Alex Rodriguez‘s Yankee career has been full of high points, despite the weird mirror kissing, drug use, and romps that made the gossip pages. These include two American League MVP awards, the 2009 World Series title, and a lot of long home runs and records.
No matter what A-Rod was like off the field, he was a great baseball player. He was a Yankee for 12 seasons and made the All-Star team seven times. He quickly rose to the top of the all-time leaderboards for the Yankees and baseball as a whole. Here are the top 10 things that A-Rod did as a Yankee:
The moment of infamy
On February 7, 2009, just before spring training, Sports Illustrated said that A-Rod had tested positive for steroids in 2003 when MLB did a survey to see if it needed a mandatory drug program. His popularity fell overnight and he soon became a fallen hero.
The move to third base
After Aaron Boone hurt his knee in an unwise off-season basketball game, the Yankees made one of the most famous trades in baseball history by getting Alex Rodriguez. Derek Jeter was already a huge star for the Yankees at shortstop, but the team was able to convince A-Rod to move to third base. The Yankees’ general manager, Brian Cashman, said the deal was “nothing short of spectacular.”
Cashman sent Alfonso Soriano and a prospect named Joaquin Arias to Texas in exchange for Alex Rodriguez and $67 million.
The grand record
On September 20, 2013, Alex Rodriguez hit his 24th career home run with all runners on base. He passed another Yankee, Lou Gehrig, to become the player with the most home runs with all runners on base.
The pitch was from another former Yankee George Kontos and it broke a tie to keep the Yankees in the wild-card race. Alex Rodriguez, who was 38 at the time, said, “You know, that means I’m getting old.” On August 19, A-Rod hit his 25th grand slam, which broke his own record.
Alex Rodriguez’s 10 runs in one game
On April 26, 2005, Rodriguez had one of the best days in the Yankees’ history. He hit three home runs, all off of Bartolo Colon, and drove in 10 runs as the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 12–4. A-Rod was the first player at Yankee Stadium to drive in 10 runs in a game.
Derek Jeter said of A-Rod’s running day: “You don’t see too many days like that. That will never happen again.”
The only Yankee to score more runs than him in a single game was Tony Lazzeri, who had 11 at the Philadelphia A’s on May 24, 1936. At the end of the season, the AL MVP award went to A-Rod.
The return of the legend
In 2015, Alex Rodriguez came back from his drug suspension and his cold war with MLB, the Yankees. He started out smartly by saying that he “just wanted to help the team” and that the team came first in everything. A-Rod hit 33 home runs and drove in 86 runs, helping the Yankees get into the wild card spot. He led the team in every aspect. Some fans booed him, but others cheered, especially as the long hits kept coming. Alex Rodriguez lost his form at the end of the season, and he wasn’t the only Yankee who struggled in their wild-card game loss to Houston.
Hot 2004 playoffs
In the division series, Alex Rodriguez hit .421 and had a slugging percentage of .737. He thrashed the Twins badly and tied the game in the 12th inning of Game 2 when the Yankees were in danger of falling behind. In Game 4, he scored the winning run in the 11th inning on a wild pitch, which gave the Yankees the win.
The Yankees moved on to the ALCS, where they led the Red Sox 3-0. In Game 3, the Yankees beat the Red Sox 19–8, which seemed to start the World Series party a game early. Both Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui scored five times, which tied a postseason record. A-Rod was hitting.429 with an OPS of 1.286 at that point in the series. But he went 2-for-17 (.118) the rest of the way, and the Yankees were the first team in baseball history to blow a 3-0 lead. The Red Sox went on to win their first World Series since 1918. This broke the “Curse of the Bambino.”
500th career home run
Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th career home run off the Royals’ Kyle Davies on August 4, 2007. He was the youngest player ever to reach that mark. “I looked like a fool running around the bases, but you only hit 500 once,” A-Rod said afterward. At 32 years and eight days, he beat Jimmie Foxx’s record. Alex Rodriguez was the 22nd player to reach 500 homers.
Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th hits
On June 19, 2015, Alex Rodriguez hit a home run to the right field on a first pitch from Detroit’s Justin Verlander. This made him the 29th player to reach 3,000 hits. After Rodriguez’s drive went over the fence, YES announcer Michael Kay said, “He did it in style.” Only A-Rod and Derek Jeter, who also hit a home run for the milestone hit, have done it while playing for the Yankees.
The 2009 post-season run
Alex Rodriguez was great in 2009. He was a big reason why the Yankees won their 27th World Series. During that postseason, he played in 15 games and led the Yankees in average (.365), runs (15), home runs (6), and RBI (18). In the second game of the division series against Minnesota, he hit a home run off to tie the game. In the seventh inning of Game 3, he hit another home run that tied the game. He hit .455 and had six RBI in the series.
In Game 2 of the ALCS, Rodriguez hit a home run in the 11th inning that tied the game. The Yankees went on to win the game after 13 innings. In Game 4, he hit a two-run homer, making it the eighth straight game in which he drove in a run. In Game 3, A-Rod’s homer witnessed instant replay for the first time. In Game 4, he hit a double that led to the run that broke a tie in the ninth. It was a pretty long run.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
