Alex Rodriguez News

"Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz shared a late meal Saturday night on the eve of Rodriguez's 33rd birthday at JER-NE restaurant and were joined by somebody Rodriguez predicts will develop into a star. Sitting with the perennial All Stars was Yonder Alonso, a Coral Gables, Fla., resident, former Miami University star and the seventh pick (by the Reds) in last month's draft who Rodriguez predicts will sign a $7 million contract soon. "Manny (Ramirez) and (Ortiz) are [my] close friends," Rodriguez said when asked if he often socializes with opponents before the Yanks' 9-2 loss to the Red Sox last night. Alonso is more than a friend to Rodriguez, a fellow Coral Gables resident. "He hits at my ..."

"Alex Rodriguez nearly pirouetted all the way from home plate to the mound, so extreme did his pain look after taking a Craig Hansen fastball to his left arm. In the Yankees' dugout, however, not a creature was stirring. The players stood atop the dugout in the top of the eighth inning. They would've been ready, had there been a bench-clearing brawl. But they didn't initiate one. It's true that A-Rod will never win the popularity contest in his own clubhouse, but this stony silence spoke more to the HBP's context. To the reality that Joba Chamberlain, who appears oddly determined to send Kevin Youkilis into retirement, has increased the stakes in The Rivalry. "I don't know. You'd have to ..."

"Alex Rodriguez has signed another big-league contract, joining the William Morris Agency in an attempt to extend his brand beyond the baseball diamond. The New York Yankees slugger signed with the powerhouse talent agency in Beverly Hills, Calif., according to published reports Tuesday. The deal was completed this month and set up by Rodriguez's manager, Guy Oseary, a music business mogul who has worked closely with William Morris. "Partnering with William Morris will enable me to broaden the scope of my career in creative and innovative ways," Rodriguez said in a statement in The Wall Street Journal. "I'm excited to see what we will be able to accomplish together, both domestically ..."

"George Steinbrenner had cleared the field in his cart, failing to create the kind of moment Ted Williams created at Fenway nine years back. Yogi and Whitey and Reggie and the Goose were done making their ceremonial throws, and suddenly there was a wide open stage begging for a leading man. Enough had been said about Yankee Stadium. The venue now needed a ballplayer worthy of its history and its haunts. The first scheduled ghost of the new stadium, Alex Rodriguez, arrived in the Bronx Tuesday night fixing to steal the show. Sure, he said he skipped the home run derby to protect the integrity of his swing for the balance of the regular season. Left unspoken was this cold, hard ..."

"There was All-Star magic in the pregame ceremonies when Cooperstown came to life on this historic site. But there is more Yankee Stadium magic ahead, Alex Rodriguez said. "We might have a little more magic in this place," Rodriguez said of the post All-Star Yankees, who would get home-field advantage in the World Series because the AL scored a 4-3, 15-inning marathon victory. The Yankees are going to need some. It would be good if Mystique and Aura and big hits showed up as well. They look like a team right now with no flow and their Yankee Stadium season could come to a close without an October. Because they are short the Yankees will need Rodriguez to be at his best more than ..."

"Alex Rodriguez, already showered and decked out in a snazzy suit and tie, met the media just outside the Yankee clubhouse Tuesday night while the All-Star game was still being played. Rodriguez, who came out of the game in the fifth inning, left the Stadium shortly thereafter. Rodriguez had a night of highs and lows - he was jazzed by the pregame ceremony featuring 49 Hall of Famers, calling it "by far the greatest show I've seen for an All-Star Game. New York knows how to do it best." But Terry Francona's plan to take out A-Rod in the middle of an inning to get him an extra ovation - he did the same thing an inning later with Derek Jeter and brought Mariano Rivera into the ..."

