How do you describe Alex Rodriguez’s Yankees career in one word? Try “complicated.”
Since being acquired by New York prior to 2004, Rodriguez slugged 351 home runs (bringing his career total to 696), tallied 1,579 hits (totaling 3,114), drove in more than 1,000 runs, and helped lead baseball’s most legendary franchise to its 27th World Series title in 2009.
Those are numbers that would normally make you a cinch first-ballot Hall of Famer. However, his transgressions dealing with performance-enhancing drug use places a severely dark cloud over any future honors.
On Sunday, A-Rod announced his retirement — with his final MLB game set to be on Friday. Here are eight of his most memorable moments — which spanned 22 seasons and three teams.
8. Winning the 2003 MVP for the last-place Rangers
Upon joining the Texas Rangers amid tremendous fanfare (and a grand price tag), expectations were through the roof. While Rodriguez did his part many times over (averaging 52 home runs per year), additional help was not to be found. During his three seasons in the Lone Star State, the Rangers never got out of the cellar. And in 2003, A-Rod’s production was deemed worthy of the AL MVP. This made him the second player in baseball history to receive such an honor while playing for a last-place team.
7. Setting a grand record (9/20/2013)
A-Rod may never reach the all-time home run mark (or even 700, for that matter). But he does hold the distinction of having the most home runs with the bases loaded. He officially set a record (and surpassed Yankee legend Lou Gehrig) by launching his 24th grand slam in Sept. 2013 off George Kontos. It also broke a tie score. Rodriguez extended his own record to 25 on Aug. 19, 2015.
6. Joining the 500 home run club (8/4/2007)
Early on, you knew he was on track for historic figures. Before long, the 500th home run was within sight. It was just a matter of when and who would give it up. The ‘when’ was on a Saturday afternoon in the Bronx. The ‘who’ was Kansas City’s Kyle Davies. There was once a time when 500 homers and Cooperstown went hand-in-hand. And when 32-year-old Alex Rodriguez reached that magical mark, he appeared to be taking that same path.
5. Postseason success at long last
His tendency to fail in the glare of the October spotlight led to derision among his own fans and joy from opposing ones. But 2009 was a postseason in which he had the last laugh — leading the Yankees in batting average (.365), runs scored (15), home runs (six), and RBIs (18) to help New York raise its most recent championship flag. For eight straight games, he drove in a run. In Games 2 and 3 of the ALDS versus Minnesota, he hit tying homers. In Game 2 of the ALCS versus the Angels, his round-tripper knotted the score in the 11th (a contest the Yankees would win in 13 innings).
4. Joining the 600 home run club (8/4/2010)
Three years to the day of his 500th home run, Alex had tallied exactly 100 more. Breaking an 0-for-17 skid at the plate (and 47 straight homerless at-bats), Rodriguez rocketed a three-run blast against Blue Jay pitcher Shaun Marcum onto the netting above Monument Park. It ensured that A-Rod was the youngest player in MLB history to reach the 600 plateau.
3. Going deep for hit No. 3000 (6/19/15)
So often during his career in pinstripes, despite performance and payout, Alex Rodriguez was riding the coattails of Derek Jeter. Just as Jeter made his 3,000th hit a home run in 2011, A-Rod did the same some four years later — becoming just the second player (other than Jeter) to reach the milestone as a Yankee. The achievement took place on June 19, 2015, when he took the first pitch he saw from Justin Verlander over Yankee Stadium’s right field fence.
2. MVP No. 3 in 2007
Even if Octobers didn’t always go his way, his regular seasons were quite remarkable. That was especially the case during the last of three MVP campaigns — arguably the best year of his MLB career. Just take in these incredible league-leading numbers: 54 home runs, 156 runs batted in, a .314 batting average, and 143 runs scored. Whatever helped him get those numbers — and how much it helped him — is up to interpretation.
1. ‘The Mega Deal’
Transactions involving Alex Rodriguez were never kept in secrecy. Following seven years in Seattle, A-Rod was set to test free agency. Not surprisingly, he drew wide interest — with several clubs fully aware of the impact he would provide. With each season, the contracts signed get progressively more lucrative from the ones just before them. But when A-Rod inked a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers in December 2000, it was miles ahead of anything anyone had ever seen in baseball.
