A-Rod Had Me... Until He Started Being A-Rod

by Ian Casselberry on Feb 10, 2009 10:15 AM EST in News Comment 7 comments

I know I can be a sucker, but Alex Rodriguez almost had me.

Maybe it was whining on his part, but I was ready to buy A-Rod's admission that he took steroids during his first season in Texas because he felt pressure to live up to that record-setting 10-year, $252 million contract. Expectations can be a hell of a thing. Here in Detroit, we saw how fast some Tigers tried to duck the championship expectations that so many of us put on them last year.

But it briefly looked like a true moment of candor from a player whose image seems manufactured down to the smallest detail. I've never had any dislike for Rodriguez as a player. In fact, I've always been quite impressed by his talent. But I certainly understand why so many refuse to embrace him or flat-out think he's phony. Very little about the guy seems genuine. Every move he makes, every word he says seems geared toward getting people to like him.

Sure, an athlete like Michael Jordan was manufactured for endorsements, but what we saw from him on the court was genuine. Think about how he celebrated after hitting that shot over Craig Ehlo in 1989. Or the shrug of the shoulders he gave to the scorer's table after hitting his sixth three-pointer vs. Portland in 1992. That was a man being overtaken by the moment.

Compare that to A-Rod's fight with Jason Varitek in 2004. Didn't Rodriguez try just a little too hard to look tough? (I've always thought he was mouthing those curse words to Varitek's face a bit too demonstrably.) And I'm not even getting into the ol' "slap-and-run" he pulled later that year in the playoffs.

If only A-Rod's chat with Peter Gammons could've ended after what appeared to be a rare moment of humanity. Of course, it couldn't because Gammons had to conduct an actual interview and push the issue with some questions. (You can read the entire transcript at Big League Stew.) And that's when the rehearsed A-Rod came back. I particularly enjoyed when he used this as a defense:

Back then it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid. I was naive.

It's as if A-Rod stepped off the bus from Kansas and dropped into Haight-Ashbury of the 1960s. Hippies were everywhere, man... I was listening to Jefferson Airplane... It was free love!

But here's where he finally lost me:

...there's many things that you can take that are banned substances. I mean, there's things that have been removed from GNC that today would trigger a positive test. I'm not sure, exactly, you know, what substances I used, but whatever it is, I feel terribly about it.

He's not sure what he used? There's an original defense. And I know this is hardly a fresh rebuttal here, but a world class athlete worth $252 million knows what he's putting in his body.

Sure, I could see a guy who wants to bulk up or slim down start scarfing down protein bars without checking to realize some of them contain more sugar than candy bars. I don't even look at a bottle of fruit juice anymore without checking if it contains high fructose corn syrup. And I'm just a schlub concerned about his weight.

But somebody who's handled his career as meticulously as Alex Rodriguez just stuck a syringe in his butt without knowing what was in it? A clubhouse attendant didn't just slip A-Rod a brownie with some Primobolan baked in it. It's not somebody's bottle of rhinoceros testosterone. That is real deal, engineered in a lab, professional grade stuff.

So Rodriguez has now thrown himself at the mercy of the people and admitted he tried to get an edge - an edge he probably didn't even need with his physical gifts. By at least copping to the crime, following the New York Yankee handbook written by Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi, he shows he's smarter (and maybe even less arrogant) than Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds.

Does he still have to try so hard to get us to like him? With the frowns and the near-tears and the pleas for understanding? Maybe this de-legitimizes him in the eyes of some. (And others are probably just weary of seeing the headlines hogged up by what's going on with the Yankees.) For the majority of baseball fans, however, I'd say this is just more of an unfortunate moment. It just gives us some more ammunition with which to make fun of A-Rod. And I (along with the rest of the baseball blogosphere) am kind of grateful for that.

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What Ian said...

A-Rod/Roid/Fraud is as phony as one of Creed Bratton’s $3 bills.

I never understood “I didn’t know what I was taking” excuse athletes give. Hell, I take several meds and supplements (one is an injection I give myself), and I know what they are, why I need them and what side effects to expect. For a pro athlete to supposedly ingest/inject whatever is given to them willy nilly, and do so without question, when their body is their main source of income, requires a level of belief I just don’t have.