"This time Alex Rodriguez said all the right things. Over the years, A-Rod has found himself on the back (or front) pages for something awkward or controversial nearly as often as he has for a big hit. But yesterday, he spent an hour fielding questions about the All-Star Game and was a gracious host. "It's at the greatest stadium in the world, it's in New York, it's the greatest franchise in the world," Rodriguez said. "It's a great forum [for the All-Star Game]. We're excited to be hosting it." Rodriguez was cordial and funny and appropriately reverential in discussing Yankee Stadium's swan song. He didn't even get angry as Inside Edition and others questioned him about his very ..."

"Alex Rodriguez said Monday he wants to be a good ambassador and host for the All-Star Game -- he's the senior member of the American League team in a game played in Yankee Stadium, where he happens to be arguably the best baseball player on the planet."

"For the sake of convenience, and unwitting contrast, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter were set up a few feet apart for the news media during Monday’s American League All-Star availability, roughly the space that will separate them on the left side of the infield Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium."

"Jamie Tilley is going to ask somebody who understands the market what Alex Rodriguez's 537th home run ball is worth before deciding what to do with the souvenir he caught after Rodriguez passed Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run chart Saturday at Rogers Centre. "I don't know what the value is," the 36-year-old Barrie, Ontario, resident told The Post. "I looked a little bit at the Internet, but I want to talk to somebody who knows. The Yankees also said they would get back to me." According to a person in the sports memorabilia auction business, the ball that Rodriguez hit to tie Mantle on July 6 is worth between $20,000 and $25,000 and the ball Tilley caught is valued between ..."

"The crowd at the Rogers Centre has long enjoyed razzing Alex Rodriguez. But when he lined a home run off the left-field foul pole in the fourth inning yesterday, even Rodriguez's most ardent detractors had to be impressed. The shot was the 537th of Rodriguez's career, moving him past Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. Rodriguez is now alone in 13th place. Next up is Mike Schmidt, who hit 548. "These names are special names. You have to take a step back and enjoy the moment," Rodriguez said after the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 9-4. "When you think about Mantle, he's probably the most popular Yankee of all-time with the exception of Babe Ruth perhaps and (Joe) DiMaggio and (Lou) Gehrig. ..."

"From Madonna to The Mick with the start of a messy divorce in between, it's been a helluva week for Alex Rodriguez. With future ex-wife Cynthia claiming Madonna nuked her marriage by playing a role in the latest - but certainly not the last - scandal in Rodriguez's tumultuous life, the superstar third baseman passed Yankee icon and Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list yesterday, leading the Yankees to a much-needed 9-4 victory over the Blue Jays in front of 44,363 at Rogers Centre."

"The Rogers Centre customer who has Alex Rodriguez' 537th home run ball that sent Rodriguez past Mickey Mantle into 13th place on the all-time list wants to talk to Yankee lawyers before he thinks about turning it over. According to a source, the ball that struck the left-field foul pole landed in the Blue Jays' bullpen. A person believed to be a bullpen catcher flipped the ball to a fan and said, "Here is A-Rod's 537th." When a Yankee official approached the fan and asked for the ball, the fan requested a meeting with Yankee lawyers and indicated he wanted to be reimbursed before giving the ball, which isn't authenticated, up."

"Are participants in the Home Run Derby hampered in the second half? The answer is no, there is no sign of any ill effects felt league-wide among participants in the Home Run Derby. It just takes a little elbow grease to get to that conclusion. As it turns out, if you take the 112 participants since the derby went to a multi-round format, there is a drop from first half to second half. Derby participants on average hit a home run per 12.7 at-bats in the first half of the season and a homer per 14.9 at-bats in the second half. And their general batting goes downhill as well, from roughly a .997 OPS to roughly a .959. Still want to swing for the fences, boys? Actually, ..."

"Alex Rodriguez believes everything happens for a reason. So it was no coincidence to him that the reigning American League MVP passed Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list on the same day that the man once touted as Mantle's heir apparent died. A-Rod's fourth-inning home run, a solo shot off Toronto lefthander Brian Tallet, was No.537 in his Hall of Fame career, moving him past Mantle for sole possession of 13th place on the all-time list."

