Alex Rodriguez enjoys his Miami homecoming

MIAMI -- Alex Rodriguez had played in his hometown before, but until Sunday, it never felt entirely like a homecoming.

But unlike the Marlins' former home -- Sun Life Stadium (originally Joe Robbie Stadium) -- their new ballpark is the site of the Orange Bowl, near the neighborhood where Rodriguez grew up.

"This is home," said Rodriguez, whose two daughters, Natasha and Ella, were among his family and friends in attendance Sunday as the Yankees and Marlins officially opened Marlins Park. "I hate to be cheesy or corny, but coming home is always special. And although I played a couple of times at Joe Robbie or Pro Player, it's not quite the same. This is the 'hood. This is our neighborhood."

Rodriguez went 1-for-2, including a run-scoring single in a five-run fifth inning in the Yankees' 10-8 victory.

"Loved it, great day," he said afterward.

Before the game, Rodriguez, whose current home is in the area -- he guessed about 12 miles away -- called it "a very special day."

He recalled "taking three or four buses to get to the University of Miami baseball games'' and also "trying to sneak into the Orange Bowl to watch Dan Marino or Gino Torretta back in the day.''

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He added, "I never imagined as a child such a beautiful stadium would be built in the middle of Miami."

Sunday continued what has been a solid spring training for Rodriguez. The third baseman, who turns 37 in July, entered hitting .279 with a .380 on-base percentage, two homers, four doubles and 10 RBIs.

But for someone who played only 99 games in 2011 because of shoulder, knee and thumb injuries, it's not about decent-to-good exhibition stats.

"I never think of numbers," Rodriguez said. "Numbers are never really what you focus on. You focus, at this point of my career, on how my body feels, how I'm reacting, how I'm seeing the baseball. Overall, I feel very good. I'm happy with how I feel. I'm happy with how the team's played. We're ready to go."

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Rodriguez, knocking on the table he sat at as he addressed the media before the game, said, "Everything feels good."

In his spring training kickoff news conference, Rodriguez said he still thought of himself as an everyday player and wasn't ready to be a full-time designated hitter. That's not to say he frowns on the probability of doing it more this season, which Joe Girardi has said is likely.

"I think Joe and I will sit down and talk," A-Rod said. "He'll assess that better than anyone. He does a great job of communicating with all his veteran players. It's a tool we have there that at some point will be used."

As for how many games he thinks he can play, A-Rod, who called last year "probably the most frustrating of my career," passed on making predictions.

"The number's not 99, that's for sure," he said. "We want to get into playing a lot of games, being productive and being a force in the middle of the lineup. I'm not going to throw out a number on April 1. Predicting a big number here isn't going to do anyone any good. I'm just focusing on going out and staying healthy and helping the team win."