The Selfishness Of A-Roid

Back in early 2009, after initially denying it, NY Yankee 3B Alex Rodriguez, aka "A-Rod", the world's highest-paid baseball player, admitted that he used steroids when he was with the Texas Rangers.  This admission came only because others uncovered undeniable evidence that he was indeed a juicer, and A-Rod figured that copping to the truth was the better course, PR-wise.

The contrite A-Rod in '09 swore he hadn't used PED's in several years and would never, ever use them again.  I felt at the time that he was likely to get a large measure of forgiveness for his confession, however forced and awkward it may have been.

Guess I was wrong, eh?  Turns out A-Rod is a big, fat liar who was steadily using PED's while claiming otherwise.  He was a regular customer at the BioGenesis clinic, along with 12 other current players.  Yesterday, MLB handed down 50-game suspensions for those twelve, and a whopping 211-game suspension for Rodriguez -- for chronic lying, obstructing the investigation, intimidating witnesses, and tampering with evidence.

Everybody knew it was coming.  The other twelve accepted their suspensions without complaint.  A-Rod immediately appealed his.  He'll play the rest of this season with the Yankees and his appeal will go to arbitration in November.  Maybe his suspension will be reduced somewhat, but the Yankees will certainly be done with him, and A-Rod may be done playing altogether.

And he's done in the court of public opinion.  His ego and selfishness are astounding.  Yesterday, he never once denied any of the things MLB says he did, he merely whined about the length of his punishment, said his "life was a nightmare", and that he had to "defend" himself.

Well, good luck with that shit, Alex.  Surely A-Rod noticed that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, despite stellar careers, were not inducted into the Hall of Fame this spring, and that the Hall continues to shun Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, etc.  The big, slimy asterisk of The Steroid Era hangs over all of them.  It will hang over A-Rod too.

The problem with steroids/PED's is this:  Most of athletic history is steroid-free.  PED's are a recent phenomenon.  They do improve strength, speed and endurance, and thereby enhance performance.  But to what degree?  No one can accurately say.  How many homers would Bonds have hit without steroids?  It's impossible to tell where the person ends and the drug begins.  

The majority of baseball players have never used PED's, but some have.  So here's the rub:  In the high-stakes world of Major League Baseball, every little thing matters -- each pitch, hit, throw, catch, steal might be the deciding factor in making the team roster, or winning a game, or winning the World Series.  The accumulation of all these little things can impact jobs, income, success and failure.  Each individual has his own abilities and skill set, but the guy who takes PED's gives himself an advantage over the guy who doesn't, and that unnatural advantage can influence outcomes.

Meyer  is a former Phillie pitcher.  Bastardo is a current Phillie pitcher and one of the 12 players suspended.

A single game can make a difference.  Imagine a frequent scenario on the last day of the regular season.  Two teams in the AL East are matched up on the final day.  For both teams, it's "win and you're in" -- win the game and make the post-season playoffs, lose and go home.  In a scoreless tie in the bottom of the ninth, Alex Rodriguez hits a walk-off home run to win the game for the Yankees, and they rejoice.  But was it the real A-Rod who smacked the HR, or was it A-Roid, the Anabolic A-Rod?   We'll never know.  Does it really matter?  It sure as hell matters to the other team.  It should matter to all sports fans.


Buster's final baseball thought:  Both of my Ohio teams are right in the thick of the pennant races.  Go Indians!  Go Reds! 

A-Rod?  Go home.