A look at Alex Rodriguez's historically great career by the numbers
Let's dig in on the massive numbers put up by A-Rod
By
Matt Snyder
•
3 min read
Alex Rodriguez will play his final game for the Yankees on Friday and it very well might be the last game of his career. If that's the case, it concludes one of the greatest numbers-based careers in MLB history. Yes, yes, I know (OMGPEDsCHEATER!), but let's just gawk at the numbers right here with a huge dept of gratitude to baseball-reference.com's play index.
MVPs
A-Rod won three AL MVPs, joining Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle. Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Mike Schmidt, Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols all won at least three in the NL.
Home Runs
We know that A-Rod's 696 career homers have him fourth on the all-time list behind Barry Bonds (763), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714), but there's more.
40-plus homer seasons
- Babe Ruth, 11
- A-Rod, 8
- Barry Bonds, 8
- Hank Aaron, 8
- Harmon Killebrew, 8
No one else has more than seven.
50-plus homer seasons
- Sammy Sosa, 4
- Mark McGwire, 4
- Babe Ruth, 4
- A-Rod, 3
No one else has more than two.
A-Rod was the fastest player to ever reach both the 500 and 600 home run marks.
More than home runs, Rodriguez was an all-around machine at producing runs throughout his career.
Runs scored, career
1. Rickey Henderson, 2295
2. Ty Cobb, 2244
3. Barry Bonds, 2227
4. Hank Aaron, 2174
4. Babe Ruth, 2174
6. Pete Rose, 2165
7. Willie Mays, 2062
8. A-Rod, 2021
RBI, career
1. Hank Aaron, 2297
2. Babe Ruth, 2214
3. A-Rod, 2084
The only players to top 2,000 runs and RBI were Aaron, Ruth and A-Rod. He also ranks 13th in career sac flies with 111.
Seasons with at least 120 RBI
- Lou Gehrig, 11
- Babe Ruth, 11
- A-Rod, 9
- Joe DiMaggio, 8
- Jimmie Foxx, 8
No one else has more than seven.
Seasons with at least 100 RBI and 100 runs
- Lou Gehrig, 13
- A-Rod, 12
- Babe Ruth, 12
- Barry Bonds, 11
- Jimmie Foxx, 11
- Hank Aaron, 10
No one else has more than nine.
He achieved such heights by being overly productive at getting on base and clubbing extra base hits. Rodriguez ranks 20th all-time with 3,114 hits and 15th in times on base (4,628). His 547 doubles rank 30th in history.
Extra-base hits, career
1. Hank Aaron, 1477
2. Barry Bonds, 1440
3. Stan Musial, 1377
4. Babe Ruth, 1356
5. Willie Mays, 1323
6. A-Rod, 1274
Seasons with at least 80 extra-base hits
Lou Gehrig, 10
- Albert Pujols, 9
- Babe Ruth, 9
- Stan Musial, 6
- Hank Greenberg, 6
- A-Rod, 6
No one else has more than five.
Total bases, career
1. Hank Aaron, 6856
2. Stan Musial, 6134
3. Willie Mays, 6066
4. Barry Bonds, 5976
5. Ty Cobb, 5854
6. A-Rod, 5811
Seasons with at least 350 total bases
- Lou Gehrig, 9
- Babe Ruth, 9
- Albert Pujols, 7
- Willie Mays, 7
- A-Rod, 7
No one else has more than six.
He's 35th in career walks (1,338) and 14th in hit by pitch (176).
Earlier in his career, A-Rod was a dual-threat of power and speed. Only eight players in MLB history have had at least 300 home runs and 300 steals: Barry Bonds, A-Rod, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Carlos Beltran, Bobby Bonds, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley.
Bill James developed a power/speed formula that needs high home run and stolen base totals for a big score. The only players in history to out-rate A-Rod are Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson and Willie Mays.
40-40 club
(40 HRs, 40 SBs in same season)
- Jose Canseco, 1988
- Barry Bonds, 1996
- A-Rod, 1998
- Alfonso Soriano, 2006
Oh by the way, A-Rod's stolen base percentage (81.24) ranks 37th among players with at least 3,000 plate appearances.
With two Gold Gloves and 10 Silver Sluggers, A-Rod was a complete player for much of his career. That means we're going there. It's Wins Above Replacement time.
WAR, position players
1. Babe Ruth, 163.1
2. Barry Bonds, 162.4
3. Mike Trout, I'M KIDDING!
3. Willie Mays, 156.2
4. Ty Cobb, 151
5. Hank Aaron, 142..6
6. Tris Speaker, 133.7
7. Honus Wagner, 131
8. Stan Musial, 128.1
9. Rogers Hornsby, 127
10. Eddie Collins, 123.9
11. Ted Williams, 123.1
12. A-Rod, 117.9
Wanna love Ted Williams a bit more? Everyone else here played in at least 21 seasons with most at 22 or 23. Williams was at 19. Remember, this is a stat that accumulates.
Alex Rodriguez's career line stands at .295/.380/.550, which is good for a 140 OPS+, or forty percent better than the league average on a park- and era-adjusted basis when it comes to getting on base and hitting for power.
He led the league in runs five times, hits once, doubles once, home runs five times, RBI twice, average once, slugging percentage four times, OPS twice, OPS+ twice, total bases four times and WAR for position players six times.
We know all about the negative, but the on-field performance was truly one of the greatest in baseball history.
