| | | Alex Rodriguez became the richest athlete in sports history Monday when he signed a 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers. But a big contract does not necessarily bring success or happiness, especially
when you sign with a team that had the league's worst ERA last season, finished 20½ games out of first place and has never won a postseason series.
|  | | Alex Rodriguez might be the game's best player, but he can't help the pitching staff. |
In other words, the 2001 season could be an interesting one for Rodriguez ...
Feb. 17: Spring training opens and the richest athlete in sports history reports to the Rangers camp in Port Charlotte, Fla. Meanwhile, agent Scott Boras drives to Port St. Lucie to oversee a little-known codicil in Rodriguez's contract that requires the Mets to open a merchandise tent where general manager Steve Phillips must personally sell A-Rod bobblehead dolls, coffee mugs and mousepads.
April 3: Rodriguez makes his Texas debut by homering three times, driving in nine runs and leading the Rangers to a 14-11 opening day victory. The story is bumped from the sports front of the local papers, however, when Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman sprains the pinkie on his non-throwing hand during a minicamp workout.
April 24: The Rangers make their eagerly awaited first trip to Seattle where misty-eyed Mariners fans pack the stadium to show their love and devotion to one of the greatest players in team history. And after cheering Edgar Martinez when the lineups are announced, the fans boo every Rodriguez at-bat.
April 25: Rodriguez extends his hitless streak to eight with four infield popups in the second game of the Seattle series. His website blames Safeco Field's dimensions.
April 26: Rodriguez breaks out in the final game of the series, hitting two grand slams and driving in 10 runs. The Mariners win 15-12, knocking the Rangers into last place with a team ERA of 7.43.
May 2: To avoid losing him to free agency after the season, the Yankees sign Derek Jeter to a 10-year, $253 million contract extension that guarantees he will always make one dollar more than the next-highest paid player in the game.
May 3: The Rangers bump Rodriguez's salary to $1 more than Jeter.
|
Rodriguez makes his Texas debut by homering three times, driving in nine runs and leading the Rangers to a 14-11 opening day victory. The story is bumped from the sports front of the local papers, however, when Troy Aikman sprains the pinkie on his non-throwing hand during a minicamp workout. |
|
|
May 4: The Yankees bump Jeter's salary to $1 more than Rodriguez.
May 5: The Rangers bump Rodriguez's salary to $1 more than Jeter.
May 6: The Yankees bump Jeter's salary to $1 more than Rodriguez.
May 7: All right, all right. You get the point.
May 18: Rodriguez demands that he be allowed to wear Ken Griffey Jr's old No. 24.
June 6: On an off-day in Baltmore, Rodriguez buys Delaware.
July 10: Rodriguez, Griffey and Randy Johnson are reunited in Seattle. Alas, it's for the All-Star Game. Rodriguez loses the Home Run Derby when inexplicably none of his 450-foot blasts are able to clear the stadium's 370-foot power alleys.
July 17: Rodriguez becomes the first player in major-league history to hit five home runs in a game, driving in a record 14 runs in the Rangers' 18-16 loss to the Red Sox. The lead story on the late news in Dallas is a live feed of Emmitt Smith driving into the parking lot the night before training camp opens.
July 27: Rodriguez celebrates his 26th birthday by turning five double plays, going 6-for-6 and scoring five runs in a 13-8 victory over the Angels. Boras announces it is the greatest single-game performance ever by a 24-year-old.
July 29: Clubhouse tensions escalate when Rodriguez insists on sitting in the owner's suite with Tom Hicks between innings.
Aug. 12: Rodriguez hits for the cycle and extends his hitting streak to 20 games to lift the Rangers in a 15-9 pitchers' duel over the first-place
A's. The game is not carried on the team's flagship radio station, which is broadcasting the Cowboys exhibition game against the Chargers.
Aug. 19: On an off-day in Minnesota, Rodriguez buys Haiti.
Aug. 22: Dallas thermometers hit 100 degrees for the 87th day in a row. Boras sues the Rangers for breach of contract, pointing out that Page 13, Line
21 specifically requires Texas to maintain comfortable temperature levels.
Sept. 3: Rodriguez's hitting streak ends at 49 games -- and only 1,204 fans show up to the Ballpark at Arlington, ending a string of 67 consecutive
sellouts. When Rodriguez asks where all the fans went, he is told the Cowboys' regular season has started.
Sept. 10: With the Rangers in last place, the stadium empty and the game-time temperature still a sizzling 97 degrees, Rodriguez begins counting down the days to his 2007 opt-out clause.
Oct. 1: Rodriguez hits his league-leading 59th home run and drives in his league-leading 161st run to become the first player in 34 years to win the triple crown, but the Rangers lose the final game of the season and end the year in third place, 22 games behind Oakland.
Oct. 8: Freddy Garcia and the wild-card Mariners shut out the Yankees to win Game 5 of the playoffs. Rodriguez watches the game on TV in a Texas Stadium luxury suite as a personal guest of Aikman during the Cowboys' 27-20 victory over the Cardinals.
Nov. 1: The basic agreement between players and owners expires. The owners vote to lock out the players. Rodriguez retreats to his estate, Xanadu, with his new girl friend, Susan Alexander. Temporarily free of contract requirements, the Mets take down all those Rodriguez billboards from around Shea Stadium.
Jim Caple of the Seattle Union Record is a regular contributor to Page 2. He also writes a weekly "Off Base" column for ESPN.com's baseball page.
|
|
|
Owner Tom Hicks formally announces the Rangers agreement with Alex Rodriguez.