"Posters advertising the 2009 World Baseball Classic are mounted all over the Blue Jays' home ballpark, which will host first-round action in March featuring Canada , Italy , Venezuela and the United States . The rosters won't be set for several more months, but two of Team USA's biggest stars from the inaugural event in 2006 said Saturday that they would like another crack at the international tournament."

"Alex Rodriguez passed Mickey Mantle in career home runs Saturday in the Yankees' 9-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. He did not recognize the impact of the feat until after the game, when he learned that Bobby Murcer had died"

"Alex Rodriguez shows his frustration as he goes 0-for-4 at the plate Thursday night. Alex Rodriguez has made his share of headlines during the past 10 days, but unfortunately for both him and the Yankees, none of the coverage has been for his play on the field."

"If only Madonna had sung the national anthem. The Alex Rodriguez media circus swept into PNC Park on Thursday when the Pirates hosted the Yankees for a make-up game. Baseball was a backdrop to the Rodriguez divorce scandal that has captured the New York - and national -- media in the past week."

"As his teammates jumped into dress slacks and shirts with buttons for a flight to Pittsburgh late yesterday afternoon, Alex Rodriguez donned jeans, a T-shirt and bolted the Yankees' clubhouse long before the team bus split for the airport. Rodriguez, who is at the beginning of what many predict will be a nasty divorce, didn't accompany the Yankees to Pittsburgh. Instead, he will arrive today for tonight's makeup game against the Pirates. "He had to take care of something," Joe Girardi said of Rodriguez and wouldn't elaborate further."

"It has already generated lots of unwanted attention and may wind up costing him a ton of money, yet this pending divorce won't be as damaging for Alex Rodriguez as the first one. Roughly 10 years ago, A-Rod split with his original soul mate, a person who was right for him in every way. The details of that breakup remain sketchy, another case filed under irreconcilable differences, although by most suspicions, that difference was A-Rod's ego. There was no room for the three of them, and that was the cue for Derek Jeter to go his own separate way. Just like that, A-Rod lost not only his best baseball buddy, but someone who could've shown him the right way to conduct a balanced life, both in ..."

"Alex Rodriguez never lives in the past. He always is moving forward. Don't expect his impending divorce to impact his baseball world. A-Rod separates his real-world problems from his baseball life. That always has been the way for him. This is someone who grew up with one goal: to be the best player in the world. He overcame his father leaving the family and his mom working two jobs. When life became more difficult, he worked harder at baseball. Rodriguez always has had to rely on himself, and now that his wife, Cynthia, the mother of his two young daughters, is divorcing him, A-Rod probably will focus even more on his baseball world."

"When Alex Rodriguez meets people and Mickey Mantle's name comes up, there's always the same reaction. "Every person that I run to in the streets always has a big smile when you mention Mickey Mantle," A-Rod said last night. "It seems like he was everyone's favorite player." Rodriguez tied the Mick in last night's 5-4 Yankee win, blasting his 536th career homer to move into a tie for 13th on the all-time list."

"News item: The New York Daily News reported recently that Alex Rodriguez and wife Cynthia are splitting just months after the birth of their second daughter.My take: A-Rod, 32, has been seen around New York with Madonna, 49, and the gossip rags are buzzing because both reportedly are having marital problems. If they really are an item, Alex could soon be living in a material world with a middle-aged material girl.News item: Joey Chestnut needed to chew into overtime to defeat Takeru Kobayashi in the annual hot dog-eating contest Friday at Nathan's on Coney Island."

"The Fourth of July couldn't have felt much like a holiday for Alex Rodriguez. He had his personal life splashed on the front page Friday morning, and he came up short in the afternoon in the Yankees' soggy 6-3 loss to the Red Sox. Rodriguez has been scarce in the clubhouse this week, after it was reported he has been seeing pop icon Madonna and that his marriage is on the rocks. Rodriguez left quickly after yesterday's game without stopping to answer questions."

