Alex Rodriguez Essay

Melissa Lefkowitz

Ms. Buyes

English 2 CP

4/4/16

Alex Rodriguez

        Alex Rodriguez is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Rodriguez was born in New York City in 1975. His father was a former professional baseball player in the Dominican Republic. When Alex was four he and his family moved back to the Dominican Republic and he started playing baseball. When Rodriguez was in fifth grade, his parents separated, and Alex and his mother moved to Miami, Florida. He attended a small private high school in Miami and played quarterback on the football team. However, he was an even bigger star on the baseball field. In his junior year, Alex had a .477 average, and stole 42 bases in just 35 games. These numbers made him one of the finest high school players in the country. During his senior year, professional scouts attended every one of his games and he committed to the University Of Miami. However, when the Seattle Mariners chose him as the number one pick in MLB’s 1993 amateur draft, Alex decided to turn professional. As his career progressed and he continued to play extremely well, he became a hero to many. Rodriguez is still playing and has been a major league baseball player for over 20 years, breaking many records. Although he has been very successful and many aspired to be just like him, Rodriguez made some detrimental decisions, which led to his downfall.

Rodriguez was initially admired in the MLB for his extremely high batting average on the Mariners. In 1996, his batting average steadily improved every month and he ended up with a .435 in August of that year. In 2000, Alex signed with the Texas Rangers receiving a $252 million ten-year contract, the largest in history at that time. Just before the 2004 season, he was traded to the New York Yankees; where his career skyrocketed. According to the article, "Alex Rodriguez," “In 2005, Rodriguez won a Most Valuable Player award, and also became the youngest player in baseball history to hit 400 career home runs. That year also marked the tenth consecutive season that Rodriguez scored at least 100 runs,” (“Alex Rodriguez”). Alex was not only becoming an exceptional player, but he was also becoming well known and gained thousands of adoring fans. He was breaking records that had previously been set by some of the most successful baseball players in history (Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Manny Ramirez). Also according to the article “Alex Rodriguez,” “August 4, 2010 marked another milestone for Rodriguez, who became the seventh player in major league history to hit 600 home runs,” (“Alex Rodriguez”). Alex was the youngest of the seven players to reach six hundred home runs. This was Rodriguez's biggest accomplishment yet and more people began to admire him and envy his amazing skills. People idolized him and children wanted to be just like him. Rodriguez was a fantastic, well-respected baseball player, until he made some unfavorable decisions.