Alex Rodriguez Early Life

After his major league campaign in 1994 was cut short by the players' strike, Rodríguez split most of 1995 between the Mariners and their AAA club, the Tacoma Rainiers, 30 miles away, before joining the major league roster permanently in August. In the Mariners' playoff run, Rodriguez made a pair of postseason appearances. Memorably, he consoled second baseman Joey Cora, who cried after the Mariners' loss to the Cleveland Indians in the 1995 American League Championship Series (ALCS).

Rodríguez took over as the regular shortstop the following year and became a superstar, hitting 36 home runs and pacing the American League with a .358 batting average. He also led the American League in runs, total bases, and doubles; these were great numbers even by the standards of the Kingdome, one of the American League's best hitter's parks. He came close to being the youngest MVP in baseball history, but fell 3 points short to Juan González in the voting. He may have been denied the honor by the two Seattle-area sportswriters who gave him 8th- and 9th-place votes in the balloting.[citation needed]

Rodriguez was a favorite with Mariners fans. He hit for the cycle with them in 1997, but hit only 23 home runs and batted .300 that year. The Mariners won the division but were quickly eliminated from the playoffs. Nonetheless, Rodriguez recovered with authority in 1998 by becoming just the third member of the 40 home run/40 stolen bases club, with 42 HR and 46 SB. In 1999, despite missing over 30 games with an injury and playing the second half of the season at Safeco Field, a considerably less hitter-friendly ballpark than the Kingdome, he matched his previous year's HR total.

A-Rod entered 2000 as the cornerstone of his franchise, which had recently dealt superstars Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey, Jr. Rodriguez put up great numbers as the team's remaining superstar; he hit 41 more HRs and batted .316 while playing in the best pitcher's park in the AL. The Mariners won the AL Wild Card in 2000, and Rodriguez hit well in the playoffs, but his team lost to the New York Yankees in the ALCS.