Perhaps the most controversial man in baseball history, New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez announces he’s going to hang’em up after 2017.
By William Chase
News has broke that the great, controversial slugger, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, will retire following the 2017 season.
There will probably never be anyone that’s ever going to match the luster that is A-Rod.
From the dominant stature of baseball talent on the field, to the distractions and everything that went with the A-Rod circus off it, it’s been quite the career.
He stands just 75 homers shy of Barry Bonds for the All-Time lead.
Of course the accusations and admittance of performance-enhancing drugs will make it hard for him to enter Cooperstown one day. Regardless of what one feels about the use of PED’s, there were plenty of other off-the-field, as well as on-field theatrics that caught the ire of some competitors.
A-Rod yells HA!:
A-Rod runs through Dallas Braden‘s mound:
A-Rod and the glove:
A-Rod and Jason Varitek go at it:
Yes, the former first overall pick has thundered through his 21-and-counting year career. He was able to redeem himself to Yankees’ fans after many failed playoff appearances, both collectively but ultimately on Alex, as he broke out in a big way in the 2009 postseason, hitting .365.
Though much has been made about Rodriguez’s playoff failures, he hit .313 in 1997 and .371 in 2000 with the Seattle Mariners. Rodriguez hit .320 in the 2004 postseason with the Yankees.
However his 2005 and 2006 seasons in the postseason saw him struggle mightily, when he hit a combine 3-29. The 2009 postseason was his best as far as six home runs and 18 runs batted in to go with 19 hits.
Rodriguez seemed to love the spotlight, even if it didn’t always love him back. He seems like a likable-enough guy. It’s the decisions he has made throughout the course of his career that leaves you scratching your head.
BREAKING: Alex Rodriguez told ESPN's Andrew Marchand he will retire after the 2017 season.https://t.co/Fw5TrfNASE pic.twitter.com/bLzIisxibP
— ESPN (@espn) March 23, 2016
