Alex Rodriguez plays baseball.
The 2009 World Series was the 105th edition of Major League Baseball 's ( MLB ) championship series . Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez ( born July 27 , 1975 ) , nicknamed `` A-Rod '' , is a Dominican-American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman . In February 2009 , after previously denying use of performance-enhancing drugs , including during a 2007 interview with Katie Couric on 60 Minutes , Rodriguez admitted to using steroids , saying he used them from 2001 to 2003 when playing for Rangers due to `` an enormous amount of pressure '' to perform . The First-Year Player Draft , also known as the Rule 4 Draft , is Major League Baseball 's ( MLB ) primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools , colleges , and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams .