Texas Rangers Star Makes UM Announcement
Oct. 8, 2002
Watch The Press Conference Live!
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – This Thursday at 11 a.m., the University of Miami and Texas Rangers All-Star shortstop Alex Rodriguez will hold a press conference on the diamond at Mark Light Field on the UM campus.
The public is encouraged to attend.
Alex Rodriguez, 27, serves as national spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Club, a position he has held since June of 2002. He is a major voice in the national campaign’s main message, titled “Campaign 3PM”, which looks to provide safe after-school programs for children. Rodriguez also put together the “A-Rod’s Club”, which delivers free tickets for numerous Texas Rangers baseball games to members of the Boys & Girls Clubs in the Greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Rodriguez’s connection to the Boys & Girls Club dates back to his childhood in Miami, where he spent a majority of his free time at what he affectionately calls his “second home”, at the Hank Kline Boys & Girls Club.
Rodriguez was born in New York City on July 27, 1975, and lived there with his family until he was four years old. The Rodriguez family then moved back to the Dominican Republic, where Alex first picked up the game of baseball.
Soon after, his family moved back to the United States settling in Miami. He started playing baseball with the Boys & Girls Club league in Coconut Grove and later excelled in high school with Miami Westminster Christian.
It was in high school where Rodriguez starting drawing the noted baseball attention. With an unrivaled work ethic, Rodriguez was invited and participated in the United State Junior Olympic baseball program early in his sophomore year. This level of international experience assisted the rising star in dominating the rest of his high school career batting .419 with 17 home runs, 70 runs batted in and 90 steals in 100 games.
In 1993, Rodriguez signed a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Miami, but choose to sign with the Seattle Mariners after being selected the No. 1 overall pick in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
His first season with the Mariners in 1994 saw him progress through the farm system and spend one month in the majors. The 1995 season also saw the emerging talent go back-and-forth between Triple A Calgary and Seattle.
In his first full season in the majors in 1996, Rodriguez hit .358 with 36 home runs, 123 RBIs, 141 runs scored and 54 doubles while playing stellar defense. He became the 14th youngest player to make the All-Star team at 20 years, 11 months and 18 days of age.
In the following years, Rodriguez, a seven-time MLB All-Star, would continue to excel and etch his name among the greatest shortstops of all-time. In 1999, he joined the exclusive 40/40 club (40 home runs and 40 stolen bases), a feat that has only been accomplished by Barry Bonds (1993) and Jose Canseco (1988).
Following the 2000 season, Rodriguez signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers, and went on to record one of his finest seasons as a player. He hit an astounding 52 home runs and collected 135 RBI. His 52 home runs in 2001 surpassed a 43-year old record among shortstops, previously held by Hall of Fame great Ernie Banks.
This past season, Rodriguez broke his own home run record at shortstop hitting an American League-high 57 in 2002. He is the second-youngest player in MLB history to surpass 250 career home runs (298). Perhaps, one of Rodriguez’s most amazing statistics is that he has played in all 324 games over the last two seasons.
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