M’S Rodriguez An Early Arrival

Now, that didn’t take long, did it!

Alex Rodriguez, the kid from Miami, will play in his first All-Star Game in Philadelphia Tuesday.

He won’t be 21 until July 27.

“I think I’ve done some good things, but I think there’s a lot of room for improvement,” Rodriguez said. “I still have a lot of work to do.”

There were questions in the spring about Rodriguez’s hitting. Sixty-five games into his first full season with the Mariners, all the questions had been answered.

Going into a Wednesday game with Oakland, the Mariners’ slickfielding shortstop with the strong and accurate arm and good range was the American League’s No. 6 hitter at .340.

He had 15 home runs and 58 RBIs, a franchise record for runs driven in by a shortstop.

The second-youngest player in the majors, 11 days older than Florida’s Edgar Renteria, will be the 14th youngest to play in an All-Star Game.

“I’ve hit well and I think I’ll continue to hit,” Rodriguez said. “But what I have to do to stay in the big leagues is play good defense. Whatever I hit is a bonus to me.”

Sports Illustrated put him on the cover this week. But he has a way to go to catch teammate Ken Griffey Jr., who has been on five covers.

Manager Lou Piniella gave Rodriguez the Mariners’ shortstop’s job this spring, with an asterisk: You have to make the routine fielding plays and you have to hit some, too.

In his first 65 games this season, Rodriguez committed seven errors. He made eight in 48 games for the Mariners last year when he was shuttled between Seattle and Triple-A Tacoma.

A year ago in Seattle, Rodriguez hit .232 with five homers and 19 RBIs.

To keep the pressure off him this season, Piniella batted him ninth in the lineup at the start of the year. On May 8, Piniella moved Rodriguez up to the No. 2 spot. In 47 games after the switch, he hit .360 with a dozen homers and 43 RBIs.

Pressure? What pressure?

“I don’t think I have any pressure,” Rodriguez said. “I’m making $109,000, the major-league minimum. Why should I have pressure?”

The Mariners knew Rodriguez was going to be good after selecting him as the first player in baseball’s draft three years ago. Rodriguez knew he was going to be good.

The surprise is how fast he’s arrived.

“I’m extremely happy,” Rodriguez said. “Coming into spring training, the big concern was if I was going to keep the position or not. Now, I want to come back and have a good second half.”

Before that comes a little trip to Philadelphia.

“I’m extremely happy,” he said. “It’s very emotional for me.”