TBT: When A-Rod was the starting shortstop for the Seattle Mariners

It's been a long and interesting road for Alex Rodriguez, once one of the most highly touted prospects in all of baseball and now a member of both the 600 home run club and the 3,000 hit club.

Born in the Manhattan borough of New York City, Rodriguez grew up a fan of the New York Mets, likely never imagining he would later become one of the most recognizable members of the Mets' crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees.

In Miami, Fla., where he attended high school, A-Rod became the first ever player his age to try out for the United States national baseball team. He signed a letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Miami, but never actually went, as he was instead selected in the first round of the 1993 amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners.

See Alex Rodriguez throughout his career:

Rodriguez spent seven years with the Mariners, with his major league starting debut coming in 1994 when he was just shy of 19 years old. When he became a free agent after the 2000 season, he chose to sign with the then-lowly Texas Rangers, where he spent the next three seasons.

After the 2003 season, Texas set out to trade Rodriguez and his massively expensive contract. Initially, the team agreed upon a trade with the Boston Red Sox, which was vetoed by the MLB Players Association -- creating one of the greatest what-ifs in recent baseball history.

In early 2004, Rodriguez was instead famously dealt to the Red Sox' most bitter rivals, the New York Yankees, where he switched positions from shortstop to third base, allowing him to play side-by-side with Derek Jeter. Rodriguez became an integral and contentious piece of the Yankees' roster for several years, especially in their rivalry with the Red Sox.

After a controversial few weeks in 2007, when Rodriguez nearly opted out of his contract with the Yankees, he ultimately agreed to a new contract that effectively would keep him in New York for the rest of his career.

In 2009, another controversy reared its ugly head, as Rodriguez's name showed up on a list of MLB players who had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He admitted that he had used steroids earlier in his career, but had ceased use after spring training in 2003. Later on in 2009, A-Rod would win his first and only World Series title when the Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies.

Injuries and more scandals plagued Rodriguez over the next few years. He had several surgeries to address issues in his knees and hips, and the Yankees were accused of not handling the injuries properly. A-Rod was also allegedly seen partaking in illegal poker games during his rehabilitation.

In early 2013, Rodriguez's name was paired with a second steroid scandal, this time stemming from drugs supplied by the Biogenesis clinic. After an appeal, he was ultimately suspended for the entirety of the 2014 season.

Rodriguez returned to play for the Yankees for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, though mostly as a designated hitter and notably not producing at as high of a level as he once did. At a press conference on August 7, 2016, Rodriguez announced that he would be playing his final game that next Friday, on August 12, before joining the Yankees' front office as a special adviser.

A-Rod's final road series, notably, was at Fenway Park against the Red Sox, the team he nearly joined but instead terrorized for years. The notorious slugger finishes his career as a five-time American League home run leader, two-time Gold Glove Award winner, ten-time Silver Slugger, fourteen-time All-Star, three-time American League MVP and a 2009 World Series champion.