About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 150. Chapters: Alex Rodriguez, Rickey Henderson, Russell Branyan, Ichiro Suzuki, Matt Lawton, Ken Griffey, Jr., Randy Johnson, Milton Bradley (baseball), Jamie Moyer, Bill Stein, Cliff Lee, R.A. Dickey, Felix Hernandez, Gaylord Perry, Omar Vizquel, Byron McLaughlin, Bobby Valentine, Hisashi Iwakuma, Goose Gossage, Derek Lowe, Mike Sweeney, Raul Ibanez, Rafael Soriano, Brandon Morrow, Adrian Beltre, Eric Byrnes, Doug Fister, Ron Villone, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Michael Pineda, Mike Jackson (right-handed pitcher), Munenori Kawasaki, Casey Kotchman, Kenji Johjima, Kevin Pasley, Mike Cameron, Jesus Montero, Ruppert Jones, Edgar Martinez, Dan Meyer (first baseman), Endy Chavez, Ben Broussard, Tino Martinez, Yorvit Torrealba, Freddy Garcia, Larry Milbourne, Bill Hall (utility player), Miguel Batista, Erik Bedard, Jack Cust. Excerpt: Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975) is an American baseball third baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez is considered one of the best all-around baseball players of all time. He is the youngest player ever to hit 500 home runs, breaking the record Jimmie Foxx set in 1939, and the youngest to hit 600, besting Babe Ruth's record by over a year. Rodriguez has fourteen 100-RBI seasons in his career, more than any other player in history. On September 24, 2010, Rodriguez hit two home runs, surpassing Sammy Sosa's mark of 609 home runs, and became the all-time leader in home runs by a player of Hispanic descent. In December 2007, Rodriguez and the Yankees agreed to a 10-year, $275 million contract. This contract was the richest contract in baseball history (breaking his previous record of $252 million). In February 2009, after previously denying use of performance-enhancing drugs, including during a 2007 interview with Katie Couric on 60 Minutes, Rodriguez admitted to using steroids, saying he used them from 2001 to 2003 when playing for the Texas Rangers due to what he called "an enormous amount of pressure" to perform. Rodriguez was born in the Washington Heights section of New York City to a Dominican family. When he was four, Rodriguez and his parents moved to the Dominican Republic, then to Miami, Florida. Rodriguez's favorite baseball players growing up were Keith Hernandez, Dale Murphy, and Cal Ripken, and his favorite team was the New York Mets. Rodriguez was a star shortstop at Miami's Westminster Christian High School. In 100 games he batted .419 with 90 steals. Westminster went on to win the high school national championship in his junior year. He was first team prep All-American as a senior, hitting .505 with 9 home runs, 36 RBIs, and 35 steals in 35 tries in 33 games, and was selected a
