RODRIGUEZ, Alex Emmanuel

(b. 27 July 1975 in New York City), baseball player who earned the highest rookie batting average of all time, hit more home runs than any other shortstop, and signed the largest contract in the history of sports.

Rodriguez, popularly known by the nickname "A-Rod," is the third child of Victor and Lourdes Navarro Rodriguez. His parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic to New York City, where Rodriguez was born, in the hope of finding better work prospects. They settled in Washington Heights, a Dominican stronghold. His father ran a small shoe store in Manhattan and his mother worked the night shift at an automotive plant. By the time Rodriguez was four, his parents had saved enough money to retire in their homeland. They purchased a house in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, and returned home. Financial losses on bad investments, however, forced them to re-emigrate to the United States when Rodriguez was nine. This time they settled in Kendall, Florida, outside Miami.

When the family moved back to the United States, Rodriguez played Khoury League Baseball, sponsored by the Boys' Club in Coconut Grove (Miami), a league he still supports. From an early age, Rodriguez displayed exceptional baseball skills. His dream was to play in the major leagues. "He was very focused from the time he was a child—he was not interested in anything else," his mother recalled. His idol was Cal Ripken, Jr., the Baltimore Orioles shortstop, and Rodriguez kept a poster of Ripken in his room.

Rodriguez was not yet ten when his father deserted the family. His mother provided for the family by working two jobs, as a secretary and as a waitress. Although two men became strong surrogate fathers—Eddie Rodriguez, who ran the Boys' Club in Miami, and J. D. Arteaga, Sr., the father of his best friend—it was from his mother that Rodriguez acquired a strong work ethic.

By the time he began high school, Rodriguez had become an all-around athlete. At Westminster Christian High School he played varsity basketball as a sophomore, was an All-State selection at quarterback, and led the baseball team to the state and national high school championships. As a senior he was touted as one of the best baseball prospects in the country, batting .505 with 9 home runs and 36 RBI in 33 games, and stealing 35 bases without being thrown out once. He was named high school All-American and USA Junior Baseball Player of the Year. He also was a good student and made the honor roll.

Rodriguez was the first pick in the 1993 draft, and was taken by the Seattle Mariners of the American League (AL). Negotiations between his agent Scott Boras and the Mariners did not go well, and Rodriguez prepared to start classes at the University of Miami. He planned to major in communications and become a sportscaster. Just hours before his first class at Miami, Rodriguez signed a three-year contract with the Mariners.

Rodriguez started his first season of professional ball at Appleton, Wisconsin, in the Midwest League. He started well, hitting .319 in 65 games before being promoted to Double-A Jacksonville (Florida), and just 17 games later promoted again, this time to the Mariners. At age eighteen, with less than a full year of professional ball, Rodriguez was in the big leagues. He finished out the season in Triple-A, where the organization thought he would get more playing time. Being sent back to the minor leagues, however, proved to be fortunate. In mid-August the major league players went out on strike, wiping out the rest of the season. Instead of being forced to join the walkout, he was able to continue playing in Triple-A, where he gained the preparation he needed to become a successful big league player.

That winter Rodriguez played in the Dominican Republic, and he slumped badly, hitting only .179. "It was the toughest experience of my life," he said. "I just got my tail kicked and learned how hard this game can be. It was brutal, but I recommend it to every young player." In 1995 he shuttled between the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers and the Mariners. The third time he was demoted, and he was so discouraged that he briefly considered quitting and returning to Miami. He hit .232 for the Mariners, but a phenomenal .360 at Tacoma.

Rodriguez spent much of the off-season watching videotapes of hitters, particularly teammate Edgar Martinez, who had led the league in hitting in 1995. The following season, 1996, was Rodriguez's breakout season. He put up numbers no other shortstop in the history of the game had achieved, leading the league in hitting with a .358 average, the highest batting average ever by a rookie, and the highest average by a right-handed hitter in the American League in sixty-seven years. He was also among the league leaders with thirty-six home runs, 123 RBI, 141 runs scored, and fifty-four doubles. He was selected to the AL All-Star team, the youngest shortstop ever to play in an All-Star game. He narrowly missed being voted Most Valuable Player (MVP), finishing second to Juan Gonzalez by three votes. After slumping slightly in his sophomore year with a .300 batting average, twenty-three homers, and eighty-four RBI, Rodriguez has achieved All-Star numbers ever since. In his first seven seasons, from 1994 to 2000, he posted a .309 batting average, and he is only the third player ever to join the 40-40 club (40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season).

In 2000 Rodriguez signed a ten-year contract with the American League's Texas Rangers for $252 million. It was the richest contract ever awarded to an athlete—twice the dollar amount of the previous record contract of National Basketball Association (NBA) star Kevin Garnett. It was more than Rangers owner Tom Hicks paid for his entire team plus the ballpark. The contract was negotiated by Boras, Rodriguez's hardball agent, who came armed with a glossy self-published seventy-page booklet, Alex Rodriguez: Historical Performance. With statistics from Rodriguez's first five years in the major leagues, Boras projected Rodriguez to break every offensive record in baseball and to be the greatest ballplayer of all time.

Boras got from the Rangers what he believed was fair value for a once-in-a-lifetime performer, but most baseball people were shocked. Some predicted the ruin of the game. While few disputed Rodriguez's ability, they questioned whether any player was worth that kind of money. His $25.2 million average annual salary was $1 million more than the total player payroll for the Minnesota Twins that year. And it translated into more than $155,000 per game. To help offset the cost of Rodriguez's contract, the Rangers raised prices at the ballpark by about $2 a ticket. (It was the fifth straight year with a price increase). Disenchanted fans around the league took to calling Rodriguez "Pay-Rod." Rodriguez handled the scrutiny and criticism as well as anyone could, sometimes saying he would play for nothing if he had to, such was his devotion to the game. However, he seemed to be earning his money. In his first season with the Rangers, Rodriguez hit 52 home runs, setting the franchise record and the all-time record for shortstops. Rodriguez also hit .318 and drove in 135 runs.

Rodriguez has a multiracial appearance—kinky dark hair, bright gray-green eyes, and light bronze skin—and a Spanish surname. (People magazine named him as one of the world's Fifty Most Beautiful People.) He says that most people do not perceive him as Dominican or Latino. "I want to be known as a Dominican, that is what I am, 100%. … I have a duty and responsibility to continue the legacy of Dominican baseball."

Rodriguez has a squeaky clean image. He is polite, humble, shows respect for his teammates and fans, and handles his success graciously. "He is Mr. Clean," said former teammate David Segui. "He is milk and cookies." Citing his belief that players are role models for youths, Rodriguez has affirmed that players "have a responsibility to be the best people we can."

Rodriguez likes to work with children. In Miami he developed Grand Slam for Kids, a program that encourages elementary school students to focus on reading, math, physical fitness, and citizenship; as part of the program he visits school and holds assemblies. Some sportswriters have described him as the anti-Rodman, a star athlete who cherishes the values of the past, notably a love for the game, hard work, and gratitude.

For information about Rodriguez and his career, see Stew Thornley, Alex Rodriguez: Slugging Shortstop (1998); and Jim Gallagher, Latinos in Baseball: Alex Rodriguez (2000).

George Gmelch