"Alex Rodriguez grimaced as he saw his fly ball caught by Jacoby Ellsbury, ending the Yankees' dismal loss Thursday night to the Red Sox. It was a sour day for the Yankee third baseman, who was 0-for-4, struck out in a key first-inning situation and had to catch glimpses of at least one fan in the stands sporting a Madonna T-shirt. A-Rod usually performs well on the field when his name is in boldface type on tabloid gossip pages, but he is only 2-for-11 since a published report Tuesday linked him romantically to Madonna. In the past, Rodriguez has thrived under such off-the-field scrutiny, and Yankee manager Joe Girardi praised the third baseman for his ability to deal with it."

"THE fight against cancer gets more difficult by the day for John Challis, but he wanted to see a game at Yankee Stadium, especially after the 18-year-old got the chance to meet the Yankees last week in Pittsburgh and was touched by their kindness. A family friend got tickets and a hotel reservation was made near Newark Airport. John's father Scott put a call into the Yankees on Monday to tell them John was coming to last night's game against Texas. He wanted to know if anything could be done about getting a ride to the famous ballpark in the Bronx. No problem, he was told, arrangements were made, and a midtown hotel was reserved. And, by the way, your driver's name is Alex."

"John Challis shows up at Stadium with new pal Alex Rodriguez, who befriended 18-year-old cancer patient last week when Yanks were in Pittsburgh and invited him to game. John Challis' eyes lit up and his smile stretched widely. He was behind the batting cage on the field at the Stadium, standing next to Alex Rodriguez and joking about how A-Rod was "an aggressive driver" on their ride to the ballpark Tuesday in the Yankee third baseman's navy blue SUV. "I like that," Challis said. All the horns and the traffic amazed the 18-year-old from Freedom, Pa., who was making his first visit to New York. So did the Stadium. Challis, who has been fighting cancer for more than two years, met ..."

"This was behind the Yankee batting cage late Tuesday afternoon and there is suddenly this huge crowd of people around Alex Rodriguez, who hits them where Mickey Mantle used to hit them at Yankee Stadium, and makes the kind of headlines The Mick would have made if he had lived in a tabloid, TMZ.com world. Brian Cashman, the general manager of the Yankees, had been talking about his baseball team, and the season it has played so far, and the Red Sox series to be played at Yankee Stadium over the July 4 weekend. Somebody who had not been crawling the Internet all afternoon asked Cashman why there is a crowd around A-Rod this time, just because there is always a crowd around him ..."

"Alex Rodriguez may be the American League's leading vote-getter for this year's All-Star Game, but the reigning MVP has no plans on making it a two-day event. Even with the All-Star festivities taking place in his home ballpark, A-Rod said he would not participate in the Home Run Derby, which takes place the night before the All-Star Game. "I try to stay away from that," Rodriguez said. "My responsibility is to the New York Yankees. I need my swing to be at its best." Like many players, Rodriguez insists that taking part in the Home Run Derby can have a damaging effect on his swing."

"Alex Rodriguez was just one of many Yankees whom Oliver Perez placed in handcuffs yesterday at Shea Stadium. But because he had two chances - one against Perez in the fourth and another versus Billy Wagner in the ninth - and didn't deliver, Rodriguez shouldered the blame for a 3-1 loss that allowed the Mets to win four of six Subway Series games. "If I come up with a hit in either opportunity maybe we win the game," Rodriguez said."

"Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are one step closer to being teammates on the American League All-Star team. The latest round of voting results shows the Yankee infielders holding commanding leads at their respective positions. Jeter leads all AL players with 1,988,251 votes, giving him a lead of more than 800,000 votes over Texas' Michael Young. A-Rod has 1,940,827 votes, nearly a million more than Boston's Mike Lowell."

"Past the Yankees' clubhouse and just outside the umpires' room hangs a large portrait of Babe Ruth. Three generations of Ruth's family surrounded the portrait before Saturday's game, in this, the final season of the House That Ruth Built, to reminisce on their patriarch and the American icon. Ruth's daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, grandson Tom Stevens and two great grandchildren, Brent and Amanda Stevens, then presented Alex Rodriguez with the 2007 Babe Ruth Home Run Award, which is given annually to the major league leader in homers the previous season. A-Rod led the majors with 54 in 2007."

