Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez, also known as A-Rod, was born on July 27, 1975 in the Washington Heights section of New York City. When he was four he moved to the Dominican Republic with his parents. Then three years later, he moved to Miami, Florida. When he was growing up his favorite baseball players were Keith Hernandez, Dale Murphy, and Cal Ripken. In high school, he went to Westminster Christian High School where he was a star shortstop. His years in the high school baseball team led them to win the high school national championship.
A-Rod’s current Yankee teammate, Doug Mientkiewicz played baseball with him at Westminster. After graduating high school, he became eligible for the amateur draft at the age of 17. A-Rod was then drafted to the Seattle Mariners and became the first 18 year old major league player in 10 years, and the youngest shortstop player in Seattle history. He made his major league debut playing a game on July 8, 1994 against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park. His first major league hit was a single off Sergio Valdez on July 9, 1993. Then he hit his first home run off Kansas City Royal’s Tom Gordon on June 12, 1995. A-Rod became the star player and the regular shortstop for the Seattle Mariners. He had a batting average of .358 in the 1996 baseball season. Then .300 in the 1997 baseball season. Finally, in the year 2000, his last year as a Mariner because of his contract, he reached a .400 batting average.
After becoming a free agent, the Texas Rangers took him and he signed a $252 million dollar contract with them. After playing with the Texas Rangers, he was traded to the Yankees on February 15, 2004. A-Rod hit his 2,000th hit on July 21, 2006 and his 450th home run of his career. His years as a Yankee were up and down but when it came to the year 2007, he was the best. A-Rod hit his 500th home run against pitcher Kyle Davies of the Kansas City Royals. This made A-Rod the youngest player ever to reach 500 homers...