The five best home runs of Alex Rodriguez's career

Following Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez is expected to hang it up. If this is truly it for A-Rod, he’ll leave one of the most complicated legacies of any sports legend we’ve seen in recent years.

One thing that cannot be argued, however, is that Rodriguez was one of the most prolific home run hitters to ever play the game. His 696 home runs rank fourth on the all-time list, trailing only Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.

Over his career, A-Rod has produced some memorable blasts. He was involved in the first use of instant replay, both in the regular season and World Series, and managed significant home runs following injuries, steroid admissions and suspensions.

Since we can’t compile all 696 blasts here, we’re going to take a look at the five best home runs A-Rod hit over his career. This list won’t be perfect, as there’s no way to boil 696 home runs into five perfect shots, but we’ll do our best. Feel free to share any you thought we missed in the comments.

A-ROD’S FIRST CAREER HOME RUN
It all starts with No. 1. Rodriguez’s first career home run is entertaining for a number of reasons. It came all the way back in 1995. A 19-year-old Rodriguez waited on a 3-2 curveball from Kansas City Royals pitcher Tom Gordon, and sent it into the stands out in left.

Rodriguez’s ability to wait back on the breaking ball despite the 3-2 count is impressive. If he was capable of showing that type of discipline at the plate at age-19, imagine what he would be able to do with a littler more experience.

Gordon, who was 27 at the time, would go on to have an excellent major-league career, becoming a dominant relief pitcher throughout the 2000s. He would retire in 2009, at age-41. Rodriguez’s first career home run didn’t come against a pushover, it came against a distinguished major-league pitcher.

RODRIGUEZ BECOMES THE THIRD PLAYER IN THE 40/40 CLUB

By 1998, Rodriguez had already established himself as one of the best players in baseball. He took things to another level during his age-22 season, though. Rodriguez mashed, at the time, a career-high 42 home runs. He also stole a career-high 46 bags.

Put those together, and Rodriguez became only the third player ever to join the 40/40. He joined Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds on that list. Alfonso Soriano has since joined that group, but that’s it. That’s the list. Only four players have ever gone 40/40 in a season. A-Rod is one of them.

FIRST HOME RUN OF THE 2009 SEASON

The narratives are strong with this one. Rodriguez faced quite a bit of adversity coming into the 2009 season. Some of it, his admission to using steroids while with the Texas Rangers, was self-inflicted. Some of it, hip surgery that delayed his season, he had no control over.

As a result, there was a lot of eagerness and anticipation for A-Rod to get off to a strong start. He did just that. In his first game back, Rodriguez smacked a three-run homer against the Baltimore Orioles in his first at-bat. Not only that, but the shot came on the first pitch he saw all season.

With that, all the doubts and fears about the 2009 were erased. All it took was one pitch.

FIRST HOME RUN FOLLOWING HIS 162-GAME SUSPENSION

Entering the 2015 season, A-Rod had cemented his status as public enemy No. 1 among baseball fans. For many, he was already there, but a 162-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis scandal clinched it among a certain set of fans.

On top of that, he was coming off another hip injury and would be 39 years old. There were legitimate questions about whether Rodriguez could, or even should continue playing. Heck, there were even some who were unsure he would make the Yankees out of spring training.

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This home run, which came against Daniel Norris in an early April game, was the start of A-Rod’s redemption tour. Sure, he didn’t turn everyone back on his side, but his impressive come back season won over the New York fans, and his teammates.

HIS LAST CAREER HOME RUN?

Is this really it? Unless A-Rod manages another home run in the next few days, or decides to smash one final long ball during Friday’s start, this may go down as the final home run of his career.

Then again, maybe it won’t. A-Rod has already stated he still believes he can play, and he’s free to sign with another club after the Yankees part with him Friday. As the video shows, he can still turn on a 94 mph fastball occasionally, so maybe he’ll hook on with another club and continue the chase for 700 home runs.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik