The New York Yankees will honor the 2009 World Series championship at Old Timers Day this year. One of the most important players in that run is third baseman Alex Rodriguez. He has not made an appearance at Old Timers Day since his 2016 retirement. Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reported that number 13 will be in attendance for this year's game.
Alex Rodriguez will participate in Yankees Old Timers Day for the first time since his retirement” Kirschner reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, CC Sabathia are some of the other notable players. The Yankees will honor their 2009 title team.”
The celebration will be on August 24 before the Yankees' game against the Colorado Rockies. This will be the third consecutive season where the celebration does not include a game. Last year, the 25th anniversary of the 1998 championship team took precedence and next year, they will celebrate the 2000 season. In 2022, injuries to some of the honorees prevented a game from being played.
A celebration of the Yankees' 2009 championship would not be complete without Rodriguez. He hit .307 in the playoffs, launching six home runs and adding 18 RBIs in 15 games. He did not win the ALCS or World Series Most Valuable Player awards but had as big of an impact on the outcomes of both series as any player.
Yankees honor most recent championship at Old Timers Day
The 15th anniversary of the 2009 championship is set to be a star-studded event. Hall of Famers Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are the headliners, followed by World Series MVP Hideki Matsui and ALCS MVP CC Sabathia. Rodriguez was a superstar during his playing days and continues to be as a television analyst. Despite that, he does not have his number retired or his name honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
That is because he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs while he was on the Texas Rangers. He was also implicated in the Biogensis scandal, which cost his the entire 2014 season. Rodriguez's career will always be associated with the steroid era in baseball, but he claims he was only on steroids from 2001-2003 and Biogenesis was not until 2013, leaving 2009 as a clear year in the public eye.
The 2009 World Series is the crowning achievement of Rodriguez's career. He won three MVPs, two with the Yankees, and ten Silver Slugger awards. His playoff success, however, was always a struggle. In his ten playoff series before 2009, he hit multiple home runs just twice. He posted an OPS over .650 only three times, one of those coming against the Yankees in the 2000 ALCS.
He silenced all of the critics in 2009, especially in the ALDS and ALCS. Rodriguez hit three home runs in six games against the Angels in the championship series, including a game-tying blast in the 11th inning of Game Two.
The Yankees will celebrate their most recent championship this month at Old Timers Day. The 15th anniversary of the 2009 championship will feature star Alex Rodriguez, which is well deserved considering his performance in that postseason.
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