• Alfonso led the NL with 89 extra-base hits in 2006.
• In 2006, Alfonso became just the 10th player in history to hit 40 homers and 30 steals in the same season. He, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco are the only players to register 40-40 seasons.
• Alfonso went to arbitration after the 2005 season and lost. Nevertheless, his $10 million contract was the highest ever awarded to a player in arbitration.
• Alfonso was traded by the Rangers to the Nationals for Brad Wilkerson and Terrmel Sledge.
• Include translator on the list of positions Alfonso played in 1999 with the Norwich Navigators. His manager there, Lee Mazzilli, a former All-Star with the New York Mets, utilized Alfonso’s ability to speak Spanish and Japanese whenever pitcher Kats Maeda was on the mound. Maeda spoke no English, and Mazzilli spoke no Japanese. If the two needed to speak during a game, Alfonso and catcher Victor Valencia also joined the conference. Valencia was bilingual, so he would translate Mazzilli’s words into Spanish, then Soriano would relay the message in Japanese to Maeda.
• Alfonso victimized two pretty good pitchers in the 1999 All-Star Futures game. His 3-run blast in the third inning came off Mark Mulder. His 2-run shot in the fourth was against Ryan Anderson, Seattle’s 6-10 Randy Johnson clone.
• When Alfonso went deep against Norm Charlton on on September 24, 1999, he became the first Yankee to homer for his first big-league hit since Dan Pasqua on May 30, 1985.
• Few rookies in AL history have displayed the power and speed Alfonso showed in 2001. In fact, Tommie Agee, who hit 22 homers and stole 44 bases in 1966, was the only one ever to post higher totals in both categories.
• Alfonso is still trying to improve his English. Though he hangs out mostly with Spanish-speaking teammates, he knows he has to learn to communicate with the media more effectively. His favorite language teacher is the television. Alfonso watches the tube regularly to gain a better grasp of English, and says he really enjoys Denzel Washington movies.
  

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