“I Was Playing Mad With a Chip on My Shoulder” – Alex Rodriguez Reveals the Game-Changing Move That Led to the Best MLB Season of His Career

Baseball icon Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez once appeared on the ‘Call Him Papi’ podcast. Amidst numerous questions, ‘A-Rod’ got asked about his best and worst years in baseball. ‘A-Rod’ mentioned that his worst and best phases followed in successive years. He also mentioned what technical adjustments helped him improve. 

Alex Rodriguez is a retired baseball legend who rose to superstardom in the New York Yankees jersey. ‘Call Him Papi’ is a podcast co-hosted by David ‘Big Papi’ Ortiz and Jared Carrabis. A close friend of Rodriguez, David Ortiz, also a retired baseball legend, became a memorable figure in the Boston Red Sox jersey. Ortiz got recently inducted into the MLB Hall Of Fame. Whereas Jared Carrabis is a baseball expert and show host who also has his podcast titled, ‘The Jared Carrabis Podcast’. 

‘Call Him Papi’ is a podcast graced by many celebrities from various professional fields. Rodriguez was one such guest in a segment. When asked about the best and worst years of his career, Rodriguez noted that his worst year followed by his best year after some technical makeover. Rodriguez pointed out 2006 as the worst and 2007 as the best.

Alex Rodriguez and his game-changing move 

In an interview on the ‘Call Him Papi’ podcast, Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez highlighted 2007 as his personal best MLB season. But that came after what was the worst season of his career. ‘A-Rod’ cited the use of a batting cage as the prime reason for a turnaround in his form. 

‘A-Rod’ revealed how he set up a batting cage for long hours of practice at his Coral Gables house in Florida. He got to work straight after returning home during the off-season in 2006. He purely focused on improving his game. 

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Talking to Jared Carrabis, ‘A-Rod’ said, “I just became a madman about my work. I just wanted to clean up my game. O’-seven, I think I hit 15 home runs in April, and it was a wrap. I won the MVP in April. And I think that was, o’ seven was by far my best year.”  

‘A-Rod’ further added, “But I was playing mad with a chip on my shoulder, and I wanted to f***ing kick a** and take names.” However, ‘A-Rod’ mentioned that though his numbers were good in 2006, his performances were inconsistent. Upon being asked about his ‘Yankees Pinstripes Moment’ by Carrabis, ‘A-Rod’ laughed and said he is still searching for that. 

‘A-Rod’: Life after the retirement 

Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez bid farewell to his playing days in 2016. Since then, he has been working as a broadcaster and an entrepreneur handling some leading business ventures. He is part of a baseball expert panel at Fox Sports alongside David Ortiz. ‘A-Rod’ has two daughters from his previous marriage to Cynthia Scurtis. 

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What do you think was the best and worst season of Alex Rodriguez’s MLB career?