I would apologize too for $25 million, or is it 20? The Yankees deserve him, throwing so much money at players. He makes more in a few games than most professionals make in their entire lives, which has led me to not watch baseball for the last twenty years. When I was living in Princeton around the corner from the university I watched most of their games and enjoyed them more than MLB. What a joke, his writing a handwritten note to his "fans," as if he has any, as if he cares about anything other than the money. As if we care what he cares about.
2
The Yankees made their own bed. Let them sleep in that mess. Could not have happened to nicer guys!
3
Doesn't matter. He is no longer relevant. Except for parents being able to say "Don't let that happen to you."
2
Make that George Vescey. I think I wrote Peter.
Like George from Copake I will not go to a ballgame at Yankee stadium while Alex Rodriguez is part of the team. I grew up with Mantle and Maris, Yogi and Elston and Whitey and spent a good part of my adulthood with Paul, Greg, Thurman and Ron and Bobby and Reggie, Bernie, Luis, Willie, and, yes, Mariano. Upper management should stick to basics and draw homegrown talent from their own backyard minor league well instead of paying a fortune for ready-made superstars from other teams. The Yankees have always been their best when growing their own. Jeter comes to mind.
1
I know too well that reporters don't write headlines, but after reading this one, I didn't bother reading the article. I also know the difference between columnists and "straight" reporters, and what their respective jobs are supposed to be.
All winter, when the New York Times had a chance to write columns about the Yankees - because there was very little "news," that would have been all the coverage the Yankees received - there was virtually none. No conjecture about what the starting pitching staff would look like (until the beat reporter did it, finally, after every other outlet had); no thoughts about whether the Hal Steinbrenner-led Yankees cared only about profit margins and no longer were obsessed with winning (as was the case with George Steinbrenner).
We got stories about the Mets moving their fences in and about Matt Harvey's progress after Tommy John surgery. But for a long time, now, the only Yankees' stories are about Alex Rodriguez and what a slug he is.
Surely, The Times can do better. Surely, The Times can write about farm prospects such as Luis Severino, Jacob Lindgren and Greg Bird once in a blue moon. Even when George Vescey hated on the Yankees he was less hateful (and always entertaining and enlightening) than the current crop of Yankee haters over there.
All winter, when the New York Times had a chance to write columns about the Yankees - because there was very little "news," that would have been all the coverage the Yankees received - there was virtually none. No conjecture about what the starting pitching staff would look like (until the beat reporter did it, finally, after every other outlet had); no thoughts about whether the Hal Steinbrenner-led Yankees cared only about profit margins and no longer were obsessed with winning (as was the case with George Steinbrenner).
We got stories about the Mets moving their fences in and about Matt Harvey's progress after Tommy John surgery. But for a long time, now, the only Yankees' stories are about Alex Rodriguez and what a slug he is.
Surely, The Times can do better. Surely, The Times can write about farm prospects such as Luis Severino, Jacob Lindgren and Greg Bird once in a blue moon. Even when George Vescey hated on the Yankees he was less hateful (and always entertaining and enlightening) than the current crop of Yankee haters over there.
2
I'm co-author of a new tell-all book on the Yankees -- "Abused by the New York Yankees" -- and my co-author Paul Priore worked in the team's clubhouse as well as the visiting clubhouse. When Alex Rodriguez began his career in a Seattle Mariners uniform in 1994, Paul witnessed him being injected with steroids by a trainer in an open toilet stall in the visiting clubhouse (this has been verified in a voluntary lie detector test administered to Paul, the results are included in the book). Paul also witnessed the physical & mental changes Rodriguez underwent over the course of that season and the next -- which means that Rodriguez has taken steroids for all of his illustrious major league career. If he ever does another press conference, watch carefully for his reaction if asked about the Mariners era. http://abusedbytheyankees.com/
2
For such an obviously huge and wealthy metropolis, it's kind of amazing how bad most of New York's pro sports teams are these days. Seriously, what's going on?
1
I happen to be the proud owner a copy of the nonfiction
book Alex Rodriguez wrote in 2007, for children ages 4-8. Appropriately for this point in his career, the book is titled "Out of the Ballpark."
book Alex Rodriguez wrote in 2007, for children ages 4-8. Appropriately for this point in his career, the book is titled "Out of the Ballpark."
Perhaps Alex should hire Brian Williams to handle his public relations and communications. They seem to share a similar outlook regarding accuracy and apologies!
4
Perfect marriage: Alex and Yankees. Made for each other with matching egos.
2
THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH: Speaking as a ex fan, he says he sorry and apologizes? Really? The only thing he is sorry for is that he got caught cheating more than once. Well based upon 60 minutes documentary and other factual reports, Alex Rodriquez is a disgrace and nothing more than a Classless Cheater, Juicer, Liar and leader of thugs. He has brought shame and dishonor just like Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sousa, Palmero, Braun and the others juicer to game of Baseball. There is no place for these self serving, greedy jerks in Baseball. At every plate appearance, all pitchers should throw every pitch high tight to him until he goes away. Any fan that pays to be in attendance when he is in line up needs to have their head examined.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/arod/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/arod/
3
Apology accepted. Let's play ball!
1
He can't....he will be too busy counting his money for several seasons. I should say "the fan's money".
2
Please, let's stop the sanctimonious moralizing on this issue. All baseball records are tainted, by drug use, cheating or the phony competition of the whites-only era. Baseball players can only be judged within their own eras, and in his era A-Rod was one of the 2 or 3 best players, behind only Barry Bonds and Roger Clemons, the greatest hitter and the greatest pitcher, respectively, of all time. If we want to keep them out of the Hall of Fame, what do we do about Mays, Mantle, Aaron, etc., who played in the amphetamine era or Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, etc. who only played against the inferior competition of segregation? And the cherry on the top of the stinking pile of steroid hypocrisy is that, while we are excoriating A-Rod this season, the Yankees are going to honor Andy Pettitte, an admitted PED user, by retiring his number. Now that's a consistent moral stance!
4
If they allowed me to gives 10 likes to a comment a month, you would get my 10 likes for February. These people are so envious of this guy's life that the only way they can handle it is by piling on him as much as they can. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a tortured genius, but this guy is a narcissistic devil.
