Alex Rodriguez is at once one of the greatest players to ever wear a baseball uniform as well as bring disgrace upon it.
I watched Alex's press conference with great sadness. He was graceful and gracious in his departure, a true mensch. He fought back tears, and I--as a long-time Yankee fan--did so as well. If someone asked why Alex was emotional, that should be self-evident; he is leaving the game he loves. As for me, I mourned the end of an era dating back to before most fans, let alone active players, were born. With the retirement of A-Rod and Mark Texeira, the New York Yankees will be devoid of a superstar for the first time in many years. With Jeter and the rest of the "core four" retired, and with people like Roger Clemens, Dave Winfield and Reggie Jackson long gone, the Yanks are a team of good--but not great--veterans, and largely untested rookies. I also mourn the taint that is upon Alex's superlative achievements. Just imagine how we would assess his stats were it not for the steroids issue--an ugly reality that twice tarnished everything he ever did. Just as with otherwise all-time greats like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, we will never know what they would have achieved had PED's not been in the picture. Doubtless--and this is a large part of why I feel bad--Bonds , Clemens and A-Rod would have been first-ballot Hall of Famers without the steroids, an honor none of them is now likely to ever achieve. This is made even sadder by the strength of his work ethic and obvious love for the history of the game.
As Alex said, he has played Major League baseball for over half his life, and played it better than almost anyone else who ever wore the uniform. In addition to his "scary-good" slugging achievements, Rodriguez was a great (two-time gold glove) shortstop, and solid third baseman with an arm like a cannon. To his credit, he also said that he had been "to hell and back, and made every mistake in the book." So not only will we never know what his numbers would have been but for the PED's, he will never know either. Once again, as with Bonds and Clemens, the numbers would doubtless have been great ones, but perhaps not as great.
Alex Rodriguez, in his twelve years with the Yankees, won the MVP twice, and hit more Home Runs in those twelve years than all but 92 people in the history of baseball did in their entire careers. His records--and the exalted company of those with whom he shares them--are legendary. Only he and the great Hank Aaron ever had more than 3,000 hits, 2,000 RBI's and 600 home runs. No mean feat, that. He's tied with Hammering Hank as well as the only man with 15 seasons of 30+ home runs. I once watched him reach that 30-homer goal on the last day of the 2009 season. He had entered the game with 28 home runs and 93 RBI'a. Not a bad year for anyone, especially since he had missed 28 games due to hip surgery. Even so, there's something magical about 30 homers and 100 RBI's. He pulled it off with two home runs and seven RBI's in the 6th inning, an American League record. It was almost as if he willed it in order to reach that plateau. He went on to have an outstanding post-season, and was a key factor in bringing the Yankees their most recent World Championship.
As I said earlier, "scary good." A-Rod's 25 Grand Slam home runs and 14 seasons of 100+ RBI's stand alone among the greats. And yet, we will never know how many of those homers and RBI's he would have gotten, had he been playing clean. He lied about it to boot, threatened to take the Yankees and Major League baseball to court on more than one occasion, and acted like a man who thought himself bigger than the game. That is something no one should ever do, and shame on him for having done so.
That said, he has admitted his shortcomings, and earned his chance at redemption. That came last season, when--at age 40, he had 33 homers and 86 RBI's after sitting out a year's suspension. That someone could do so under those circumstances is about as astonishing as anything this great ballplayer ever achieved. All the pundits had said that no one could turn on a big-league fastball at his age after such a layoff. Even this season, he seemed to be on a roll before an injury put him on the Disabled List, something from which he could never recover.
Regardless about how one feels about Alex Rodriguez, no one can deny the special attention we paid to his every at bat. Among batters, only a handful of superstars before him that I can recall having seen play have that kind of charisma--DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Musial, Mantle, Mays and, Bonds come quickly to mind. (Hank Aaron was so quiet in what he accomplished that his greatness somehow caught us unawares.) When Alex came to the plate, however, the air was always electric with possibility. I'll miss that.
Alex will (barring the unforeseen) play his last game on Friday, August 12th. As manager Joe Girardi, who praised A-Rod's work ethic as something the likes of which he had never seen said, "Alex has earned his right to go out as he sees fit." Girardi also said (and this is what makes the enduring kid that lives on in the heart of every baseball fan feel a little bit older) , "players die twice;" once when they retire from baseball, and later at their natural death. As someone who remembers when Mickey Mantle came up to replace Joe DiMaggio, I need no reminders that time is a thief. Alex Rodriguez is still a handsome and fit young man, but his playing days are now behind him. He has much of life ahead of him, and much that he will be able to give back to the game of baseball he so genuinely loves.
I only wish that all of us were able to appreciate his accomplishments more than we can because of the PED factor. Doubtless, he wishes so as well. But America (which loves second--and, possibly, third acts), learned a little about redemption from Alex Rodriguez over the past couple of years and a little more today. As Girardi also said during today's press conference, "he tripped and fell, but kept getting up."