"Maybe being hurt doesn't hurt so bad after all. At least not for Alex Rodriguez since his return from the disabled list. A-Rod has been on fire since coming back. It could be because of the high number of at-bats he got during two extended spring games and one simulated game in his rehab from a strained quad. He played in three exhibition games in Tampa last month, and as hitting coach Kevin Long noted yesterday, he collected a staggering total of 25 at-bats. "It's him taking the bull by the horns," Long said, "and saying, 'You know what? I'm going to make sure I'm ready.' ""

"Alex Rodriguez, needy superstar, wanted another baseball mentor. Pete Rose, hit king and pariah, needed a baseball outlet and a path to baseball legitimacy. Through the magic of text-messaging, the game's best active player and its all-time hit leader/controversy magnet have become e-confidantes. According to a story posted on ESPN's Web site Monday, Rose has served as an electronic hitting coach of sorts for Rodriguez since the two met at a Las Vegas mall in January of 2006. Rodriguez sat with Rose while Rose signed autographs, asking about Rose's career, and when he left, A-Rod said, "Text me - let's talk hitting.""

"Chris said he dislikes the tradition of throwing back an opponent's home run that has developed in the Dome's left-field bleachers. "I've never been in favor of the throwback because it's something we stole from the Cubs fans in Wrigley Field," he said. Fink paused, took a sip from his beer bottle and said: "I found out the peer pressure is unbelievable. This is the first home run ball I've ever gotten." This time, the home run ball hit by a Yankee headed right for Fink. He reached ... and caught it? "Let's go with that," he said. "Let's say I caught it clean." And then came the pressure."

"Is it a coincidence that the Yankees have scored 43 runs in the six games since A-Rod's return, after managing only 12 in the seven games previous? They think not. "It changes our lineup drastically, puts people where they are hitting most of the time," said Girardi. Abreu, moved into the three-hole from the clean-up spot in Rodriguez's absence, is 9-for-his-last 21. Cano has continued his resurgence with a 10-for-19 streak, including game winning and game-tying RBIs in the last four games, and Jason Giambi now has eight hits in his last 21 at-bats against lefties."

"Mike Mussina has a small greaseboard hanging on his locker. After last night's game, it read: "Balls that hit the yellow steps are usually homers. Not tonight." The line was referring to Alex Rodriguez, who was robbed of a second homer in last night's 8-0 rout over the Orioles. For the second time in the last three games, there was a blown home run call at the Stadium."

"When Alex Rodriguez reported for work Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, he did not have an S on his chest, he was not wearing a cape and he was not planning to leap any tall buildings. Rodriguez is a super player, but he is not Superman. He is one man, one very important contributor on a stagnant team. The Yankees were relieved to again have their best player in the cleanup spot against the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees have struggled to score runs without Rodriguez, who missed 17 games with a right quadriceps injury, and Jorge Posada, who is still out with a shoulder injury."

"The anemic lineup that has sunk the Yankees to the bottom of the AL East is about to get back its most important component - Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez got two hits Monday in the final rehabilitation assignment of his return from a strained right quadriceps. The reigning AL MVP will be back in the Bombers' lineup Tuesday when the Orioles come to the Stadium."

"This is a dream setting for Alex Rodriguez and a dream entrance, seven months after it seemed he had made the worst and tackiest exit any famous Yankee has ever made. He will come riding into Yankee Stadium Tuesday and be greeted as if he's riding Big Brown. The Yankees haven't been able to win very much without him. The Yankees are now 20-24, same as they were after 44 games last year, and are starting to fall behind the Red Sox again. The Yankees are in last place in the AL East and have the third-worst record in the league and are 10th in the league in runs scored. It is why a nation, in this case the nation that is all Yankee fans everywhere, turns its lonely eyes to A-Rod."