I'm sorry, did you ever think he stopped cheating? He may even still be cheating. He is a fraud and a cheat and a liar. I will boo him as vociferously as I can each chance I get. The fans can indeed drive him out of baseball.
4
Reminds me of what Billy Martin said about George and Reggie back in the day. "They're made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." I seem to remember Billy was compelled to apologize about that...
2
First time in 50 years I'm considering taking a pass rooting for the Bombers this year unless they buy out his contract. I've had enough.
2
Hey, how about giving some specific rational gripe about A-Rod, or is it just a convenient place to beat up? I hope he can just slough it off like he should; be a good stoic. So what specifically is the problem? He's been pretty decent and so many other players did drugs, that's not it. What is it?
What he chose to do to his body, is something he will have to deal with. What he chooses to confront about his honesty to himself and the people around him....he'll take to his grave. How he chose to treat his team, his teammates, and Major League Baseball is despicable and the sign of a troubled individual. I would not sit in the same dugout with him.
3
He has the handwriting of a child.
And the brain of one also. Though very, very wealthy.......
1
Assuming we believe it is really his handwriting?
1
My recommendation for Mr Rodriguez's 2015 theme song:
"How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?"
Music by Burton Lane, lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. (1951)
"How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?"
Music by Burton Lane, lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. (1951)
5
How about a country vibe: "How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?"
1
If you Google "Alex Rodriguez signature" you get some samples. Is there a handwriting expert out there?
In my rudimentary understanding of pro baseball, the front office manages the money, the coaches and the players. The fans pay to have an enjoyable experience and root for the team.
If Rodriguez is such a disreputable, unsavory cheat who is moreover past his prime, why should the fans have their enjoyment shadowed and their cheers muted by the shame of association? The front office made the big mistake of paying through the nose for an aging cheat. Let them take the financial hit. Don't pass the liability on to the fans.
If Rodriguez is such a disreputable, unsavory cheat who is moreover past his prime, why should the fans have their enjoyment shadowed and their cheers muted by the shame of association? The front office made the big mistake of paying through the nose for an aging cheat. Let them take the financial hit. Don't pass the liability on to the fans.
2
Maybe Alex can team up with Lance Armstrong and do a television show with guests like Pee Wee Herman, Brittany Spears and Bill Cosby. Call it Second or Third Chances or something.
2
No one cares about A-Rod's morals more than sports journalists, who seem to go into hot take swoons whenever they get a chance to dissect him. He's served his suspension, let the man play ball.
Bad girlfriends is what did it. Tiger as well.
For Tiger it was mostly bad girls...not bad girlfriends
Actually, not to wonder too far off point, but Tiger seemed to have thrived when he had the bad girlfriends.....
Gimme a break...bad girlfriends?
Maybe, I hope, the remaining years on A-Rod's contract are simply a purgatory that the Yankees have to suffer through to finally rid themselves of all the stupid contracts they're still stuck with, and there's a brilliant rebirth coming, with a long-range plan for the future. Maybe. The downside is that in the meantime, the Yankees need to sell tickets, so we have to live through embarrassing moments of cheapening the Yankees' past, where management honors increasingly lower-grade players from the team's most recent glory years in the late '90s.
1
If Mr. Rodriguez was TRULY sorry he should both give back some of the ill gotten gains he has made in salary increases over the years. The improvements in his play that have been made, small as they are, probably are traced to the illegal use of the drugs. Secondly, for the remaining length of his contract he should renegotiate his salary down with the Yankees to show his true remorse for his illegal activities. I think then, and only then will anyone truly believe his true remorse.
After the Lance Armstrong article in yesterday's paper i commented that "We have seen the cheater and he is us."
That said, I think Arod has earned a Bronx cheer. Words are cheap. A year in Vietnam taught me to spot warm, wet, male bovine manure when I smell it. That note reeks of it.
That said, I think Arod has earned a Bronx cheer. Words are cheap. A year in Vietnam taught me to spot warm, wet, male bovine manure when I smell it. That note reeks of it.
1
I will say this: his penmanship is superb.
1
Apology accepted Alex; wish you all the best for this season and beyond.
The proof is in how you play. If he contributes this season, the Yankees should welcome it...probably the fans will cheer too. There hasn't been much they can cheer about anyway.
1
The best thing to punish him is to wipe all his stats back to whenever it was prior to 3009 that can be shown he used PED's. That way nothing he got by cheating counts. Problem solved.
And Roger Maris still holds the single-season home run record.
1
You better hope AROD doesn't go away, you'll have nothing to write about. The Yankees hope AROD doesn't go away either. Just look at attendance before AROD and last year even with the Jeter Goodbye.
1
Everybody has a right to their own opinion on this...but spend a few minutes with a kid,
maybe your own kid, talkin' about Ernie Banks! That should more than even-up the score.
maybe your own kid, talkin' about Ernie Banks! That should more than even-up the score.
2
A Rod's theme song is an updated version of a Billboard number 12 hit by the Shields in 1958: "You cheated, you lied, you denied ever using steroids"!
2
And here I didn't think it was possible for this creep and his PR firm to reduce him further on the scale of relevance.
1
Sigh, Jeter has such class and this clown, with appologies to Bozo, should just go away quietly. He is a buffoon and his appology nothing but an attempt to keep himself out in front of the press is just sad.
The assaults on A-Rod's hypocrisy by sports writers remains a cry in the dark. The Leagues and owners turned blind eyes to the drug takers until the evidence was overwhelming. If we called out all the double dealing there would be no place for a box score, filling the Hall of Infamy a no-brainer.
Thank you Hank.
2
Alex, like so many others who issue public apologies, is only sorry because he got caught. But I've got an idea. Maybe he should show up at spring training with Lance Armstrong. It might help shift the attention off him and onto Lance. The other standup guy with impeccable ethics.
2
As a Texas Rangers fan, I find just a bit of smug satisfaction in the Yankees' ongoing problems with the player we love to hate. We may not be able to win the World Series, but there's nothing wrong with our memories. Karma, baby!
He was juicing when he was with the Rangers so was Pudge Rodriguez so was Juan Gonzalez to name two and you have never won a world series. Karma indeed.
1
A-Rod's flawed man for certain, but everyone deserves a chance at redemption. It's exactly the flawed who need it, and who isn't?
