Rodriguez Wins A.L. Honors Again

The Alex Rodriguez for most valuable player campaign received yet another boost Tuesday when Rodriguez won his second straight American League player of the week award and subsequently, the A.L. player of the month honor.

His .556 average, 10 runs, five doubles and 28 total bases last week were just part of his most stellar month of the season. Rodriguez hit .435 over 29 games in August, slammed nine home runs and drove in 28 runs. He led the league with 30 runs scored and took over the league lead in doubles (49) from Edgar Martinez by hitting 11 in August.

Rodriguez’s September is off to a strong start as well. Home run No. 35 came in Monday’s game. He is the third youngest player in history to reach 35 homers.

Rodriguez’s 35 homers are the eighth-most in a single season by a shortstop. Only six different shortstops in the game’s history have reached the 30-homer plateau.

Ernie Banks has the top five long ball seasons for shortstops. From 1955-1960, Banks had seasons of 41, 43, 44, 45 and 47 home runs.

Greenwell revisited

Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell is the early favorite to end Rodriguez’s reign as A.L. player of the week.

Greenwell’s nine RBI in Tuesday’s 9-8 defeat of Seattle set a major league mark. It was the most RBIs in a game for a player who drove in all of his team’s runs.

Notes

Considering that Jay Buhner is just 5 for 28 in his career against Boston’s curve ball specialist Tom Gordon, Lou Piniella gave “Bone” the day off Tuesday.

Seattle has set club records for number of total players and pitchers used this season. The 1992 mark of 48 players has been eclipsed by one and Seattle has used 25 pitchers compared to 24 last season.