Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez
Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez, nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American professional baseball designated hitter for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez was one of the sport's most highly touted prospects and is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. During his 20-year career, Rodriguez has amassed a .297 batting average, 696 home runs, over 2000 runs batted in, over 2000 runs scored, and over...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth27 July 1975
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I know what kind of a crazy competitor I am. If I'm in Lakeland in March and my country is playing Japan in the semifinals in Arizona, I know I'd want to be there. I'm the best guy available to help the team.
It was a great event. I give the event an A-plus. The only adjustment I'd make is to bring Team USA together on Feb. 1. I think everyone would do it.
The urgency is at an all-time high, because of all the talk about ages and contracts.
I feel more accepted in this clubhouse this year. I feel like I'm one of the guys in here now. And last year, it wasn't their fault, it was my fault. I was one person trying to get to know 100 people. You're going to have a better rapport with people in your second year than your first, this is a more comfortable feeling.
It would have been crushing, ... I know Joe wanted this game very badly.
I've been in a lot of these races, and a lot of them, I've finished second or third, ... I thought David had as good a chance as I did. I thought defense was probably the deciding factor.
Now we can go and try to win in New York, and try to go to the next level.
It would be a great privilege, ... I think this is the year that anything's possible, because I don't think there's one runaway guy.
It's frustrating because we had the type of year that I thought could be a world championship year with all of the adversity we had all year, ... We left our guts out on the field.
It's frustrating because you see how devastating he can be. You talk to guys on other teams and they marvel at how good his stuff is. When he puts it together, he's going to be a force for us.
I think it gave us a little fire in our butts. We were a little flat, and I thought after that, we kind of picked it up a little bit.
I had a great year, something I'm very proud of. I left my guts on the field, I left my heart out there, so I'm not going to hang my head. I'm just going to go out and learn from it and become a better Yankee.
I've had so much success there, it's the place I feel like I've done the most damage. You can't let a game or two over the course of 75 or 100 games determine how you feel.
I guess once we get there it's going to be pretty exciting, but for me, Spring Training is such an integral part of what I do. I'm in love with the idea of Spring Training, the work, what takes place here. For me, it's going to be interesting to see how I get my work done there.