Look, this is baseball, not cub scouts. Players are not hired for their holiness. I don't care if someone used PEDs. I care how they play. If they break rules, and that is well-documented, they should suffer the clearly specified (in advance) consequences. Just like my ticket if I run a red light. That's it. I want Bonds and Rose and the like in the Hall of Fame for how they played.
These self-righteous prigs who go on and on about A-Rod's misdeeds are just scapegoating. People who live in glass houses......
Play Ball!
These self-righteous prigs who go on and on about A-Rod's misdeeds are just scapegoating. People who live in glass houses......
Play Ball!
1
Those in authority and the media proliferate double standards. Other than a means to divide and castigate, this entire enhancement period is but a farce, impacting the game no more than stadium owners who move the fences closer. The end result is the same, yet only one side is held with contempt.
Alex Rodriguez was an exceptional baseball player and has been turned into a circus. Perhaps, like Brian Williams, until the spotlight catches up with the castigators there is little truth in the message and the ethics of the flame throwers are circumstantial at best.
Simply let it be.
Alex Rodriguez was an exceptional baseball player and has been turned into a circus. Perhaps, like Brian Williams, until the spotlight catches up with the castigators there is little truth in the message and the ethics of the flame throwers are circumstantial at best.
Simply let it be.
The Bankees are getting ready to retire Andy PEDitte's number. PEDitte is another self-admitted drug-cheat, an athletic scoundrel, but somehow, with his hangdog face and his trap usually shut tight, he not only gets a pass but gets enshrined in Bankee Valhalla.
A-Roid should have been kicked out of Baseball long ago, but no team deserves him more than the New York Bankees. Enjoy!
A-Roid should have been kicked out of Baseball long ago, but no team deserves him more than the New York Bankees. Enjoy!
3
Alex saying he's sorry is at least a step in the right direction. Maybe next Bush and Cheney will apologize for the Iraq invasion.
phoney (ˈfəʊnɪ) or phony
adj, -nier or -niest
1. not genuine; fake
2. (of a person) insincere or pretentious
n, pl -neys or -nies
3. an insincere or pretentious person
4. something that is not genuine; a fake
adj, -nier or -niest
1. not genuine; fake
2. (of a person) insincere or pretentious
n, pl -neys or -nies
3. an insincere or pretentious person
4. something that is not genuine; a fake
1
Just hypothetically, what if A-Rod hits .350/50/105.
Does he get the MVP award?
Does he get the MVP award?
You stand a better chance of doing that Diego.
2
As much as I hate the guy, yes he would have to be considered. Unlike Barry Bonds, however, he appears to have started juicing much earlier in his career so I don't we have to worry about him putting up mvp numbers
It's time to get off his back. Alex Rodriguez hurt only himself. He put plenty of money into Yankee coffers - more than enough to buy him out if ownership think he's done so much to tarnish the brand. Enough already.
If you are really sorry, Mr. Rodriguez, reimburse those you sued for their legal costs, renegotiate your contract to something more realistic, given that it was negotiated based on inflated statistics. Give back some of your ill gotten gains and make the targets of your attacks whole. Once you do that, I might believe you are sorry for what you did and not just sorry that you were caught.
4
Well, he does have decent penmanship, and there were no misspellings or grammatical gaffes. If he really did write it -- his own thoughts, without coaching -- that is. Who knows? I didn't feel any better or differently about him after I read the letter.
Like Tiger and Lance, he is and always will be a liar, and guess what, that stays on his permanent record. He has negative credibility amd makes my skin crawl. The Yankees might just as well have sent him to the chalkboard -- a la Bart Simpson -- and had him write 500 times, "I admit I took PEDs and lied about it." It would've been just about as useful and a bit more humorous.
Like Tiger and Lance, he is and always will be a liar, and guess what, that stays on his permanent record. He has negative credibility amd makes my skin crawl. The Yankees might just as well have sent him to the chalkboard -- a la Bart Simpson -- and had him write 500 times, "I admit I took PEDs and lied about it." It would've been just about as useful and a bit more humorous.
1
What a bunch of crap, you coward! Too little, too late, my non-friend. What a magnanimous effort, writing to us fans. Ooooh. I'm completely underwhelmed, hurry, get me a tissue! I suppose you'll keep the $61mil, huh, you chump, or will you do the right thing, REALLY show some remorse, resign, and turn your salary back in to the Yankees to be used for the homeless and hungry? No one wants you around. How appreciative we are now that a 5min letter will put the issue to rest, you'll be sniffling all the way to the bank while we all get to listen to the boos, jeers. Do us all a favor, chump, go away...I know: Go visit your drug dealer during his years in prison, that'll give you something to do. And, go by limo, too, ok?
A Rod,
I don't. Yeah, it's on you. Glad you understand one thing.
I don't. Yeah, it's on you. Glad you understand one thing.
1
I have troubled with a wholesale censure of Rodriguez. He has been playing in an era in which probably a majority of the MLB players have used steroids and PEDs to gain an edge and extend their careers. He has handled the spotlight shined upon him vis a vis chemical enhancements in a clumsy and often selfish and sophomoric manner, as did Clemens, Bonds, and many others. An anti role model perhaps, he is scarcely a rogue actor. Most steroids are outlawed, so that is non negotiable. But HGH and other legal drugs should be reconsidered for wider usage in MLB. A pitcher can have Tommy John surgery, a player ACL repair, so why shouldn't an aging player be allowed to recover his diminished testosterone level, or use growth hormones to speed injury healing and maintain strength? Drug use offends the puritan tradition in baseball but surgery doesn't, even though they are both embraced by the AMA.
2
It seems as though Alex has literally become the anti-Jeter.
As smoothly as Derek was able to navigate the waters of NYC, Alex just always seems to crash and burn.
As smoothly as Derek was able to navigate the waters of NYC, Alex just always seems to crash and burn.
He took steroids, so what?
I'll never understand the culture that surrounds professional sports. It's one that rationalizes the use of taxpayer funds for billion dollar stadiums owned by billionaires and imposes a rigid moral code on people who are good at running, throwing/catching a ball, etc. If Rodriguez's use of drugs really upsets you, ask yourself if you would take a drug that had minor health risks but increased your earnings potential into the millions of dollars, knowing that your employer was likely to turn a blind eye to your actions. If the answer is that you would not, you have a stronger moral code than most athletes and should serve as your own role model.
