Fox to Air Alex Rodriguez’s Final Game on August 12

Fox and Fox Deportes will televise the Major League Baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees from Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY on Friday, August 12, starting at 7 p.m. ET. It is scheduled to be the final game in the career of one of the sport’s all-time gifted sluggers Alex Rodriguez (aka “A-Rod”). His sudden retirement was announced on Aug. 7.

It is only the third time the Fox network has slated a regular-season MLB game on a weeknight (outside of Saturdays); Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season versus the Cubs on Sep. 8, 1998 (which earned a 12.9 household rating/21 share), and Yankees-Red Sox on Apr. 16, 2004 which met for the first time since the classic 2003 American League Championship Series.

Rodriguez was a 14-time All-Star and a vital part of the 2009 World Championship for the Yankees. Entering Aug. 10, he amassed 3,114 hits, 696 home runs and 2,084 runs batted in within his 22-year playing career. However, Rodriguez’s performance has been marred by the evidentiary use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) which led to a year-long suspension from Major League Baseball in 2014.

A polarizing figure for sports fans and athletes alike, Rodriguez was among baseball’s most popular players of the past two decades. With much kudos for his turn as baseball analyst for Fox Sports during the 2015 World Series, his television aspirations may soon be be the horizon.

A-Rod’s final game as a Yankee will be available on most Fox affiliates in the U.S., but some local markets will air NFL preseason games. Kevin Burkhardt and John Smoltz is scheduled to call the game from the broadcast booth with Ken Rosenthal on the field. Chris Myers, Frank Thomas, Tom Verducci and CJ Nitkowski will be on-site at Yankee Stadium for pre-game and post-game segments.