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Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez, who has owned a home in Stamford, turns 39 on Sunday. The baseball player was born July 27, 1975, in Washington Heights, New York City.
Rodriguez was drafted first overall by the Seattle Mariners in 1993 and was signed right out of high school. In 1994, he began the season playing for Seattle's AAA affiliate, the Calgary Cannons.
He made his major league debut as the starting shortstop on July 8, 1994, in Boston at 18 years of age. In 1996, he became the Mariners' starting shortstop and finished second in voting for the AL MVP Award.
Rodriguez played at a high level in his three years with Texas, highlighted by his first AL MVP Award in 2003. Prior to the 2004 season, he was traded to the Yankees, for whom he converted to a third baseman due to incumbent shortstop Derek Jeter. In his first four seasons with New York, he was twice more named AL MVP.
Rodriguez became the youngest player ever to hit 500 career home runs and 600 home runs, reaching the milestones in 2007 and 2010, respectively. He won his first championship in 2009, and the following year, he became the career leader in home runs by a player of Hispanic descent.
In 2003, Rodriguez gave $3.9 million to the University of Miami to renovate its baseball stadium.
During his 20-year career, Rodriguez has amassed a .300 batting average, 654 home runs, 1,969 runs batted in (RBIs), and 2,939 hits. He is a 14-time All-Star and has won three American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, ten Silver Slugger Awards, and two Gold Glove Awards.
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