A Legacy Forever Ruined

Cheater, steroid user, fake, no respect, LIAR.

These words will forever be linked to the name Alex Rodriguez, from February 7th 2009 till infinity.

Once praised as the air apparent to be the greatest of all time, is now a mere asterisk in the minds of millions of baseball fans. When Selena Roberts out-ed the 12 time all-star and three time most valuable player, the name Alex Rodriguez would never be the same again.

In America there are certain things that tick people off, rapist, murderer, and it seems like cheater is in the same category. Not to put Alex Rodriguez in the same vein as a murderer but in the minds of baseball purists that is just where his name falls. He no longer will be looked at as the clean player to finally absolve baseball of the steroid era, nor would he now be the “REAL” homerun king. Instead Barry Bonds is still sullied and Hank Aaron still holds the long ball crown, and if A-ROD gets there which barring injury he more than likely will, the number will mean nothing in the eyes of the fans.

In my previous article I mentioned what players said and how I believe that there must have been an agenda behind just Rodriguez’s name being leaked, and there was, Roberts is releasing a book chronicling A-ROD’s celebrity status and his downfall. Now it seems like this list will not be released and Rodriguez will be the only man named off this infamous list. He is the only one scorn by the wrath of four sources that breached the trust and faith of every single player in Major League baseball today.

Let’s look at the situation this way. The four sources that leaked the information to Roberts knowingly broke the law. They threw away the notion of confidentiality, which in the case of these tests and what the players were being tested for would have never complied with should they have known that one day names would be mentioned and careers would be tarnished. And that is exactly what happened here. Rodriguez’s career has been tarnished like a metal bike left out in a monsoon.

On Tuesday February 17th 2009, Alex Rodriguez is scheduled to appear in Tampa for Yankees spring training where he will face the media publicly for the first time since his interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons on the 9th of February. He, just like Andy Pettitte last year and Jason Giambi the year prior to Pettitte will face the media and try to answer the steroid filled questions thrown at him and try to clear the air. The press conference is another step in Alex Rodriguez’s road to recovery, much like a person in AA sessions, this is just another step.

It is here where the world expects Rodriguez to be truthful once again and try to put back together the reputation and legacy that right now is in shambles like a disco ball that fell to the dance floor. With him will be sitting Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada according to Yankee sources who have said they want to be there to support their team mate, just like they did for Andy Pettitte last spring training.

Veteran Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has come out and said “To me, he doesn’t have to say anything, he has my support regardless.”

Longtime catcher Jorge Posada made his feelings known to the media as well, “Alex is my teammate and Alex is going to be my friend forever. I’m going to support him any way I can.”

Familiar with the situation surrounding Rodriguez, Pettitte has supported his fellow colleague. “Alex is my teammate; he’s like family to me,” Pettitte said. “I’m going to try to help him and pull for him in any way possible. Anything negative toward him isn’t going to come from me. I want to try to encourage him and pick him up at this time, not kick him down.”

On the bright side for A-ROD this is a good thing, seeing the marquee names supporting him like this, yet there is one name that hasn’t come out and said something to help matters, the one that matters most in New York, number two, Derek Jeter. Jeter publicly said he would not speak on the matter until spring training, so tomorrow everyone is expecting the captain to speak, and for Alex’s sake, he better support him 100 percent.

But I must go back to the issue at hand and that is the name, Alex Rodriguez. There will be no excuses from fans and A-ROD alike; he has admitted to doing the steroids to live up to his hefty contract given to him by the Texas Rangers, but what he did was wrong. Fans will boo him unmercifully at home and especially on the road. Signs on asterisks and needles and catch phrases with “A-ROID” will be staples in every game Rodriguez plays in. And there is nothing he can do about it. He brought this upon himself and he will have to live with the fact that his legacy, reputation and name will forever be etched into the minds of fans as a cheater.