Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”, is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman. He played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees. Take a look below for 33 more awesome and interesting facts about Alex Rodriguez.

1. Rodriguez began his professional career as one of the sport’s most highly touted prospects, and is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

2. Rodriguez amassed a .295 batting average, over 600 home runs, over 2,000 runs batted in, over 2,000 runs scored, over 3,000 hits, and over 300 stolen bases, the only player in MLB history to achieve all of those feats.

3. He was a 14 time All Star, winning three American League Most Valuable Player Awards, ten Silver Slugger Awards, and two Gold Glove Awards.

4. Rodriguez is also the career record holder for grand slams with 25.

5. He signed two of the most lucrative sports contracts in baseball.

6. He also led a controversial career due to some of his behaviors, including the use of performance enhancing drugs.

7. The Mariners selected Rodriguez first overall in the 1993 MLB draft, and he debuted in the major leagues the following year at the age of 18.

8. In 1996, he became the Mariners’ starting shortstop, won the major league batting championship, and finished second in voting for the AL MVP Award.

9. Rodriguez was born in 1975 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan to Dominican immigrants Victor and Lourdes Rodriguez.

10. He was raised alongside his two half-siblings, Joe and Suzy, from his mother’s first marriage.

11. When he was four years old, the family moved to the Dominican Republic, then to Miami, Florida.

12. Growing up, Rodriguez’s favorite baseball players were Keith Hernandez, Dale Murphy and Cal Ripken Jr., and his favorite team was the New York Mets.

13. At the end of Alex’s freshman year at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, he transferred to Westminster Christian School, where he was a star shortstop on the baseball team and played quarterback on the football team.

14. In 100 games, he batted .419 with 90 stolen bases.

15. Westminster went on to win the high school national championship in his junior year.

16. He was first top prep All-American as a senior, hitting .505 with nine home runs, 36 runs batted in, and 35 stolen bases in 35 attempts in 33 games.

17. He was selected as the USA Baseball Junior Player of the Year and as Gatorade’s national baseball student athlete of the year.

18. In 1993, Rodriguez became the first high school player to ever try out for the United States national baseball team.

19. He was regarded as the top prospect in the country.

20. Rodriguez signed a letter of intent to play baseball for Miami of Florida and was also recruited by Miami to play quarterback for its football team.

21. Rodriguez turned down Miami’s baseball scholarship offer and never played college baseball, opting instead to sign with the Seattle Mariners after being selected in the first round of the 1993 amateur draft at the age of 17.

22. Rodriguez also has a half-brother, Victor M. Rodriguez, who was born to Alex’s father Victor Sr. and his then-wife Pouppe Martinez in 1960. The couple divorced a year later, and Victor Jr. was raised by his mother.

23. Victor Jr., who is an officer in the United States Air Force, fell out of touch with Alex for a period of 23 years, until they met at a Texas Rangers game in 2003.

24. His nephew, Joe Dunand, is a professional baseball player.

25. In 2002, he married Cynthia Scurtis, a psychology graduate he had met at a gym in Miami, Florida.

26. The couple’s first child, Natasha Alexander, was born on November 18, 2004. On April 21, 2008, Cynthia gave birth to their second child, Ella Alexander, in Miami, Florida.

27. Cynthia Rodriguez filed for divorce on July 7, 2008, citing “emotional abandonment” of her and their children, as well as, “extra marital affairs and other marital misconduct” by her husband.

28. Rodriguez used to own a Mercedes-Benz dealership in League City, Texas, and in his free time, Rodriguez buys and collects art.

29. He is an investor for eSports team NRG Esports.

30. As of 2011, Rodriguez is represented by sports agent Dan Lozano.

31. As of February 2017, he has been dating Jennifer Lopez. In March 2019, they announced their engagement.

32. In 2003, Rodriguez gave $3.9 million to the University of Miami to renovate its baseball stadium. The new facility was renamed Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

33. Despite not having attended the school, he received the University of Miami’s Edward T. Foote II Alumnus of Distinction Award in 2007 as an honorary alumnus.