And not everybody in American life achieves that, either.
I watched Alex's press conference with great sadness. He was graceful and gracious in his departure, a true mensch. He fought back tears, and I--as a long-time Yankee fan--did so as well. If someone asked why Alex was emotional, that should be self-evident; he is leaving the game he loves. As for me, I mourned the end of an era dating back to before most fans, let alone active players, were born. With the retirement of A-Rod and Mark Texeira, the New York Yankees will be devoid of a superstar for the first time in many years. With Jeter and the rest of the "core four" retired, and with people like Roger Clemens, Dave Winfield and Reggie Jackson long gone, the Yanks are a team of good--but not great--veterans, and largely untested rookies. I also mourn the taint that is upon Alex's superlative achievements. Just imagine how we would assess his stats were it not for the steroids issue--an ugly reality that twice tarnished everything he ever did. Just as with otherwise all-time greats like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, we will never know what they would have achieved had PED's not been in the picture. Doubtless--and this is a large part of why I feel bad--Bonds , Clemens and A-Rod would have been first-ballot Hall of Famers without the steroids, an honor none of them is now likely to ever achieve. This is made even sadder by the strength of his work ethic and obvious love for the history of the game.
As Alex said, he has played Major League baseball for over half his life, and played it better than almost anyone else who ever wore the uniform. In addition to his "scary-good" slugging achievements, Rodriguez was a great (two-time gold glove) shortstop, and solid third baseman with an arm like a cannon. To his credit, he also said that he had been "to hell and back, and made every mistake in the book." So not only will we never know what his numbers would have been but for the PED's, he will never know either. Once again, as with Bonds and Clemens, the numbers would doubtless have been great ones, but perhaps not as great.
Alex Rodriguez, in his twelve years with the Yankees, won the MVP twice, and hit more Home Runs in those twelve years than all but 92 people in the history of baseball did in their entire careers. His records--and the exalted company of those with whom he shares them--are legendary. Only he and the great Hank Aaron ever had more than 3,000 hits, 2,000 RBI's and 600 home runs. No mean feat, that. He's tied with Hammering Hank as well as the only man with 15 seasons of 30+ home runs. I once watched him reach that 30-homer goal on the last day of the 2009 season. He had entered the game with 28 home runs and 93 RBI'a. Not a bad year for anyone, especially since he had missed 28 games due to hip surgery. Even so, there's something magical about 30 homers and 100 RBI's. He pulled it off with two home runs and seven RBI's in the 6th inning, an American League record. It was almost as if he willed it in order to reach that plateau. He went on to have an outstanding post-season, and was a key factor in bringing the Yankees their most recent World Championship.
As I said earlier, "scary good." A-Rod's 25 Grand Slam home runs and 14 seasons of 100+ RBI's stand alone among the greats. And yet, we will never know how many of those homers and RBI's he would have gotten, had he been playing clean. He lied about it to boot, threatened to take the Yankees and Major League baseball to court on more than one occasion, and acted like a man who thought himself bigger than the game. That is something no one should ever do, and shame on him for having done so.
That said, he has admitted his shortcomings, and earned his chance at redemption. That came last season, when--at age 40, he had 33 homers and 86 RBI's after sitting out a year's suspension. That someone could do so under those circumstances is about as astonishing as anything this great ballplayer ever achieved. All the pundits had said that no one could turn on a big-league fastball at his age after such a layoff. Even this season, he seemed to be on a roll before an injury put him on the Disabled List, something from which he could never recover.
Regardless about how one feels about Alex Rodriguez, no one can deny the special attention we paid to his every at bat. Among batters, only a handful of superstars before him that I can recall having seen play have that kind of charisma--DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Musial, Mantle, Mays and, Bonds come quickly to mind. (Hank Aaron was so quiet in what he accomplished that his greatness somehow caught us unawares.) When Alex came to the plate, however, the air was always electric with possibility. I'll miss that.
Alex will (barring the unforeseen) play his last game on Friday, August 12th. As manager Joe Girardi, who praised A-Rod's work ethic as something the likes of which he had never seen said, "Alex has earned his right to go out as he sees fit." Girardi also said (and this is what makes the enduring kid that lives on in the heart of every baseball fan feel a little bit older) , "players die twice;" once when they retire from baseball, and later at their natural death. As someone who remembers when Mickey Mantle came up to replace Joe DiMaggio, I need no reminders that time is a thief. Alex Rodriguez is still a handsome and fit young man, but his playing days are now behind him. He has much of life ahead of him, and much that he will be able to give back to the game of baseball he so genuinely loves.
I only wish that all of us were able to appreciate his accomplishments more than we can because of the PED factor. Doubtless, he wishes so as well. But America (which loves second--and, possibly, third acts), learned a little about redemption from Alex Rodriguez over the past couple of years and a little more today. As Girardi also said during today's press conference, "he tripped and fell, but kept getting up."
And not everybody in American life achieves that, either.
