Where does A-Rod’s career rank statistically?

A look at where retiring Yankee Alex Rodriguez ranks on the all-time leaderboards.

Author:
SI Wire
Publish date:
Aug 7, 2016

Alex Rodriguez will play his final major league game on Friday, bringing an end to a 22-year major league career with the Yankees, Rangers and Mariners.

He retires at age 41 as the active leader in nearly every batting category, and not far from some significant milestones. Most notable among them is his 696 career home runs, just four off from becoming the fourth player to ever hit 700 of them and 18 homers behind the legendary Babe Ruth.

Rodriguez’s playing time has been limited to just 62 games and 234 plate appearances this season as a designated hitter for the struggling Yankees, and he has hardly played at all in recent weeks. On top of that, the full-season suspension he served in 2014 for his connection to the Biogenesis scandal wiped out a significant chunk of potential appearances.

His legacy will indeed be clouded by his steroid use — in 2009, he admitted to using them from 2001–2003 following a Sports Illustrated report exposing a positive 2003 test. That said, the numbers stand up impressively in a vacuum.

Take a look at where A-Rod’s career stats rank.

• Appraising A-Rod’s career value

All stats compiled by Baseball Reference.

Plate appearances: 12,198 (15th all time) — TrailsRobin Yount at 12,249

Games played: 2,781 (25th all time) — TrailsTris Speaker at 2,789

Hits: 3,114 (20th all time) — Trails Tony Gwynn at 3,141

Home Runs: 696 (No. 4 all time) — Trails Babe Ruth at 714

Runs: 2,021 (No. 8 all time) — Trails Willie Mays at 2,062

Runs batted in: 2,084 (No. 3 all time) — Trails Babe Ruth at 2,214

Total bases: 5,811 (No. 6 all time) — Trails Ty Cobb at 5,854

Walks: 1,338 (35th all time) — Trails Willie McCovey at 1,345

• Memorable moments of A-Rod’s MLB tenure