I’ve cheered for him for nearly a decade, even when a lot of Yankee fans didn’t.
I heard the petty taunts – “A-Fraud” and such silliness – and I just kept cheering. I heard the sniping about how much he was being paid, but I didn’t care – he was worth it and anyway, was he supposed to turn the money down? He’s done some weird things, for sure, through the years – knocking a ball out of the pitcher’s glove, yelling at the fielder to induce a dropped fly ball, just acting a little nutty. He said things that made you scratch your head and he always seemed to be trying just a little too hard to make everyone like him. And there were some big moments in Yankees playoff games during which he did not come through.
But there were a lot of other times when he did come through. Big moments. Clutch. The last Yankees World Championship, in 2009, likely would not have happened without A-Rod’s dramatic hits. Bottom of the ninth inning against Joe Nathan, with a man on in a 3-1 game. In the eleventh inning of game 2 of the ALCS, with the Yankees down a run, against Brian Fuentes of the Los Angeles Devils. In game 2 of the Series, with the Yankees down a game, and down 3-0 against Cole Hamels and the Phils, he hit a (instant replay-awarded) home run that turned the game and the series around. A hard double that likely put a dent in the fence in the ninth inning of game 4 against the Phillies, right after Johnny Damon famously stole second and third on the same play. That was the winning run that gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead in a series which they won in 6 games.
There has probably never been a player with as much natural talent as A-Rod. He is big, and for most of his career, fast and agile. A true five-tool player. When he came to the Yankees, he was the best shortstop in baseball – in both halves of the inning. He could hit like no one has seen since perhaps the Iron Horse, or Ted, or Mickey. His skills at shortstop were unmatched. He had it all. His work ethic amazed his managers and fellow players. He even showed class by moving to third base and letting the Captain stay at short when he was traded to the Yankees. He was destined to break every record in the book and likely enter into the discussion between the Babe, Willie Mays and a couple of others as the Greatest of All Time.
Now, he is going down in history as a goat instead of a G.O.A.T. He’s a cheat. A liar. He’s Lance Armstrong. He’s Rosie Ruiz. He’s Ben Johnson. He’s a Chinese gymnast or an East German female swimmer during the Cold War. From all accounts, he is a naturally gifted athlete with a great baseball mind who would have gone down in history as a great, almost certainly made the Hall of Fame, and had an honored place in history. Now, his name will forever be associated with Biogenesis and steroids.
And I am glad. No, I’m not glad to see this man debased, but I am glad that Bud Selig (finally) is doing something about steroids. For a decade, he turned a blind eye while Sosa, McGwire, Bonds and a host of others piled up stratospheric offensive stats, all inflated by PEDs. But, though he was late to the dance, he is now going after it with all his might. And well he should.
So, this fan of A-Rod, who has cheered for him for a decade, who has loved watching him when he got the big hit or the big strikeout, is glad that they are coming down hard on him. I wished they had given him a lifetime ban. In a twist of fate, A-Rod is playing his first game of the year tonight, as he appeals his suspension. He will be roundly booed in Chicago. I’m guessing he will be roundly booed in New York. I hope so. There is no honor in his achievements or in any help the Yankees get from him from this point on.
There is no excuse for what he did, no mitigating factors. Oh, some will say that steroids is rampant in baseball (and football and cycling and probably professional poker) and that players from every team are likely dirty. Some will say that catching A-Rod and the 12 others who were suspended today is only the tip of the iceberg and that there are dozens of others who have cheated and not gotten caught. All of that is probably true. But it doesn’t change the fact that A-Rod cheated and he needs to pay the price. The only way that sports will be cleaned up is by invasive testing and harsh penalties.
Frankly, I’m getting less and less enthused about sports. I still watch and I still cheer. But I really got into watching Mark McGwire hit homeruns, only to find out he was a cheater. I actually watched Tour de France racing for several years, cheering on Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis. Cheaters. There is cheating in NASCAR. Cheating in football – college and pro. Cheating in basketball. Evidence came out this year that major soccer games have been fixed in recent years by dishonest refs.
