$1 Million Winners At Top Of A-Rod’s Fan Club

Alex Rodriguez already had given the Altazan family such joy.

They cheered whenever the Mariner shortstop got a hit, laughed when he stole a base, whooped if he hit a home run.

On Thursday, the Altazans REALLY loved the guy. He helped them win $1 million in a promotional contest.

Rodriguez hit for the cycle - hitting a single, double, triple and home run in one game - in the Mariners’ 14-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Pamela Altazan, 33, a registered nurse from Cashmere, Wash., had entered a Mariner contest. During each game, one fan, whose name is drawn randomly, has a chance to win the dough if a Mariner hits for the cycle.

And lo and behold - the shortstop whom Altazan’s husband, Joe, calls “just outrageous” came through.

Although they usually watch all the Mariner games on TV, they weren’t watching Thursday’s game from Detroit’s Tiger Stadium because it was on too early.

But then some friends called, saying his wife’s name had been mentioned on TV as a possible winner of a million bucks. The Altazans turned on the tube - fast.

“We just watched it and hoped,” Joe Altazan said. “I knew that all Alex needed was a double for the cycle.”

And when that double finally came in the ninth inning, “we jumped up and down and screamed,” Altazan said.

The Altazans’ winnings will be paid at $50,000 per year for 20 years.

The couple, who have a 2-year-old child, want to use the money “to try to make things better for our family,” Joe Altazan said.