"They'll get the reigning MVP back Tuesday and tuck him comfortably in the cleanup spot, adding a modicum of balance to a lineup dominated by lefthanded hitters. Their other batters will get "energized," according to Hank Steinbrenner, by the presence of their best power threat and, Steinbrenner hopes, yet another slow start will be washed away by a sizzling run. So, Alex Rodriguez is back from the disabled list - Yankee problems solved, right? Not so fast. While Steinbrenner, the team's co-chairman, said Sunday that A-Rod's return will "make a big difference," even the Yankees themselves don't believe that all is right just because A-Rod's back."

"One after another Alex Rodriguez blasted moon-shot home runs into the overcast Florida sky. His stroke was smooth and effortless and the balls seemed to travel for miles, landing in the woods beyond the outfield fence. Sure, it was only on a back field at the Yankees' minor league complex. Sure, it was batting practice. Sure, the pitches were right over the middle, traveling slower than some cars on nearby I-275. But for the Yankees, nothing could diminish this fact - Rodriguez looked ready to return to The Bronx. And tonight, he will."

"Alex Rodriguez's manager already has tried to shrink the expectations that will encroach him the moment he makes the familiar turn into the first-base clubhouse. His teammates have been quick to shoulder their share of the blame for the malaise that has marked his absence. Those are nice things to do. But this is New York, and these are the Yankees, and this is the greatest player of his generation earning more money than any baseball player has ever earned, so the truths that will greet A-Rod this evening are simple ones, and recognizable ones if you are familiar with the lore and legacy he now occupies: The Yankees turn their lonely eyes to you, No. 13. Woo-woo-woo."

"In A-god they trust. It is no surprise when you dial 242-211-5560 it is not a working number. Those digits represent the Yankees' run totals in the past 10 games, starting with the deuce scored in Sunday's embarrassing 11-2 Subway Series loss to the Mets. They have dropped five of six, are four games south of .500 and live with the rats in the AL East cellar. Clearly, whatever the Yankees are doing isn't working."

"Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam to center field during a simulated game at Tampa, Fla., and remained on track to rejoin the Yankees lineup on Tuesday night. "It's the best I've felt since the injury," A-Rod told The Associated Press. Today, A-Rod is scheduled to test his right quad in one final extended spring training game."

"A spirited Alex Rodriguez put himself through a tough workout here yesterday then pronounced himself "ready to go" when it was done. The Yankees third baseman will stay here one more day and play in an extended spring training game then, barring a setback, head to The Bronx for tomorrow's game with Baltimore. "I feel good," Rodriguez said. "This is the best I've felt since the injury.""

"The Yankees expect to finally receive an MVP-level boost beginning Tuesday night against the Orioles, as long as Alex Rodriguez comes through his final test Monday in Tampa without a hitch. A-Rod belted a grand slam among 15 unofficial at-bats under simulated game conditions against four Yankees minor-league pitchers Sunday in Tampa. Joe Girardi said the All-Star third baseman is expected back for the first time since reinjuring his right thigh April 28 when Baltimore arrives for a three-game series beginning Tuesday."

"The smile on Alex Rodriguez's face as he crossed home plate told the story - the Yankees third baseman felt just fine, thank you. A long home run will do that, even when it's only in an extended spring training game against minor leaguers. "It's been a while," Rodriguez said of the homer. Rodriguez's recovery from a strained right quad took another step forward yesterday as he went 1-for-4 with the home run, a walk and two strikeouts in his first game action since April 28. The plan is for Rodriguez to return to the Yankees on Tuesday against the Orioles."

"If Alex Rodriguez doesn't suffer a setback in his right quad between today and Monday night, he will rejoin the Yankees Tuesday and try to boost a lineup that is drowning in oxygen. "I will see how my body responds (today), play (extended spring training games) Saturday, Sunday and Monday and hopefully tee it up Tuesday," Rodriguez said after running the bases, fielding ground balls and taking batting practice prior to yesterday's 5-2 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field."