Baseball has always had its stinkers. Ty Cobb was a racist lout. Babe Ruth never met a sin he didn’t embrace. If Mickey Mantle had stayed off the booze, he might have been the greatest ever. The Black Sox threw the world series. Spit balls. Pete Rose’s betting scandals. It’s never been a perfect game.
But this PED thing is different. It is so widespread and creates such a sense of suspicion and disbelief. When Chris Davis suddenly starts smashing home runs at an unprecedented rate, people ask questions. Last year, Derek Jeter (a man even you knee-jerk Yankee-haters find a way to respect!) found himself under suspicion because at his advanced age he was having such a good year. We watch in amazement as Usain Bolt runs faster than any other man ever has, but when the men he is beating are all caught doing PEDs, you have to wonder, don’t you? There is a cloud that hangs over the entire sports world today.
So, count me as a former fan. I will always appreciate what he has done for my beloved Yankees. But I will also wonder how much of that was A-Rod’s natural talent and work ethic, and how much of it was chemical enhancement.
“But, though he was late to the dance, he is now going after it with all his might. And well he should.”
I part ways with my fellow Yankee fan. I can’t let Bud Selig off the hook. He has absolutely no credibility. Any person in a similar position in any other profession would have been fired years ago.
Selig is no well-meaning guy who saw the error of his ways a little later than others. He and the owners only started singing a different tune on PEDs when they had to, when the media/government and other turned on them and, most importantly, when the MLB saw the writing on the wall, that the financial future of this “business” was jeopardized by being non-responsive to the outside demands for reform. It is and has always been a $$ thing.
I find myself in a weird position of rooting for A-Rod. I think he’s really at heart like a little kid who just loves baseball and just wants to play. I can relate to that. That attitude reminds me of a good chunk of my childhood. Obviously, A-Rod is much more complicated than that and perhaps a complete fraud even in his expressed love for the game. Who knows. But I also like that he’s sticking it to the “man.” He got someone to give him that ridiculous, sick contract, and now he’s going to get what is owed to him.
I don’t really disagree with you on Selig – he didn’t do anything about steroids until forced to, but my point was that he is, in fact, doing something now.
A-Rod, I have persistently cheered for him even when everyone else turned on him. But, I’ve reached my point of no return, I think. He didn’t so much “stick it to the man” as he stuck it to all of us who rooted for him and believed in him.
And, I have absolutely no problem with his contract – except that it was a horrible deal for the Yanks. But from his perspective, if he can get a team to pay 275 million, why not?
As I hinted at on Facebook, until the real big money people, the owners, pay a visible penalty for encouraging PED use, it doesn’t really matter. The TV contracts for some teams are worth more than A-Rod’s entire contract, and that’s just in a year.
The “punish-the-visible” worked to cover for the gambling (and probable organized crime connections) in the Pete Rose era. I do not think it can stand for the PED era. The owners, especially of the teams that have had more than one player test positive, need to visibly do something to show the fans they are sorry for profiting on a sham.
When I become Commissioner of Baseball, I will insist that this happen.
The Commish works for the owners, so he’s not going to crack down on the owners.
When I get the job, I will work for the fans.
The owners can just pay the salary and cope with it.
I understand that, but there is a difference in the Commish working for the owners (theoretically working for the good of MLB in general) and the current Commish who *is* an owner. That’s a conflict of interest fit for politics.
I’m not sure I could support you for the job, Doug. No offense, but your anti-Yankee sentiments could affect your fairness.
You know I’m right.
I’ll compromise on this:
We make the Infield Fly Rule apply only in the infield, and I’ll not do anything mean to the Yankees.
We’ll even leave the luxury tax system in place instead of going to a hard cap.
I’ll even leave the abomination that is the DH-rule alone.
Baseball without the DH is like basketball with peach baskets. Cute and nostalgic, but ridiculous, outdated and inferior!
They should make pitchers and DHs split the salary of one player.
Having a DH is like having a pastor who lets someone else deliver every 4th point in the sermon. Are you a preacher or not?
Is a pitcher a player or not? Baseball is a game of 9 people against 9 people, with subs available.
And weren’t you the one opining last week about how the old fogeys are more right than the young whippersnappers? What happened to the purity of tradition?
Yes, baseball is a game of 9 players. Nine play the field and nine bat. Fortunately, in the AL, they are not the same 9. Who wants to see a pitcher flail helplessly at the ball? Why should the pitcher get a break? An AL pitcher has to face 9 hitters. In the NL, you only have to face 8, then you get an easy out pitcher.
Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux used to hit .275 and above, which is better than Derek Jeter this year.
I am a tolerant man, but under no circumstances, ever, will we permit anyone to blaspheme against El Capitan, Number 2, Derek Jeter.
That will get you tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail. Plus, flogged and perhaps sternly rebuked.
It ain’t blasphemy.
It’s statistics (this year, at least….though he has been hurt and that has a huge impact.)
Main point is this: there are pitchers that made an effort at being good hitters, and they succeeded. Might not have been power hitters, but hit for averages that put them in the not-half-bad category.
What I find interesting is the number of college baseball pitchers that are good hitters–and so they get drafted and become outfielders. That’s reducing these days, but still happens. Just kind of funny–it’s like the pro team looks and says “we need the bat more than the arm!”
“Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux used to hit .275 and above, which is better than Derek Jeter this year.”
As I sit at my desk reading the comment above, I hear my heart bringing forth its most sinister laugh, and shouting, “Mirth and glee all around. Mirth and glee all around!”
Over 22 seasons, Glavine’s Batting Average was .186. His best year he hit .286. His second highest season was at .247.
Maddux batted .171 over course of his career. His best season was .240. He rarely cracked .200.
You are right about one thing – there was always a popular perception that Maddux and Glavine could hit. Their stats just saw how utterly awful hitters the overwhelming majority of pitchers are/were….
Watching pitchers hit is as exciting as watching paint dry.
Another pitcher of note with an above-the-Mendoza-line lifetime BA was Steve Carlton of the Phillies. He hit .201 lifetime and his best years were ’77 (.268) and ’78 (.291). But Steve was also a rare bird.
It’s also worth noting that Yankee Babe Ruth gave up pitching to play the outfield or we wouldn’t have celebrated his 714. But that was WAY BEFORE the DH rule.
It’s also worth noting that the National League came within what likely was a single vote of passing the DH in 1980. The Wikipedia article on the designated hitter provides this account:
In response to increases in American League attendance because of the designated hitter, the National League held a yes/no vote on August 13, 1980 to determine whether or not the league would adopt the designated hitter. A simple majority of the 12 member teams was necessary to pass the rule, and the measure was expected to pass. However, when the teams were informed that the rule would not come into effect until the 1982 season, Philadelphia Phillies Vice President, Bill Giles, was unsure of how the team owner, Ruly Carpenter, wanted him to vote. Unable to contact Carpenter, who was on a fishing trip, Giles was forced to abstain from voting. Prior to the meeting, Harding Peterson, general manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was told to side with the Phillies. The final tally was four teams voting for the DH (Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Diego Padres), five votes against (Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, and San Francisco Giants), and three abstentions (Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Houston Astros). Five days after that meeting, the Cardinals fired their general manager, John Clairborne, who was the leading proponent for the adoption of the DH rule, and the National League has not held another vote on the issue ever since.
What’s fun is that the most recent three lessons in my daughter’s math book have been about comparing decimals…using Braves’ pitching and hitting numbers as the example.
Which led to an important question for critical thinking: Denny Neagle? WHY??? 4 starters. 3 with ERAs under 3. Neagle’s was 5.59!!!!
We should all become St Louis Cardinal fans and the world would be a better place. By the way the DH and interleague play are the worst additions ever for baseball
I like interleague play, only because it gives the AL some easy wins – the Yankees traditionally have done very well against the NL. But I’m not a huge fan.
The DH improves baseball dramatically, and it is generally nostalgia and some sense of NL pride that leads it to be kept. It’s the 21st Century – time to put the DL in both leagues.
“. . .only because it gives the AL some easy wins . . .”
Ya know, I really like you, Miller, but sometimes you are just an infidel!!
BTW, have you heard just how far out the Braves are?
We’re as far up as the Yankees are back.
As to the DH–I don’t like it, but if it comes to the NL, I’ll adjust. Personally, I like seeing the pain on a manager’s face when his pitcher is doing well, it’s the 7th inning, he’s got runners on the corners, 1 out, and the pitcher’s up to bat. Do I pull him? Do I let him hit so I can keep him pitching? What do I do?
