| 50 Most Beautiful People 1998 Ask Seattle Mariner Alex Rodriguez what he covets most, and it is not All-Star status (he has had it twice) or a Most Valuable Player Award (he was a 1996 finalist). �A major league baseball player is no longer solely identified by hitting home runs,� says the 22-year-old shortstop. �You have to speak well, behave well and dress well.� The closets in his rented Seattle condo bulge with 60 suits, 65 pairs of dress shoes, 100 shirts and 250 ties. �You can take my cars or my house,� he says, �but don�t mess with my clothes.� Yet no matter how nattily clad this youngest child of Dominican immigrants may be, it�s the buff body underneath that caused a Seattle Times reporter to lose linguistic control. His physique, she opined, is �as lovely as the glow of Mount Rainier during a summer sunset.� To keep that mountain sheen, Rodriguez lifts weights at the team clubhouse six days a week and pampers himself like a matinee idol. He washes his face with Clinique soap, gets his hair cut every 10 days and indulges in a monthly manicure and pedicure. And nothing stands between Rodriguez and his four-times-daily flossing: �I�m big into teeth.� The fans are appreciative. �Everywhere we go, women go nuts,� says Mariners catcher John Marzano of his pal, who last year tallied more than 20,000 adoring letters. Right now, Rodriguez says, he�s too busy to date, but for those hoping to get on his roster, he cautions, �I can�t be with a girl who is taller than me.� Not that many need worry: Rodriguez is 6�3�. |