I’ve been struggling with whether or not to write a post
on Alex Rodriguez potentially being done with baseball as a player. Despite all of the PED usage and lying, I
have always viewed A-Rod in a positive light; in a way that I don’t see Bonds,
Clemens, Sosa, or Palmeiro. Perhaps it
is because I feel bad for him and the way that he always seemed so lost. Or maybe it is because I felt that I could
identify with him in his desire to always please people. Whatever it is, I will certainly miss watching
him play. It is not often that you get
to see a once-in-a-generation player play (think Ruth, Mays, Aaron, Griffey,
and Trout) and when you do, you have to take advantage of it and cherish the
opportunity. Even the most novice of
baseball fans can look at his career and see that he is one of the top ten best
baseball players to ever play.
Rodriguez was selected by the Seattle Mariners with the
1st overall pick in the 1993 Amateur
draft. He was the top prospect prior to
the draft and was chosen as a prep All-American as a high school senior when he
batted .505 with 9 home runs, 36 RBIs, and 35 stolen bases. He made his major league debut in 1994 at the
age of 18, becoming one of the youngest in history. He played in first full season in 1996, when
he finished 2nd in MVP voting to Juan Gonzalez, the first of two occurences
when he was runner up; That season
Rodriguez batted .358 with 36 home runs and 123 RBIs. He played for the Mariners through the 2000
season and was a free agent during the offseason. He infamously signed with Texas, agreeing to
the most lucrative contract in sports’ history at the time, 10 years and $252
million. He played for the Rangers for
three seasons, winning his first MVP Award in 2003, batting .298 with 47 home
runs and 118 RBIs. Following that
season, Rodriguez was the subject of much trade speculation and was supposed to
be moved to Boston in the offseason before the Players’ Association stepped in
and vetoed the trade. Instead, he was
moved to the Yankees and during his first year with New York (2004) he became
the youngest players in MLB history to hit his 350th career home
run. In 2005, Rodriguez won his second
MVP Award, during a season in which he batted .321 with 48 home runs, drove in
130 runs, and scored 124 runs. The next
year, 2006, he became the youngest player ever to hit 450 home runs, a homer
that also marked his 2,000th career hit. 2007 was an eventful season for A-Rod,
hitting his 500th home run and becoming, once again, the youngest
player to reach that plateau. That
season also marked his tenth consecutive season with at least 35 home runs, 100
RBIs, and 100 runs, becoming the first player ever to achieve that mark. His 2007 season was Rodriguez’ best and one
of the best in MLB history, with a .314 average, 54 home runs, 156 RBIs, and a
1.067 OPS and winning his third and final MVP Award. In the offseason, Rodriguez exercised his
opt-out right, but resigned with the Yankees to a new 10 year, $275 million
contract. Not long after signing this
new contract, Rodriguez started his slow descent downward from stardom to
normalcy. Injuries plagued him from that
point forward and he never played a full season again, despite seeing
significant playing time as DH. This
contract also marked the time period when Rodriguez’ name was linked in the Biogenesis
scandal, his admittance to PED use, subsequent suspension, and return from
suspension in 2015.
When the Yankees announced
that they were going to look into releasing Rodriguez, it felt like a piece of
my childhood had ended. Then, with the
way Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi handled A-Rod’s playing time during his final
week, it felt like a slap to the face for Alex.
At the very leasae, with Yankees having conceded this season, Girardi
should have given Rodriguez the start at DH each game and a start at third base
in his last game. It seems like th
Yankees owed him that much, especially since he played a pivotal role on their
2009 World Series championship team.
I greatly hope that this isn’t
the last time we see A-Rod on the diamond as a player. But if it was, we had the privelige of
watching one of the best of all-time. He
will have finished his career with lifetime numbers of: .295 batting average, 3,115
hits, 696 home runs, 2,086 RBIs, 329 stolen bases, .390 OBP, .550 slugging
percentage, .930 OPS, and a lifetime WAR of 117.7. If it weren’t for his PED issues (and he was
still a great player without the steroids), Cooperstown would be a lock
for. However, if the current voting
results continue, the Hall of Fame seems unlikely. Hopefully this changes. Regardless of whether or not he plays again,
we will see him around baseball for a long time. His undying love for the game will cause him
to return as a manager or owner, which is better than nothing. Until then, I will miss him greatly.
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