1
Another totally craven, PR-driven action. Something else that his team of image experts told him to do.
The tone of this article is interesting, as if Rodriguez owes everything he has (and is) to the sport of baseball. Since when does a business enterprise (including sports writers!) which has profited from the services of a professional athlete, have the right to treat him without honor or respect. My impression is that this is all he has wanted all along, to be recognized for his accomplishments, and treated as if his efforts meant something besides more than dollars and cents for an already wealthy industry. Generally speaking, this situation reflects an arrogance and contempt for human dignity that can be seen at all levels of our modern day society.
Here's a side-curiosity maybe we all have thought of: What do all these players do with all the money? Nothing but human life has value when you can afford to buy it, right? Other than buying drugs, what does Scherzer, A-Fraud, Jeter do with their money, even one year's worth? I'd be interested in reading an article about the personal expenditures of these mega-sportsmen, the (former) Armstrongs, Bradys, Jeter, James. Must be quite interesting to see what they do with it all.
Are you jealous? How about you reveal your expenditures?
It never ceases to amaze me that sports fans are willing to suspend all personal integrity to support liars, cheaters, misogynists, etc. just to enable their favorite team to win at any cost. They don't seem to realize or care that their acceptance of such behavior reduces their own personal character to that of the offender.
1
I believe most NY Yankee fans would have been satisfied to see Rodriguez retire. I don't believe most want to see him in a Yankees uniform; not only because of his past drug use, but because he's no longer a viable athlete. He will add no value to the organization this year. He wants the remaining money left on his contract, which is why he's in a uniform. He and the other steroid users are a disgrace to major league baseball. Growing up with the likes of Clemente, Mays, Koufax and Gibson (Bob), the Rodriguez's, Bond's and Clemens are insults to the game.
Frankly, I hope he comes back clean and has a great season. It won't change anything except to himself and how he lives with himself for destroying his reputation for all times. That is the ultimate penalty -- disgrace. He will always be remembered, along with the likes of Sosa, Bond, Clemens (yes Clemens) and so on, but maybe on a personal level, he will learn something. And he can always devote much of the rest of life repenting, doing community service, and so on. After all, he has enough money.
When Rodriguez left the Mariners, I cheered. Everyone thought I was nuts. I told them I thought he was a slime. Even if he was a great player, he was bad news.
Guess I was right.
Guess I was right.
I suppose an apology from Hank Steinbrenner for getting the Yankees into this mess to begin with would prove just as meaningless.
2
Every offense committed by ARod was committed twice over by Manny Ramirez. No one disliked Manny for long. What's the difference? ARod plays in New York, where top talents generally fit the mold. Sure, Yogi was different, but not in a roguish way. Womanizing is fine -- that fits with the image. And the image is manly men, who don't have much to say. Yankee fans tell me Reggie wasn't a real Yankee, Billy Martin was too hot-headed, Jeter was perfect, ARod's the worst. Too much pressure to conform, too little tolerance for eccentricity. Yankees are paid to produce and otherwise stay in line. It's been a great formula for success. But about as warm and fuzzy as the German Army. Yankee fans deserve better. Maybe ownership will come to understand. This is the 21st century. Crew cuts and shaved faces are out. Need to lighten up. Otherwise, as Yogi once said, "The future ain't what it used to be."
1
As a Red Sox fan, I have to say you are wrong about Manny. We liked his bat, but almost everyone I know thought he was a disgrace as a human being.
Baseball, like most sports, has a jaded past from all the years steroid use was prevalent but was not made illegal by the league. Everyone in the sport knew about "juicing" and turned a blind eye. Record books are marred because pharmacological performance enhancement was obviously ignored. Case in point, look at Barry Bonds early in his career and then the year he hit 68 home runs. Of course he was on 'roids.
Fans must recognize that professional sports leagues are private enterprises.
Management of professional sports cares less about the purity of the game than their primary focus, increased profits. This is entirely obvious considering today's cost of tickets (compared to costs years ago), stadiums rebuilt to provide more elite "corporate boxes" and a nonchalance for weak game day attendance as long as profits increase annually. This attitude was why the league ignored players pharmacologically performance enhancing themselves.
Here's the real shame. Lance Armstrong was a cheater. Similarly, A-Rod may have been a naturally gifted player compared to Ruth, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson or Mickey Mantle but we'll never know since he juiced. A-Rod and many like him plus league management's profit motive has forever tarnished the sanctity and beauty of baseball. Many American fans, myself included, no longer watch the game religiously because of this legacy.
Fans must recognize that professional sports leagues are private enterprises.
Management of professional sports cares less about the purity of the game than their primary focus, increased profits. This is entirely obvious considering today's cost of tickets (compared to costs years ago), stadiums rebuilt to provide more elite "corporate boxes" and a nonchalance for weak game day attendance as long as profits increase annually. This attitude was why the league ignored players pharmacologically performance enhancing themselves.
Here's the real shame. Lance Armstrong was a cheater. Similarly, A-Rod may have been a naturally gifted player compared to Ruth, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson or Mickey Mantle but we'll never know since he juiced. A-Rod and many like him plus league management's profit motive has forever tarnished the sanctity and beauty of baseball. Many American fans, myself included, no longer watch the game religiously because of this legacy.
"...all that money."
Can a true fan watch and forget all the greed and shallowness? Perhaps--but only with selective memory and attention span.
Maybe I'll just watch the school kids play and enjoy innocence.
Can a true fan watch and forget all the greed and shallowness? Perhaps--but only with selective memory and attention span.
Maybe I'll just watch the school kids play and enjoy innocence.
Get rid of this guy no matter what the cost.
Where were the owners, the management, writers and broadcasters, and the fans in the 1980's and 1990's when my 20 year old neighbor became Hercules because so many top competitors were doing it. It was part of a culture. Ours. All of the abuse and scorn has been visited on the few who have tested positive under the contract and disciplined and high profile players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez. The home run races were celebrated by all.. Somebody should have been looking at very good players suddenly in their late 20's and early 30's hitting over 50 home runs when averaging 15 home runs over the previous ten years. These were good players and the game was looking for a boost. Some are near hall of fame caliber. Doing it the right way wasn't rewarded. Just look at Dale Murphy with two MVP awards and more RBI's in the 1980's than any NL player besides Mike Schmidt. Barry Bonds is the greatest baseball player in my lifetime. Compare him and some of the greats of the past and his stats are not that far out of line for a player who trained so meticulously. He was one of just three or four players who could get the park and viewers and listeners excited by moving into the on deck circle. At 42 he was one of the top 5 to 10 hitters in the NL. He was blackballed. Just look at yourselves and console yourself that you are on the side of purity. There wasn't even a possibility of purity until Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers. Forgiveness.
