When Alex Rodriguez first signed with the Yankees in 2004 I was both happy and upset. I was happy because at that time he was the best player in baseball. On the flip side, I was upset because the Yankees had to trade Alfonso Soriano who was my favorite Yankee at the time. Nevertheless, I went to the local sporting good store and bought a Rodriguez shirt with A-Rod on the back and his number 13. Interesting that he wears number 13 considering the bad luck that has followed him through much of his career as a Yankee.
It seems like yesterday, but Alex has been with the Yankees for 10 years! If you judge his career by the raw numbers you would say “wow”! The numbers do lie a little bit, however. While he has always had good power numbers in the regular season, his playoff numbers are atrocious. I have been to many playoff games and seen for myself times when Alex comes up in a crucial situation and he either struck out or popped out – and in more recent years those outs were followed by a chorus of boos.
If you ask any Yankee fan who they would rather have up in a game winning situation, Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter, the fans will overwhelmingly choose Jeter. I read Joe Torres’ book and it opened my eyes to why Alex is the way he is. He is very insecure: he wants to hit 100 HRs every year and, as Torre tells it, he wants the Yankees to be his team. Unfortunately for him, they are Derek Jeter’s team.
Then comes the steroid issue. You thought I forgot about that? I wish I could.
Who takes steroids? Someone who wants to be bigger, stronger and faster – and perhaps someone who is insecure. Steroids did help A-Rod get numbers but it didn’t help him get respect from the fans, his team mates or even his family. He embarrassed us all! He first said that he never did them and when he was caught he apologized to us all. But now there are new allegations that he did them. I will not go into specifics because that isn’t the focus of this diatribe, but it has gotten messy. He has even tried to take the focus away from the steroids by accusing the Yankees for having forced him to play while he was injured and that he might even sue the Yankees! There will be proceedings against MLB and The Yankees doctor who he claims misdiagnosed his injury. What a circus that will be! Who will suffer again? The Yankee Fans, the Yankees organization and Alex Rodriguez’s family.
Stop the madness!
The solution to this mess is simple: Alex has to apologize to us all and man-up and serve his suspension. If he’s unwilling to do so, the Yankees need to release him. It will sting for awhile but we will be okay and then we can sign someone who is secure in who they are. The numbers might not be as good, however baseball is about heart not numbers (well… you get the idea). I don’t know who will be available, but that may be jumping the gun a bit. This has to be resolved ASAP so the Yankees can go on being The Yankees again and win title number 28.
The message to you, Alex Rodriguez, is to stop the lies to yourself the fans, the Yankees and to your family. Take your punishment like a man then come back and break all the records and help the Yankees win a title . If this happens maybe I can the see the Yankees in the World Series again and not the Boston Red Sox – yuck!
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