The AL? You just send the DH up like you always do. It’s not a decision moment in the game where the manager has to balance offense and defense.
I’d like to see a year or two of going all-DH during the World Series and see how it turns out. The AL teams have not exactly failed at playing under NL rules in the NL parks, or vice-versa. I think it leads to style differences, but those are part of what I love at baseball.
CB, of course the Braves are up – they play in the NL. If they played in the AL East, they’d be 5 games back.
And if the Buzzard-Eyes played with junior highs, they’d be in second place every year.
The decline in SBC baptisms is tied directly to the advent of the DH. Designated Heresy is what it is.
Let’s commission Cardinal Stetzer to investigate that one. It might be possible.
Yeah, this is rough. I like baseball and football. I played some and got to coach a lot of boys in both sports. I always enjoyed taking a group of boys who didn’t have much to a baseball game or a football game, loadin’ ’em up with hotdogs, candy, and junk.
They had their contemporary heroes and I had my old ones like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Roberto Clemente, Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Leroy Jordan, Joe Namath, and Bart Star. I would tell them the guys in my time were better. They would declare the new guys are better. It was fun.
It was fun and I enjoyed giving a bunch of poor boys a day when they were something where there are only equals and no big shots; A day when everybody was the same. Everybody was a Fan, a Sports Fan. Those were grand times and I have good memories.
Now, here we are. What a fine mess this is. Baseball has A-Rod and football has Johnny Manziel.
I am an Alabama football fan. I have been taking my tribe to T’town and elsewhere for years. I am loyal to the core of my Crimson painted toe-nails once back in 19 . . . well never mind. However, I watched Johnny Manziel take us apart last year all by himself. He beat the greatest college football machine in history like a base drum and there was nothing we could do about it, except watch him do it. I hated losing to the Aggies, but I could not help but secretly become a fan of Johnny Manziel. And now, here he is, just being stupid.
Yeah Dave Miller, I feel your pain. And I wish . . . Well, . . I just wish like another kid a long time ago . . . ” Just tell me it ain’t so, Joe. Tell me it ain’t so.”
I prefer A*roid to A-fraud…
I find baseball boring. I usually doze off by the third quarter.
Dave,
I begin this comment by laying my cards on the table. I hate the Yankees. I hat pin strips so much I absolutely close my eyes when I put on my pin strip suits. I have never like George Steinbrenner (sp) and never like Billy Martin. I always thought Billy was nothing more than a loud mouth New Yorker that was more about getting his way than he was about doing what was right. Even when our NC son Jim Catfish Hunter went to play for the Yankees I wrote him off. My hometown was just 2 miles from Wake Forest NC where Tommy Byrne lived. He was a legend in that part because he signed with the Yankees. We hated going to Wake Forest and loathed them whenever we played them in Baseball.
Just wanted to get all of that off my chest, before I entered into my disagreement with you on this thing. 🙂 I honestly have tried to find a way to agree with your analysis, but when you come out with the accusations you do against A-Rod (Now, he is going down in history as a goat instead of a G.O.A.T. He’s a cheat. A liar. He’s Lance Armstrong. He’s Rosie Ruiz. He’s Ben Johnson. He’s a Chinese gymnast or an East German female swimmer during the Cold War.) I cannot find myself feeling the same way. Here is the reasons I differ with you. First, A-Rod did admit to using steroids but said he stopped using them a decade ago. A decade is a long time for a player in MLB. That is his word. Ok, your response is that he was not forthcoming with the investigation that was launched by Bud Selig. Because A-Rod exercised his constitutional rights of search and seizure he is accused by Selig’s commission for not being cooperative? This is exactly what the police do when someone calls for a lawyer before being questioned. (They must be hiding something if they need a lawyer present) We are presumed innocent until proven guilty in this country. A-Rod says he has not used steroids in the past decade. Operating under the presumption of innocence, where is the evidence that disputes these allegations? There is none. He has not failed a drug test and has not been found trying to make certain the test was negative. He has cooperated with all of the testing and has given the records that have been requested. Other players were given a 50 game suspension and A-Rod was given a 211 suspension? What is the difference? Oh, he frustrated the office of Bud Selig and would not just lay down and say I am your clown just use me like you want.
