept him from prior engagements to quarterback for the school’s football team. Being a great fan of the Miami Hurricanes, he can be seen at many of the school’s sporting events and working out at the school’s facilities in the off season.
• A-Rod was married in November of 2002 to Cynthia Scurtis, and they had their first child, Natasha, in November of 2004.
  On January 17, 2006, A-Rod declared that he would play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic.