Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB).
He played seven seasons with Seattle Mariners, three seasons with the Texas Rangers and twelve seasons with the New York Yankees. Rodriguez began his professional career as one of the sport's most highly touted prospects, and is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez’s Ups and Downs Through the Years: From Best Friends to Rivals and Teammates
usmagazine.comBaseball buds — or frenemies? Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez began their careers as BFFs, but their relationship took a lot of twists and turns over the years.The duo first met in 1993 at a college baseball game between the University of Miami and the University of Michigan, and one year later, they got to know each other while playing in the minor leagues.
Though Jeter had been playing since 1992, Rodriguez made his MLB debut first, playing his first game with the Seattle Mariners in 1994.After Jeter made his New York Yankees debut in 1995, he and his pal quickly became two of the most notable names in baseball, even sharing a cover of Sports Illustrated that proclaimed them as part of “the finest group of shortstops since World War II.”They weren’t yet teammates, but their friendship was already legendary.
In the 2011 biography The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, Yankees and Mariners players recalled teasing the duo about their super tight bond.
When the two clubs faced each other in 1998, one of Jeter’s former teammates asked him, “Are you going to your boyfriend’s house?”In late 2000, however, the cracks in their relationship began forming.
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