50 games, 200 games, or all the games for the rest of his life. We’ll find out pretty soon exactly how long Alex Rodriguez is removed from the ranks of MLB-affiliated professional baseball (hello, Long Island Ducks!), but until then, the Bergen Record’s Bob Klapisch sheds few tears for the embattled Yankee third baseman. Careful to point out he’s got little sympathy for Bud Selig (“a latter-day Rambo who just might risk blowing up the collective bargaining agreement in order to suspended A-Rod immediately”), Klapisch opines, “it’s hard to feel sorry for Rodriguez, who is certainly not the victim here, not after having earned over $300 million.”
The day he was drafted and became a professional ballplayer, A-Rod entered into a binding agreement with the sport – hence, Selig — which gave the commissioner the right to invoke the “best interests of the game” at his discretion.
If Rodriguez has a problem with Selig’s control over the investigation, he should’ve chosen another line of work. If Rodriguez is crying about due process in 2013, he should’ve been smarter in 2001 – or whenever he actually started using PEDs.
A-Rod needs to recognize this entire mess, including Selig’s overreaction, is of his own doing. Of course, doing so would require Rodriguez to be honest with himself. Yet, to the end, he sticks to the lie the public is supposed to swallow. On Friday night in Trenton, the slugger had the nerve to say, “I think we all agree that we want to get rid of PEDs. That’s a must. All the players, we feel that way.”
It took a moment for the synapses to process Rodriguez’s pronouncement: How could he have been serious?