Alex Rodriguez

Alexander Emanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975 in New York City), nicknamed A-Rod, is widely regarded as one of the best players in Major League Baseball and at a young age already is being talked about among the all-time greats.

Miscellaneous

• His 2005 salary of $25,705,118 is the highest in Major League Baseball.
• His former teams have improved their records in the first season after his departure. In 2001, the Mariners won 25 more games. In 2004, the Rangers surpassed their dismal record by 18 games.
• In 2003, Alex Rodriguez gave $3.9 million to the University of Miami to renovate its baseball stadium. The new facility will be named 'Mark Light Field at Alex Rodriguez Park.' Rodriguez had signed a letter of intent to play baseball for Miami, but was drafted out of high school by the Seattle Mariners. Initially, Rodriguez and the team could not agree to terms and Rodriguez planned to go ahead and play college ball instead. However, just days before he was to begin classes at the university, Seattle sweetened its offer and Rodriguez elected to sign with the big league club. Rodriguez, who was also recruited by the university to play quarterback for its football team, remains an ardent Miami Hurricanes fan and can frequently be found at Hurricane sporting events, as well as working out at the school's athletic facilities in the off-season.
• He married the former Cynthia Scurtis on November 2, 2002: the couple's first child, Natasha Alexander, was born on November 18, 2004.
• In February 2004, he was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher, but according to People Magazine, he told Kutcher to destroy the tape and never air it on MTV.