Alex Rodriguez has full support from a legendary Hall of Famer and one of baseball's greatest sluggers of all time.

Hank Aaron hopes that A-Rod can return from his 2014 season-long suspension for involvement in performance-enhancing drugs to have a solid 2015 campaign with the New York Yankees.

"I am rooting for him," Aaron, 81, told Newsday earlier this week. "Despite all of the things that people say he had been involved in, I'm rooting for him to come back and have a great year. I am very much anxious to see what he's going to do."

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Although Aaron wishes A-Rod well, he isn't quite sure how Rodriguez, who turns 40 in July and is playing on two surgically-repaired hips, will fare over the course of a full season.

"I wish him well, but I just don't know," Aaron continued telling the New York newspaper. "When you're [away] from playing the game the whole year and go out and then have to face kids that are throwing 90 mph, it's a tough thing."

There is hope, though. Aaron was 40, when he surpassed Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list back in 1974. Aaron, with 755 homers, sits second on the list to only Barry Bonds. A-Rod currently has 654 home runs, only six away from tying Willie Mays for fourth on the list. Aaron said if he could, he would like to see A-Rod play this season.

"If I wanted to go to the game and A-Rod was playing, I certainly would go to the game," Aaron said. "I've met A-Rod, and to be honest, between him and me, he's been nothing but a friend to me. I liked him."

Rodriguez reported early to the Yankees' spring training Monday and is expected to compete for the team's every day designated hitter spot. The Yankees owe him $61 million over the next three seasons.

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(Photos from left: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)