As I conclude this rant, let me say a couple of things. First, tell me one professional athlete that has not taken a cortisone shot because of a painful knee injury. Cortisone is a steroid and it enhances the performance of the athlete when they are injured. Why then are we having faster running, longer ball hitting, and super outstanding athletes? Has anyone ever looked at the training today versus the training of the past? Huge difference in the training. Second, A-Rod is the highest paid player in MLB. Could the reaction to him be more based on his ability to negotiate his contracts than it is with his “cheating” by using PED’s? I don’t know the answer to the last question only individuals can answer that.
However, for me I have to support A-Rod in this, even though he is a Yankee. There is no evidence to prove he used PED’s other than his statement that he did over a decade in the past, which Selig was not even concerned with.
Tim, A-rod admitted using steroids, a decade ago, bu this investigation has shown that he kept using right up to this year.
And from all accounts, there are mountains of evidence on his involvement with Biogenesis. Enough so that a big fan like me has turned on ARod.
Dave,
Not sure I can agree that the evidence shows he used steroids up to this year. According to Tommy Lasorda and Johnny Bench they have no evidence disputing A-Rod’s claim that he stopped over a decade ago. Hard for me to understand that I am arguing for a Yankee and you are arguing against one. 🙂
A-Rod deserves the benefit of the doubt. His relationship with BioGenesis has not evidence other than a trainer that worked there.
Well, if you are right, I’d be happy, and I will repeal this article. But I’ve read the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated, I read Yankee blogs and ESPN and all sorts of other sources.
I can come to no other conclusion than that A-Rod has been using PEDs pretty much regularly in recent years. He is accused of not only using Biogenesis products, but recruiting others to do so and lying to investigators.
Based on what I have read, I don’t see how A-Rod can be innocent.
You can give A*Roid the benefit of the doubt if you wish. But the combination of his previous statement and the information from Biogenesis plus MLB’s investigation has not been revealed in full and to suggest that there isn’t adequate grounds for the suspension is–in a word–premature.
Unfortunately, due to the decision by professional athletes to focus their primary occupational interests on the field of play, in order to cheat with performance-enhancing substances requires a partner. And that partner makes them VERY vulnerable to truth outing. And that has ZERO to do with Constitutional protections against government searches and seizures per se.
And, yes, I call him A*Roid to tweak him. I’m not a very nice guy when someone puts on the appearance of being someone special and he really is a cheater. Unfortunately, I feel the same way about Nellie Cruz at the moment. Though Nellie isn’t currently suspected of also recruiting others to cheat or of paying off people to keep them quiet…
That said: I’m a fan of forgiveness. If A*Roid comes clean, I’ll willingly call him Alex again. Though my teeth still have grind marks from when the Rangers paid him to play for the Yankees…
If A-Rod comes clean in humility, takes his punishment like a man, then attempts a comeback, I’d be likely to root for him again. But I’ve watched Lance Armstrong and Ryan Braun and a host of others proclaim their innocence right up until they admitted that they were guilty all the time.
I think the comeback of the millenia will in baseball–like Adrian Peterson’s in the NFL last year–belong to Rivera for recovering from his ACL in order to pitch a final year before retiring. Mariano is at 35 saves in 37 save opportunities. And, no it doesn’t matter that he’s a Yankee or whether he has the MOST in MLB at the moment (he’s behind the O’s Jim Johnson who has 38 of 44), he still does it in dominating style. (And I’ll note that Brave Craig Kimbrel is at 34 of 37 and RANGER Joe Nathan is at 33 of 35.)
Even if Mr. A*Roid made a return, he’s unlikely to do anything more than bow out especially after losing the advantage of the PEDs. Which is why he’s going to contest this and stay on the field as long as possible. His baseball clock is ticking and he knows it.
Problem is, I don’t know if the Yankees are going to score more than 1 or 2 runs in any game the rest of the season. The Yankees have to have a lead for Rivera to get a save!
But, yes, his year has been nothing short of amazing. And he is a man of character and spiritual passion as well.