A-Rod’s Yankees begin a two-game series with the Marlins in Miami on Monday night. With Rodriquez at 2,995 hits entering Sunday’s home game against the Orioles, there’s a possibility he will eclipse that 3,000 milestone in Marlins Park.

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While Rodriguez’s reputation has taken a well-documented beating in recent years because of the PED scandal and resulting season-long suspension in 2014, he remains a popular figure in South Florida. Although he was born in New York, he attended high school at Miami’s Westminster Christian, where he wowed the prep baseball world before the Mariners selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 amateur draft.

Marlins President David Samson told the Miami Herald the team is expecting crowds in excess of 30,000 both Monday and Tuesday nights. Tickets for those games are already fetching premium prices in the secondary market.

Rodriguez himself purchased dozens of tickets, for members of Westminster Christian’s and Miami Columbus’ state championship baseball teams, as well as 50 children from the Boys and Girls Club of Miami.

Should he reach the magic number, the Marlins will acknowledge it, Samson told the Herald.

“Three thousand hits is 3,000 hits,” Samson said. “It’s not for me to be a judge. If fans want to cheer when he gets his 3,000th hit they should cheer. And if fans wants to boo they should boo. They should just be here to do one or the other.”

So the stage is set for Rodriguez to reach one of baseball’s biggest milestones in front of a friendly crowd in his de facto hometown. There’s only one catch: He could spend most of the two-game series on the bench. Most of his playing time this season has come at the DH position (he’s started only three games in the field). The DH rule will not be in effect in Marlins Park. Given the circumstances, Yankees manager Joe Girardi could start Rodriguez at first or third base. 

Whatever happens, Rodriguez will have plenty of fans on hand to show their love.

“We’re excited to be going to support Alex,” Westminster Christian coach Emil Castellanos told the Herald. “When we won our state championship he was one of the first people to reach out and congratulate us. So when he passed Willie Mays (on the career home run list) we made sure to reach out and congratulate him. He’s become more and more a part of our family.”