Mariners Greatest Hits: Shortstop Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez

Many Mariners fans may feel the way that Alex Rodriguez looks when they think about his saga in baseball. Thankfully M’s fans got to see A-Rod before he turned into A-Roid, but his greediness led him away from Seattle. Yet, no matter what he did off the field or did during his time with the Mariners, Texas Rangers or the New York Yankees, we’re here to look at the best outings Rodriguez had before he went “bad” in Texas and New York.

Before A-Rod was making more than 20 million dollars -which he did since 2001 (except 2014) and will continue to do until 2017- he was playing like his was worth that kind of money with the Mariners.

In his first full season with the club, Rodriguez was so good that he ranked second in the American League MVP vote, only three votes behind the winner, Juan Gonzalez, he was selected to the All-Star Game, and won the Silver Slugger award, all while he was making a measly (for him) $442,000.

From 1996 through 2000, A-Rod has some of his best games of his career, and they were done in a Mariners uniform, and while he was clean.

The following slides, in no particular order, will highlight three of his best outings during his time in Seattle based on home many hits, home runs, RBIs etc. he collected that day to help the M’s bring home a win.

Whether you loved him or you hated him, there’s no denying that he was exceptionally good. So without further ado, here are our top three games of Alex Rodriguez’s career with the Seattle Mariners.

May 12th, 1996

As our own, Colby Patnode addressed in our announcement of A-Rod as the Mariners greatest shortstop of all-time, had Rodriguez not played as many games as he did in 1994 and 1995, he would’ve been under contract with the team in 2001. He also would’ve been named Rookie of the Year.

Within his first 25 games in 1996,  A-Rod was already showing that he was a big star in the league. In just over two dozen games, A-Rod was batting .312,  with six home runs, 23 RBIS, 12 doubles, with six walks drawn.

In this mid-May affair, game 22 of his 96′ campaign, A-Rod helped increase those numbers even more.

He had a 3rd inning two-run home run and a 6th inning sacrifice fly that gave him three RBIs, but he wasn’t done there. An 8th inning home run was his second of the afternoon, padding the M’s lead to 8-5, which is how the game would end.

Not only would the Mariners not have won that night without this impressive outing by A-Rod, but the M’s shortstop wouldn’t have set career-highs with two home runs and five RBIs in a single game if he hadn’t played.

He would have 11 two-home run games with the Mariners and that streak would last until his final season with the M’s in 2000 when he hit three that April. The RBIs record didn’t last as long; he would best his five runs batted in with six five days later.

September 30th, 2000

Right before A-Rod would leave the Mariners organization in the dust because 180 million dollars just wasn’t enough, he left M’s fans with one last memory.

In a complete dismantling of the Los Angeles Angels, A-Rod would have one of his best games of his career with any team.

In the 1st, A-Rod took advantage of Tim Belcher’s pitch and drove it into the stands for a two-run shot.

In the 3rd, Belcher was able to redeem himself by forcing Rodriguez to pop out to first. But, not reaching base awoke a beast in the Mariners shortstop because he would make the Angels pay in his next at-bats.

In the 4th, A-Rod singled to right scoring Mike Cameron for his 3rd RBI of the night. In the 7th, he smacked his second home run of the day. This time he blasted a three-run shot that extended the Mariners lead to 9-2. It was his final multi-home game in an M’s uniform.

But A-Rod wasn’t done there, although none of his remaining at-bats would have an equal impact to that home run. He would strikeout in the 7th then single in the 8th and in the 9th, he would hit a sacrifice fly to bring home another run.

His seven RBIs this night tied his career-high that he set earlier in the year, and it was his 18th and final game in a Mariners uniform in which he had four or more hits.