Whos Who In Baseball?

A list of the all-time top players in baseball history.

Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”, is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), as well as a member of the United States national team in the 2000 Summer Olympics. He played for the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees. Rodriguez was one of the sport’s most highly touted prospects and is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

New York Yankees

Bio: Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”, is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), as well as a businessman and philanthropist. He played for the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees. Rodriguez was one of the sport’s most highly touted prospects and is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Rodriguez began his career as one of the sport’s brightest stars. He signed a record-setting contract with the Seattle Mariners when he was only 18 years old, and became the youngest player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs in a season. Rodriguez helped lead the Mariners to four playoff berths in his first five seasons, but the team never advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs. After being traded to the Texas Rangers, he led them to consecutive American League West championships in 1996 and 1997. In 2003, he was traded to the Yankees, for whom he played seven more seasons as their starting third baseman until his retirement due to injuries in 2016.

During his time with New York, Rodriguez helped lead the team to three World Series titles while cementing his legacy as one of baseball’s greatest hitters; he is currently sixth on MLB’s all-time home run list with 696. His new contract following his trade to the Yankees made him baseball’s highest-paid player at $25 million per year for 10 years, and $275 million over 12 years overall; despite this record-setting contract, his time with New York was tumultuous due largely to late-season slumps from 2002–2004 and feuds with teammates Jorge Posada, Jason Giambi ,and Robinson Canó , managers Joe Torre and Aaron Boone , members of the front office including then general manager Brian Cashman , owner George Steinbrenner , Yankee fans , certain members of the New York City media ,and opposing players such as Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts . Considered a controversial figure during much of his playing career due to off-field problems involving steroids use and extramarital affairs that were exposed beginning in 2009 (despite earlier denials), [1] [2] A-Rod has been praised for his accomplishments on behalf of underserved children through his work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and other charities since retiring from playing baseball.

14-time All-Star

In his 22 years in MLB, Alex Rodriguez has accomplished a lot. He is a 14-time All-Star, 3-time American League (AL) MVP, and a 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He has also won 2 Gold Glove Awards and is the all-time leader in grand slams with 25. In 2009, he became the youngest player in MLB history to reach the 500 home run milestone. As of 2019, he has 696 career home runs, which ranks 4th all-time.

Rodriguez was born in New York City in 1975 to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. He grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan and began playing baseball at a young age. Rodriguez signed his first professional contract with the Seattle Mariners at age 17 and made his Major League debut with the team in 1994. He was traded to the Texas Rangers in 2003 and played for them until he was traded to the New York Yankees in 2004. He played for the Yankees for 12 seasons, winning 1 World Series title with the team in 2009.

Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season due to his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, which revealed that he had used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). After serving his suspension, he rejoined the Yankees and played for them until 2016, when he was released halfway through his contract. He then signed a 1-year deal with his former team, the Mariners, and played out the rest of his contract with them before retiring in August 2016.

3-time AL MVP

One of the most accomplished players of his generation, Alex Rodriguez was a 14-time All-Star who won three American League MVP Awards and helped lead the New York Yankees to a World Series title in 2009.

Born in New York City in 1975, Rodriguez was the No. 1 overall pick by the Seattle Mariners in the 1993 amateur draft. He made his major league debut with the Mariners later that year, and became one of baseball’s youngest superstars, winning AL Rookie of the Year honors in 1994. After batting .358 with 36 home runs and 123 RBIs in 1996, Rodriguez was traded to the Texas Rangers following a contract dispute with Seattle.

In Texas, Rodriguez became just the second player in major league history to hit 40 or more homers and steal 40 or more bases in a season when he accomplished the feat in 1998. He was dealt to the Yankees after the 2003 season, and helped New York win consecutive World Series titles in 2009 and ’10. In 2015, A-Rod surpassed Lou Gehrig for most home runs by a player who has spent the majority of his career as a designated hitter.

