Alex Rodriguez: Yankees Number Not Being Retired 'Bothers' Me, Is Tied To Criticism
Former New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is considered one of the best players to ever sport the Pinstripes, but the franchise has yet to retire his number.
Rodriguez admitted Thursday on WFAN's Evan and Tiki show that he wasn't happy when the Yankees allowed Joey Gallo to wear his No. 13 in parts of the 2021 and 2022 seasons and that he's disappointed that his number isn't in Monument Park.
"I'm too critical to the Yankees, and that doesn't help my case," Rodriguez said, per Audacy's Ryan Chichester. "But I get paid to tell the truth… I want my number retired. If it's not retired, so be it.
"Yeah, of course it bothers me. It's less about bother, but of course it would be nice to be recognized in one of the coolest places to be in Yankee history, but that's not my decision."
Rodriguez began his career at shortstop but made the switch to third base when he joined the Yankees in 2004 because Hall of Famer Derek Jeter was the team's leader at the position.
The 48-year-old suited up for the Yankees from 2004-2016. He earned two of his three American League MVP awards with the franchise and also made seven All-Star appearances and earned three Silver Slugger awards in that span.
Additionally, Rodriguez helped lead the Yankees to a World Series title in 2009 and the club hasn't won a championship since. He finished his career in New York with 351 home runs, 1,096 RBI and a .900 OPS in 12 seasons.
However, it's important to note Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season for using performance-enhancing drugs. In an interview on Undeniable with Joe Buck (via ESPN.com) back in 2017, he acknowledged that the use of steroids tarnished his reputation:
"Yeah, I mean there's so many frustrating things when you look back at that. Number one, you have a guaranteed contract for hundreds of millions of dollars. Literally, you can sit on the couch and get fat. Right, how stupid can you be? ... This thing cost me over $40 million. And it cost me my reputation, and it may have cost me the Hall of Fame and a number of other things."
The Yankees have retired 22 numbers. Jeter's No. 2 was retired in 2017 and Paul O'Neill was the latest player to have his number retired by the franchise in 2022.
Four members of the team's 2009 World Series-winning squad have had their numbers retired by the club—Jeter (No. 2), Andy Pettitte No. 46), Mariano Rivera (No. 42) and Jorge Posada (No. 20).
