Alex Rodriguez Is Bigger Than Baseball

CONSIDERED ONE OF THE GREATEST SLUGGERS OF ALL TIME, THE FORMER YANKEE IS STILL HITTING HOME RUNS - THIS TIME IN BUSINESS

- GILLIAN TELLING

When Alex Rodriguez played for the New York Yankees from 2004 to 2016, he was considered, well, unlikable. “People told me, ‘You never smiled, you were so stiff, like a robot,’” he says with a laugh. “You could say I didn’t put my best foot forward.” Rodriguez, 48, says he was just trying to stay humble, despite hitting 696 career home runs. “Even if I was emotional on the inside, it was important to respect the other team,” he says. “I didn’t want to celebrate my wins too much.” When he later became a broadcaster for Fox, he let his goofy and witty personality shine through and was instantly embraced as a media darling. “I got great reviews!” he says. “Probably because the bar was set so low.”