When news broke this weekend that Alex Rodriguez had accepted an arbitrator’s decision for him to be suspended for 162 games, down from 214, no one seemed that surprised. It was almost a foregone conclusion that A-Rod was going to end up suspended for a 100+ games considering the “evidence” against him and the hate that Bud Selig has for him. A-Rod wasn’t going to be able to dodge this bullet even if he’d never once in his life been injected with a needle of drugs, rubbed some type of “night” cream on his legs or swallowed a bunch of pills after breakfast. He was a dead man walking.
And let me be clear, this won’t be an apologetic blog about how A-Rod is innocent and shouldn’t be suspended. Alex Rodriguez is a pompous ass who believed whole-heartedly that he was above the game of baseball. He believed he was the best player on the planet and that no one, not Bud Selig, not Tony Bosch could stop him from attaining the title of “greatest baseball player in the history of the game.” Because that’s what this has been about for A-Rod. He didn’t play for the championships, he played for the individual awards. He liked MVPs and Gold Gloves and comparisons to the best players in the game. Think about it, after experiencing team success early in his career as a Mariner, rather than staying with Seattle or going to a playoff team, he signed the largest contract in baseball history with a team, the Texas Rangers, who were absolutely terrible during his time there. But, you know what? 50+ homers, .300+ batting averages and 100+ RBIs stick out on a team that sucks. When his contract got too big for Texas, as was always going to happen, A-Rod was able to make himself look “gracious” for being willing to “take less money” with the Red Sox and ultimately change positions to play for the Yankees. In my mind, it wasn’t about that at all. A-Rod realized he couldn’t go any further in Texas where the team sucked and it was too hot. He needed to get in front of the cameras and get on the big stage and the Yankees and Red Sox were the only places that could offer him that. A-Rod then signed another “largest contract in baseball history” with incentives for every time he broke a record. See, he really doesn’t care about anything but himself. $6 million for every time he broke a home run barrier is what his current contract has written in. So much for winning championships.
Last night on 60 Minutes, Tony Bosch, the guy that Major League Baseball scared and then bankrolled into telling the world the “truth,” took the A-Rod legacy even further by insinuating that A-Rod wanted to create the 800 home run club which would really only every have one member in it. Not a big surprise here, as A-Rod is obsessed with his image. I’d talk more about Tony Bosch but it’s clear that guy is an incredible piece of trash who is simply spewing out what Major League Baseball wants him to say.
Speaking of MLB and their corrupt Commissioner, screw them. This whole thing reeks of a grudge that Selig has had with A-Rod ever since he realized Rodriguez wasn’t the golden boy he hoped he’d be. After Bosch publicly stated he had no knowledge of what A-Rod did or didn’t take, Selig and his goons may have pressured Bosch into talking. And on top of it, they’re basically paying for his services as they footed his legal bills and are paying for his 24 hour security team. That’s potentially millions of dollars that the MLB is paying to keep Bosch safe and happy. That’s not weird to anyone? You know my thoughts on Selig. I think he’s a scum bag who is concerned with his own image and legacy than what’s actually better for baseball. Taking this long to increase replay is clear indication that Selig didn’t know what was good for the game. But maybe that’s what makes this whole situation hilarious; Selig and A-Rod are more similar than we realized. They both realized, some time ago, that their end was coming. They realized that to maximize their legacies they’d have to do something more than just be great. A-Rod realized it a long time ago and almost every move he has made has been with his legacy in mind. Selig’s story is a bit more complicated as he allowed steroids and performing enhancing drugs to run wild in his sport until it got completely out of hand. Then, and only when pressure came down from the Federal Government, did Selig turn the tide on the same people he had turned the other cheek to for years. Now Selig hunts down players who may or may not have taken performance enhancing drugs. You didn’t fail a test? Doesn’t matter, if he thinks you’re guilty he’s coming full throttle. Twenty years ago when players were doubling in size in a few months and hitting home runs at an alarming clip, he was silent. Selig wants to come out of this as the good guy, the clean guy, the guy who revitalized baseball after the strike and cleaned it up when drugs infiltrated his sport. He’s neither. He’s as dirty as A-Rod and until he admits his faults I will never be that upset when a player is found to have used PEDs. This is the world Bud Selig created and now he wants to shame the same people he once celebrated.