He knew EXACTLY what he was taking, and why he was taking it. Rodriguez is a BS artist of the highest magnitude.

waynefontes.com

by BigAl on Feb 10, 2009 11:04 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

But Paul Byrd

can order $25,000 worth of HGH and nobody bats an eye from his “dentist” in the Bahamas. Nobody ever admits anything unless they get caught. Come on, now. The testing is in place. Let’s just move on. Play ball! Go Tigers! Only a few more days!

by densogirl on Feb 10, 2009 11:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

No one knows if he knew what he was taking

Ian, you and BigAl do not have assistants and specialists in charge of your well-being. Even my boss, a multi-degreed medical professional, could not remember anything about where his money went or how he handled it. Why? Because he paid his trusted staff to take care of it in order to clear his mind to do surgery and save lives. He loved his dog, yet had no idea when shots were given or even the nature of the shots. He paid someone to keep on top of his Best Friend’s interests.

And so it should be with pro athletes. They concentrate on their game, and others study the data and determine how he should best supplement, work out, sleep, and eat in order to get the win.

Maybe he knew, as you think. I am willing to believe him.

PS – If I could hire someone to read labels for HFCS for me, after awhile I’d stop checking myself. I’m only meticulous because no one else will/can do it correctly.

by Traffic on Feb 10, 2009 11:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

A-Rod

(sorry for the oops post above…feel free to delete)

I’m pretty cynical on the steriods issue, in that I think its completely overblown. Nearly every player uses PEDs in some form. Some are banned substances, some are not. Creatine is ok, elevated testosterone is not. Vanadyl is ok, Andro is not. Caffeine is ok, Greenies are not. Blah, blah. Throughout history, in every competitive field from sport to politics to business to entertainment, people look for an edge….its part of the competition and its where innovation comes from.
As for A-Rod: did he speak out for image and hall of fame concerns? Sure. And I’m sure he practiced the points he wanted to make for that reason. But I also believed him in that he only used for short time, he stopped after testing started, and he regrets it. With or without, he’s one of the greatest players of this generation….he’s simply amazing… and its been accomplished against many opponents who were also on PED’s…especially pitchers and Greenies (which would be most, who’ve used for decades).
C’mon…for baseball guys to take the heat for PEDs is silly, when the NFL is nearly all on Steriods, the NHL is entirely drunk, the NBA stoned and most of Hollywood is on coke. Its hypocritical to pick on him because he’s GREAT and ignore the rest.
Let’s play ball and enjoy the game, because the PED issue is overblown and meaningless…and its certainly NO reason to keep anyone out of the Hall of Fame. These guys were looking to perform their best…its not even close to the gambling sin, where the potential to “lose” or “throw a result” is there.

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by rings on Feb 10, 2009 4:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

So...

We’re supposed to give him credit for quitting once they started testing, even though they were banned well before then? I don’t care what the culture was, A-Rod knew it was wrong, and he hoped to get away with it. And he almost did. I’m not going to cut him slack because he straightened up once it was likely that he’d get caught.

by russkiejedi on Feb 10, 2009 5:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

You are a fake and a phony, and I wish I never met you.

I am stealing this line from a friend of mine, but how appropriate. It really makes me wonder if I was 10 years younger, would I feel this way about baseball as a whole? Probably……

by Zappatista on Feb 11, 2009 11:20 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

...but?

The point is, for the last two posters, that EVERY team had guys using PEDs. EVERY TEAM. Have you cheered for Sheffield? Pudge? Maggs? Higginson? Logan? Sanchez? All under suspicion or admitted…and there are others who’ve never been made public.
If you’re going to hold it against A-Rod and the other “public” guys, you are completely naive to think that anyone you consider clean, in fact, is.
Look the the Mitchell list – it contains nobodies, somebodies, and everyone in between. Point is, the first player to wear eyeglasses had an “unfair advantage” over one who didn’t…same for contact lenses – its a non-natural medical advantage. Greenies existed back into the 50’s and steriods have been widely used in pro sports since the 70’s….and no one has any way of ever compiling a complete list of the “users” and “non-users.”
So, what’s the point? Enjoy the game and forget about all this completely hippocrital “scandal.” PIcking on A-Rod for this reason is jealousy or hypocrisy, pure and simple.

The world's greatest wiffle ball tournament! TheFatty.com

by rings on Feb 11, 2009 7:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs