Alex Rodriguez Trivias

Traded by the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later. Prior to the trade, he agreed to switch positions from shortstop to third base. [February 2004]

Announced he and his wife Cynthia are expecting their first child. The couple - who dated on and off for 6 years before they got married - is featured in the May 2004 Vogue and in Sports Illustrated's 2004 swimsuit issue (1 June 2004)

Made major league debut on 8 July 1994.

Went 0-for-4 in Game Seven of the 2004 ALCS, in which the Boston Red Sox became the first time ever to win a pennant after being down 3 games-to-none. Given his enormous salary and perks, and the highly publicized trade that brought him to the New York Yankees (with a $184 million players payroll in 2004, the highest in all of sports) in the offseason, he has been roundly criticized in the Big Apple for his poor performance.

Welcomed first child, baby girl Natasha Alexander, in Miami. Weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and 19 inches long, she was born a week before her due date (18 November 2004)

In 2005, became the youngest player in Major League History to reach 400 career home runs, at the age of 29, and the only player ever to reach the milestone before turning 30. Many believe he is on-pace to surpass Hank Aaron on the all-time home run list.

Signed a 250 million dollar contract to play shortstop for the Texas Rangers in 2000.

Led the American League in Home Runs in 2001 with 53, his first season with Texas, and the most in a season by a shortstop

in 1998, became the 3rd member of Baseballs 40-40 club (40 home runs and steals in the same season

1996 American League Batting Champ

5-time All Star

Played for the Seattle Mariners from 1994-2000, helping the Mariners to 3 Playoff appearances

Drafted first overall by the Seattle Mariners in 1993

Youngest of 3 children.

Moved back with his parents to their native Dominican Republic when Rodríguez was 4, then moved to Miami, Florida 4 years later. There, Alex's father announced he had to go to New York for a short time; he never returned. Rodríguez has said in interviews he can forgive him for abandoning the family, but that he will never forget.

Married longtime girlfriend Cynthia Scurtis in a small ceremony in Dallas, followed by a reception at his 7,500-square-foot mansion. Among the guests were Cal Ripken, Rodríguez's boyhood idol. (2 November 2002)

Was a high school baseball teammate of Doug Mientkiewicz.

Became the youngest (27 years, 249 days) player to hit 300 home runs, breaking the record set by Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx (27 years, 328 days) April 2003]

Texas Rangers All-Time Slugging Percentage Leader (.615).

His 2005 salary of $25,705,118 is the highest in Major League Baseball.

Throughout Rodriguez's 10-year, $252 million deal, he earns a total of $0.87 per second, during the offseason and all.

His former teams have improved their records in the first season after his departure. In 2001, the Mariners won 25 more games. In 2004, the Rangers surpassed their dismal record by 18 games.

In 2003, Alex Rodriguez gave $3.9 million to the University of Miami to renovate its baseball stadium. The new facility will be named 'Mark Light Field at Alex Rodriguez Park.' Rodriguez had signed a letter of intent to play baseball for Miami, but was drafted out of high school by the Seattle Mariners. Initially, Rodriguez and the team could not agree to terms and Rodriguez planned to go ahead and play college ball instead. However, just days before he was to begin classes at the university, Seattle expanded its offer and Rodriguez elected to sign with the big league club. Rodriguez, who was also recruited by the university to play quarterback for its football team, remains an ardent Miami Hurricanes fan and can frequently be found at Hurricane sporting events, as well as working out at the school's athletic facilities in the off-season.

He married the former Cynthia Scurtis on November 2, 2002: the couple's first child, Natasha Alexander, was born on November 18, 2004.

In December 2003, Rodriguez became the first MLB player to get Punk'd and the first celebrity to deny the rights to air the prank on MTV.

After vacillating between playing for the Dominican Republic and the United States, Rodriguez, on January 17, 2006, declared his intention to play for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.

When he comes up to bat at Yankee Stadium, he currently comes out to the song Numb/Encore by Jay-Z and Linkin Park.

Despite the fact that his regular season statistics have been very good since coming to the New York Yankees, Alex has been criticized by some fans who feel that he lacks the ability to come through for his team "in the clutch". He has taken much of the blame for the Yankees failure to win the World Series since his arrival in New York.