What we need to do is create a crowd-funding site to raise $60 million (or less if the Yankees will make up the difference) to buy out his contract and get rid of him forever.
This is a cautionary tale indeed for the Yankees. They are now forever handcuffed in the history of baseball to an extremely talented but deeply flawed and deeply unethical man.
The Yankees' habit of paying the most amount of money to attract free agents has long suggested that the team cares far more about winning, television ratings and revenues than the spirit of baseball and teamwork. Alex Rodriguez personifies that soulless greed and desire to win at all costs. One hopes that even the Steinbrenners now realize that this entire team (or should I say sports entertainment corporation) can lose its soul and turn into something very ugly for a very long time.
I'm glad Rodriguez never played for my team. I hope the Yankees regret signing him for years and turn the team from a collection of overpaid individuals into a group that represents the better aspects of baseball.
The Yankees' habit of paying the most amount of money to attract free agents has long suggested that the team cares far more about winning, television ratings and revenues than the spirit of baseball and teamwork. Alex Rodriguez personifies that soulless greed and desire to win at all costs. One hopes that even the Steinbrenners now realize that this entire team (or should I say sports entertainment corporation) can lose its soul and turn into something very ugly for a very long time.
I'm glad Rodriguez never played for my team. I hope the Yankees regret signing him for years and turn the team from a collection of overpaid individuals into a group that represents the better aspects of baseball.
1
Has anyone verified if this is actually his own handwriting? It would certainly not be beyond A-rod to release a handwritten letter that was actually written by one of his advisers.
That would be very amusing although not that surprising.
Most insincere apology since Judas Iscariot - and only to earn his '30 pieces of silver'.
Only thing missing was him kissing Jeter on the cheek.
Only thing missing was him kissing Jeter on the cheek.
The moral of this story? The Yankees can and should act otherwise they are just as bad in another sense as Rodriguez was.
Doping is wrong. Period. It's banned by the league - which he knew when he took whatever he took - and there's a reason for that. The fact that so many are doing it does not make it right or ok.
As for these guys not being role models or heroes - tell that to every kid around the country who can quote the important stats of their favorite players for the past umpteen years. Whether you like it or not isn't relevant - they ARE heroes to thousands of kids, and therefore also role models. And what if you found out that the big star of the kid opposing your kid's team is taking something to enhance his performance (which has happened a lot)? I dare say you'd have a problem with that. What's the difference?
As for these guys not being role models or heroes - tell that to every kid around the country who can quote the important stats of their favorite players for the past umpteen years. Whether you like it or not isn't relevant - they ARE heroes to thousands of kids, and therefore also role models. And what if you found out that the big star of the kid opposing your kid's team is taking something to enhance his performance (which has happened a lot)? I dare say you'd have a problem with that. What's the difference?
To the Times: As far as a lot of us readers are concerned, obsession with Alex Rodriguez, and others of his sorry, overhyped and overpaid ilk, has gone away. A long time ago.
Does anybody really believe A-Rod is truly contrite and sorry for what he has done? What he wants is another pay day worth about $20M from the Yankees. If A-Rod gave all that 2015 salary to charity then I think about A-Rod's redemption.
The Yankees are like the railroad that cannot clean up the train wreck on dead man's curve. The wreck keeps the railroad from operating properly and takes all of the energy out of its employees just to cope with it. Only after the railroad deals with the tragedy by making appropriate repairs and showing the public that the remedy will preclude the train from excessive speed around the curve will the public ride the train. Only after the Yankees remove Rodriguez from the team will the Yankees function properly on the field and off. Having Rodriguez in the organization is an obstacle to the players developing as a team in the clubhouse and on the field. SInce the Yankee management knows this, we can only assume tha they are using spring training to let the Rodriguez saga play itself out through trial, error, and disability retirement and fighting inevitable lawsuits with the insurance company over the money. Because as the great baseball announcer Mel Allen (who loved the game) might have said on This Week in Baseball, Rodriguez is reduced to being a freak in a carnival sideshow that distracts us from the big show.
1
This past year went by way too quickly.
6
The Babe was loved and lovable, but a womanizer and a drunk. ARod took steroids and is personality-challenged. Rose is Rose. Bonds is Bonds Four of the greatest whose greatest sin was being their own worst enemies. There's got to be a reason that the best of the best in baseball consistently lose their way. Football players go bad because of blows to the head. I think baseball players spend too much time in the sun.
6
Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Jim Palmer, Joe Morgan, Ernie Banks, Albert Pujols, Cal Ripken, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Frank Robinson, Tom Seaver, Warren Spahn, Roberto Clemente, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey, Adam Wainwright...I could go on, but you get my drift. There are and have been lots of excellent baseball players who are or were stand-up guys. There's no excuse for being a liar and a creep like Bonds, Ryan Braun or Rodriguez. The morals clause in the standard contract should be expanded to include behavior that would merit a 10-year-old getting a timeout.
It's not right to include Babe Ruth in that group. Ruth was a womanizer and a drunk (that's debatable) but he never brought his failings onto the field. Rose, Bonds and A-Rod did. That's the difference.
The Babe? He didn't cheat at the game, lie to his teammates, the league and the fans. He just redefined the game, possibly, at times with a hangover. Gee whiz, see Mickey Mantle. The Babe, Lou, Jimmy Foxx transformed the game on pure skill. And, absent his addictive personality getting him in trouble as a manager, Pete Rose was a 1st ballot HOFer who set the tone for how the game should be played. Not a good argument. As a player, AFraud does not warrant mention with either of these guys, particularly The Babe. Yes, pound for pound, he was easily the best, most well-rounded player in the history of the game.
Does Steiner Sports get first dibs on the letter?
17
Jay Peg's question is the most perceptive of this story....Is this our Jay Peg from the Bronx/Stepinac?
I agree, play ball. I'm tired of journalists using A-Rod as a lightening rod for their best vitriol. He'll never be in the baseball HOF. He'll never be voted MVP. But he can contribute to the Yankees as an infielder, DH, and offensive hitter, and that's what we should let him do... clear the air and play ball. Let's ask the sports writers to put their pens down until they can comment on the quality of his play. I accept his apology and wish him and my team, the New York Yankees, a good, perhaps great, 2015 season. Let's get on with the game.
8
As a Sox fan, I agree, please play ARod in your infield! As much as possible!
It is hard to imagine a more disliked and disrespected player in the game. He seems to have betrayed almost everyone that came onto his path; the Yankee organization, his teammates, his fan base, and his wife and children. They really don't come anymore phony than Arod.
17
enuff is enuff!!! Let him play. So he was a jerk. Get over it. Yanks spent the money of him. Gotta try to get some benefit from it. Hopefully he gets a boost from negative energy because he'll be getting a lot of it from fans who just hate the Yankees and now have, yes, another reason (right or wrong) to complain about those short-haired, beardless sinners out there in the field!
3
You miss the point. Not that he is a jerk....but a cheater. If that doesnt bother you then MLB should allow all manner of performance enhancing drugs.
Let us remember whenever Mr. Rodriguez takes the field this year that, but for prosecutorial discretion and his immunity agreement with the government, he would be wearing a different uniform and playing in the Federal Bureau of Prisons League.
9
Can he still hit home runs?
6
He can still hit home runs, but as always, when they are not needed.
Let's not elevate his petty crime to that of something really important.
He plays a sport for a living. He throws a ball for a living. He hits a ball sometimes - for a living. On occasion, he has to run a few dozen yards - if he makes a triple or a HR.
He makes his living doing something that he has done since he was a child. And because he was always very talented no one ever help him accountable.
He cheated because there were others doing the same thing. He cheated because fans love to see a ball hit out of the park. He cheated because for a while, he could escape the consequences and get away with it. He cheated because MLB, the fans, the talking heads and other players looked the other way - probably including the indignant Mr. Kepner.
He is not a President, neurosurgeon, Nobel Laureate or a religious figure. He is a regular Joe that had some really great skills and his ego wanted more and more and more. Sounds like lots of guys in many professions - see Wall Street, the Media and DC for more important examples of poor examples.
In the end, MLB will go on. He will never receive the full recognition that his talent may brought him had he not lied and cheated. And there is punishment enough for Mr. Rodriguez.
He plays a sport for a living. He throws a ball for a living. He hits a ball sometimes - for a living. On occasion, he has to run a few dozen yards - if he makes a triple or a HR.
He makes his living doing something that he has done since he was a child. And because he was always very talented no one ever help him accountable.
He cheated because there were others doing the same thing. He cheated because fans love to see a ball hit out of the park. He cheated because for a while, he could escape the consequences and get away with it. He cheated because MLB, the fans, the talking heads and other players looked the other way - probably including the indignant Mr. Kepner.
He is not a President, neurosurgeon, Nobel Laureate or a religious figure. He is a regular Joe that had some really great skills and his ego wanted more and more and more. Sounds like lots of guys in many professions - see Wall Street, the Media and DC for more important examples of poor examples.
In the end, MLB will go on. He will never receive the full recognition that his talent may brought him had he not lied and cheated. And there is punishment enough for Mr. Rodriguez.
91
My comment is not in defense of Alex Rodriguez. It is in defense against the practice of denigrating a person's job as a way to pile on to his transgressions and, by extension, feel morally superior.
Anyone's work can be boiled down to it's smallest function and made to look meaningless. A-Rod? He throws a ball for a living. A Nobel Laureate? He writes words. A president? He sits behind a desk and talks to people and signs things. A neurosurgeon? He cuts things open for a living. A pro golfer? He hits a little ball with a stick into a hole.
For better or worse the human species needs entertainment. How else to explain the hundreds of millions of people around the world who attend sporting events, movies, theater, dance, music and other entertainments each year?
Baseball won't save the world but in small ways all entertainments save just a little piece of it if only to distract us and comfort our souls for a very short time, leaving us the energy to tackle the big things. You know that. It's why you engage in whatever entertainment feeds your body and soul.
A-Rod is a world class jerk. But what he does actually is worthwhile. It's too bad he didn't recognize and value it.
Anyone's work can be boiled down to it's smallest function and made to look meaningless. A-Rod? He throws a ball for a living. A Nobel Laureate? He writes words. A president? He sits behind a desk and talks to people and signs things. A neurosurgeon? He cuts things open for a living. A pro golfer? He hits a little ball with a stick into a hole.
For better or worse the human species needs entertainment. How else to explain the hundreds of millions of people around the world who attend sporting events, movies, theater, dance, music and other entertainments each year?
Baseball won't save the world but in small ways all entertainments save just a little piece of it if only to distract us and comfort our souls for a very short time, leaving us the energy to tackle the big things. You know that. It's why you engage in whatever entertainment feeds your body and soul.
A-Rod is a world class jerk. But what he does actually is worthwhile. It's too bad he didn't recognize and value it.
2
Richard -
If Alex Rodriguez is not an important figure like a president or Nobel laureate, how is it, and what does it say about our society, that someone who throws and hits a ball well has over $400 million in career earnings?
If Alex Rodriguez is not an important figure like a president or Nobel laureate, how is it, and what does it say about our society, that someone who throws and hits a ball well has over $400 million in career earnings?
2
"He cheated because fans love to see a ball hit out of the park." I'm not a Yankees fan but I believe the vast majority who are prefer to NOT see their Yankees hit home runs while on PEDs. Your statement is insulting to them.
2
This is likely the most sincere thing he has ever done. Think about that...
So glad this bozo isn't on the team I pull for. Hang on to him Yankees!
4
Who do Yankee fans respect more, A-rod or Pete Rose?
Alex Rodriguez has arrived at a sad end to his time with the Yankees. I can still recall a time when he was a Seattle Mariner. I thought he and Junior Griffey might become another mega-heroic pairing like Ruth and Gehrig. He was hungry and impatient and, like Icarus, began to soar towards the sun. He quit on Seattle and bankrupted his Texas teams, forcing his foolish owner, Tom Hicks, to cash out and send him to New York. Icarus melted like wax and dropped into the sea, bringing the Yankee brand with him. A-Rod disgraced the game he claims to love, but shamed himself irreparably in the process. One can only hope that some day, he'll figure it out. Maybe even find it in his heart to do more than "apologize."
11
The Yankees can never win with Rodriguez. He's the Melo of baseball.
3
You realize that they already have, right? And because of his performance. Melo has won nothing professionally. The comparison is rendered moot by ARod's 2009 postseason.
7
Tyler Kepner doesn't much like Rodriguez. Neither do I. We are unanimous in this, and what difference does it make?
2
Fair and well-written Tyler
10
This is shocking. Hypocrites in baseball? In New York City? I am flabbergasted.
Round up the usual suspects!
Round up the usual suspects!
17
I'm sure the fact that Alex Rodríguez, and he's not going away, with all those millions of dollars he has, is not keeping him up at night! Oh, please, don't you think us non millionaires have more to worry about!!!
5
A-Rod paid the penalty and now he is back. Shame on Tyler Kepner for starting this all up again. Why don't you focus on the action on the field and stop the cheap mud-slinging?
10
No, A-Rod was the one "starting this all up again." If I read Tyler Kepner's piece correctly, he is finished with the A-Rod/steroid topic. I hope so.
This guy lied cheated and then "went right back to cheating. When he was caught, Rodriguez sued everybody and lied to all who would listen..."
Isn't being a sports fan supposed to be about rooting for someone you actually like watching, want to win, and somehow care about at least as an athlete? Isn't it supposed to be fun?
Now WHY would anyone root for this guy or even want to watch him play?
Isn't being a sports fan supposed to be about rooting for someone you actually like watching, want to win, and somehow care about at least as an athlete? Isn't it supposed to be fun?
Now WHY would anyone root for this guy or even want to watch him play?
67
Maybe with individual sports like tennis or boxing but team sports are different.
You support your team not an individual player.
Yaz was always my favorite player but I wanted the Red Sox to win The World Series not for Yaz to win another Triple Crown.
You support your team not an individual player.
Yaz was always my favorite player but I wanted the Red Sox to win The World Series not for Yaz to win another Triple Crown.
1
But... but... but!!! You have all of those hollow World Series championships and stuff! Actual baseball fans laugh at the Yankees more often than not. Once a great organization, now baseball's greatest sideshow.
6
I hope Alex CRUSHES IT this season and finishes off his career at the top of his game. I never really liked him before, but with so much negativity, whining and anger directed at him, I've come to see him as an under dog
6
You like underdogs? Then root for the Houston Astros or the Washington Generals.
Alex Rodriguez has wasted away an opportunity for redemption once before. (Full disclosure: I am a Red Sox fan.) What Rodriguez has done is nothing short of insulting and shaming of the Yankees tradition that includes Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.
Two more seasons (maybe), then he's gone, and Yankees fans will be free of this albatross.
Alex Rodriguez has wasted away an opportunity for redemption once before. (Full disclosure: I am a Red Sox fan.) What Rodriguez has done is nothing short of insulting and shaming of the Yankees tradition that includes Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.
Two more seasons (maybe), then he's gone, and Yankees fans will be free of this albatross.
I don't even believe that's Rodriguez's own handwriting...let alone his own words.
24
Definitely not his own words. Grammar, punctuation and spelling is all too perfect. Wondering if we'll hear from any handwriting analysis expert as to what this handwriting example reveals about the writer?!!
Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez -- birds of a feather. Disgusting!
7
To Alex... Keep playing if you want and can, but just remember, there will always be an asterisk next to your name, and you'll never be in the Hall of Fame...
2
I don't think he cares at all about the HOF. He's a narcissist. He cares about his own records--not much else.
An unfortunate choice for the words in your headline "Rodriguez is not going way." He should. By choice of the "fans", not the media. Ask Lance Armstrong about what HE did and the consequences........
4
How do you show up and root for the Yankees this spring with Arod possibly making an appearance at any point? It's gross.
4
It's just February and he's already ruining the baseball season.
4
The truth regarding the mess the Yankees find themselves in with Arod is entirely of their own making.
12
You ask if Masahiro Tanaka can stay healthy. Yes, he can live a normal, healthy life if he limits his physical activity to jogging and carrying groceries.
"While the instability resulting from a tear of the UCL may inhibit the ability to participate in throwing sports, it is unlikely to impair the activities of daily living, such as carrying a bag of groceries. Interestingly, a tear of the UCL rarely prevents exercising, lifting weights, batting, running, or other non-throwing sports."-- John Hopkins Orthopaedic Surgery website
"While the instability resulting from a tear of the UCL may inhibit the ability to participate in throwing sports, it is unlikely to impair the activities of daily living, such as carrying a bag of groceries. Interestingly, a tear of the UCL rarely prevents exercising, lifting weights, batting, running, or other non-throwing sports."-- John Hopkins Orthopaedic Surgery website
1
The A-Roid saga just needs to go away. Please, o lord, make it go away. But he wants his money, the Yankees want to keep theirs, so on it goes. How about if all Yankee fans just decide to stay away from the Stadium for a week or so. Boycott the first week of the season. I know a lot of folks have already bought their tickets, especially for opening day. But most likely, with those prices the Yankees charge, those fans could absorb the loss. I'm not even sure what the statement would be saying. Maybe about how we are sick and fed up with the A-Roid saga, and the Yankees boneheaded decision to promise him so much money for so long. Alex, go home. Go back to Florida. Retire. Fadeway. Have you no pride? No dignity?
5
I'm no Arod fan but this is pretty low Kepner: "he is like that stench in the carpet that will not go away". C'mon man. I don't feel sorry for him but there's something about piling on that is distasteful. It's much too easy. You say the Yankees have more important issues. Why aren't you using your space on them?
41
Because, Phil, just like the media made a living, first ennobling, and then excoriating, Lance Armstrong, they will do the same with Alex Rodriguez. It sells papers.
1
A-Rod has NEVER:
1) been arrested
2) had any driving infractions such as DUI, DWI, or even speeding
3) beat his wife
4) beat his kids
5) hit an unruly fan
6) been accused of any sexual assault
7) been accused of using any illegal drugs
8) been found to not give full effort while playing
He was singled out for using PEDs at a time when many players were doing the same.