Albert Pujols

St. Louis Cardinals

Pujols was born on January 16, 1980, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and grew up in the city of La Romana. He was an only child. His father, Bienvenido Pujols, was a softball pitcher and his mother, Gladys Tejada, was a housewife. He attended Fort Osage High School in Independence, Missouri. As a teenager, Pujols played baseball for his local church league and honered his talents as both a pitcher and first baseman while hitting cleanup.

In 1996, Pujols was signed by the Cardinals as an amateur free agent. He started his professional career that same year with the rookie level Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League where he hit .329 with 8 home runs and 42 RBIs in 46 games.

10-time All-Star

Albert Pujols has been selected as a starter in the All-Star Game 10 times, tied for the third-most selections in Major League Baseball history. He won the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award in both 2003 and 2008.

2-time World Series champion

Albert Pujols is a professional baseball player who has played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, and Anaheim Angels. He has also been a 2-time World Series champion, winning with the Cardinals in 2006 and 2011.

Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki, often referred to mononymously as Ichiro (/ˈiːtʃɪroʊ/ EE-chee-roh; Japanese: [ɯtɕiɽo ɯsiki] (About this sound listen)), is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played 28 seasons combined in top-level professional leagues. He spent the majority of his career with two teams: nine seasons with the Orix Blue Wave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan, and 14 with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States.

Seattle Mariners

Ichiro Suzuki is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has played in MLB for 14 seasons, all for the Mariners. Ichiro has been an All-Star ten times, a Gold Glove Award winner ten times, and he has led the American League (AL) in hits seven times. He is one of 28 players in MLB history with 3,000 hits and is currently eighth all-time in hits with 3,089. Born in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Ichiro began playing baseball at age seven. By age nine he had joined an adult baseball league run by his father and was using his father’s given name of Satoru to avoid being teased at school when readers of sports newspapers mistakenly thought he was female based on his given name 依 , which can be read as both “i” and “e”.

At age 14, Ichiro joined the pi-con team racing circuit with aspirations of becoming a professional motorcycle racer like his father. However, his mother dissuaded him from pursuing a dangerous career and convinced him to focus on baseball instead. He took her advice when he enrolled at Aichi Gakusen University High School batting cleanup but struggled to hit home runs because he lacked power. Nevertheless, Asahi Shimbun columnist Bill James later wrote that Ichiro had excellent speed relative to how fast pitched balls traveled to home plate during his high school years and that if any high school player were permitted to try out for a MLB team as a 17-year-old it would be him.

10-time All-Star

Outfielder Ichiro Suzuki was born October 22, 1973, in Kasugai, Japan. Suzuki began his professional career in 1992 with the Pacific League’s Orix Blue Wave. He was the first Japanese position player to be posted and signed by a major league team, inking a deal with the Seattle Mariners in 2001. In his first season in the majors, Ichiro led the American League in batting average (.350), hits ( 242) and stolen bases (56) en route to winning both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors.

A 10-time All-Star, Suzuki has won 10 Gold Glove Awards and three Silver Slugger Awards during his 18-year big league career. He has also amassed more than 3,000 hits and ranks as one of baseball’s most accomplished international players.

2001 AL MVP

Ichiro Suzuki (鈴木 一朗, Suzuki Ichirō, born October 22, 1973), often referred to mononymously as Ichiro (イチロー, Ichirō), is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played 28 seasons combined in top-level professional leagues. He spent the bulk of his career with two teams: nine seasons with the Orix Blue Wave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan, where he began his career, and 14 with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States.

Suzuki amassed 10 NPB All-Star selections and nine Gold Glove Awards. In 2001, he became the first MLB player since 1941 to enter the season with 200 or more hits in each of his first four seasons. He recorded at least 200 hits for 10 consecutive years from 2001 to 2010. Suzuki also holds MLB records for single-season batting average (.350 or higher), most hits by a rookie ( 242), most hits in a season (262), and most singles in a season ( 225). He had 10 or more consecutive seasons with a batting average of .300 or higher and led MLB in stolen bases six times.