He's paid his debt and should be given every chance to redeem himself.
1) been arrested
2) had any driving infractions such as DUI, DWI, or even speeding
3) beat his wife
4) beat his kids
5) hit an unruly fan
6) been accused of any sexual assault
7) been accused of using any illegal drugs
8) been found to not give full effort while playing
He was singled out for using PEDs at a time when many players were doing the same.
He's paid his debt and should be given every chance to redeem himself.
13
If he played for the O's we'd be bankrupt. Angelos would field a pony league team around him to make up for this salary albatross and would have exiled the gm who signed him to siberia.
I think Alex Rodriguez and Lance Armstrong should do a reality TV show. In each episode they would see who could tell the biggest whopper.
6
Kepner taking another cheap shot at ARod—anything for a story, no matter how insignificant. ARod is guilty of much foolishness and bad judgement, but his sins, such as they are, are soooo 21st century immorality, and among the sinners in all walks of our society these days, ARod is not particularly outstanding. The poor old guy is over 40 and is going to quickly whimper his way to oblivion, the more to be pitied than scorned.
2
Unfortunately we get the heroes we deserve.
1
His penmanship only reinforces the banality.
2
He's poison to the honor of the franchise. Yanks should make him bat boy for 2 years.
4
I love that the Yankees gave him an unreasonably generous contract and now they have to pay him, yet they tried so hard to wiggle out of it. They got what they deserved.
10
You're right about the stench. So why carry that smell around the entire season and pollute the team with the toxicity that will follow them from city to city?(intrusive media circus, etc). I don't care how many home runs he hits or RBI's he racks up. Means nothing to me. Just want to finally see him gone and the Yankees build a new foundation.
4
Arod, simply and powerfully, is not the disease.
He is only a symptom.
When will they ever learn....
He is only a symptom.
When will they ever learn....
3
If MLB allows A-Roid to break Willie Mays' home run record, I will have watched my last baseball game ever.
3
Now let's clean up the game. Really.
3
I'm wondering what the point is here in taunting A-Rod. Does the media want some spice in story? What more would Kepner have Alex do? It seems obvious that the media will make a story happen, whether one is there or not. True, Alex brought it on himself, but as we all know, few in media are virtuous enough to be standing self-righteous. I wonder how the sports writer having such a field day taking jabs at A-Rod would stand up to the same level of scrutiny. That is a question that the media will make sure is never answered.
11
Why is this important to anyone? Another overpaid celebrity with substance abuse issues. Yawn.
1
The Yankees, and their fans, fully deserve this train wreck. The team signed him to a ridiculous contract, and the fans fully supported him when everyone knew he was a complete cheater (like SF and Bonds).
The rest of the baseball world is thrilled at this.
The rest of the baseball world is thrilled at this.
4
P.T. Barnum told us there's one born every minute. Americans are suckers for sports, suckers for heroes and combined we just can't get enough. The litany of cheats and crooks from Pete Rose to Michael Vick is miles long and yet, pathetically, we sit in our bars and living rooms with a beer in our hands and cheer these athletes who give CEOs a run for their money in terms of income inequality. What do they give us? A bad example for our kids and peals of laughter you can hear all the way to the bank.
6
Ahhh... Everything I despise about the sports media (especially the New York sports media) in one wretched package.
First, let me be clear about a few things. I really do despise sports media (years working in it will do that to you), even though one of my closest friends has been a sportswriter for more than a decade (a running joke between us, is that during every conversation, I remind him how much I hate sportswriters).
I do not know, or am associated in any way with Alex Rodriguez. From what little I know of him (off the field), we probably could not be friends. He spends waaaay too much time worrying about his public image, I could care less what people think. He is (from what I've been told) a staunch republican. I, a committed liberal.
Finally, I never cared about steroids. I was aware of steroid use in baseball as early as 1992. My friends and I discussed it frequently (especially during spring training - when players would show up to camp carrying significantly more muscle than when we'd last seen them). It wasn't considered cheating at the time, so it was more of a curiosity (for those of you waving the pitchforks in Alex' direction, ask yourselves where the sports media was all this time. They saw the same things that my friends and I did. Where were the exposés? After all, they are the gatekeepers. What little you know of professional athletes, comes from their reporting).
(to be continued...)
First, let me be clear about a few things. I really do despise sports media (years working in it will do that to you), even though one of my closest friends has been a sportswriter for more than a decade (a running joke between us, is that during every conversation, I remind him how much I hate sportswriters).
I do not know, or am associated in any way with Alex Rodriguez. From what little I know of him (off the field), we probably could not be friends. He spends waaaay too much time worrying about his public image, I could care less what people think. He is (from what I've been told) a staunch republican. I, a committed liberal.
Finally, I never cared about steroids. I was aware of steroid use in baseball as early as 1992. My friends and I discussed it frequently (especially during spring training - when players would show up to camp carrying significantly more muscle than when we'd last seen them). It wasn't considered cheating at the time, so it was more of a curiosity (for those of you waving the pitchforks in Alex' direction, ask yourselves where the sports media was all this time. They saw the same things that my friends and I did. Where were the exposés? After all, they are the gatekeepers. What little you know of professional athletes, comes from their reporting).
(to be continued...)
3
How anyone could despise Roger Angell or Dave Anderson is beyond me so really, no need to continue.
1
This article presumes a great deal: namely, that legacy and rings are important to Rodriguez. Because he has squandered these things he is deemed the "clown prince of baseball."
It seems eminently more likely that Rodriguez, like Bonds before him, saw an opportunity to be the highest paid player the game has ever seen.
Who's laughing at him now?
It seems eminently more likely that Rodriguez, like Bonds before him, saw an opportunity to be the highest paid player the game has ever seen.
Who's laughing at him now?
2
Alex Rodriquez deserves a chance, his apology should be taken at face value (healthy skepticism is appropriate) but let us see what he does --everyone loves baseball's Bad News Bears.
This is the 3rd Act. Let's let him play --find redemption -- and maybe just maybe rise high at the end--just when so many least expected it.
A truly great ending.
This is the 3rd Act. Let's let him play --find redemption -- and maybe just maybe rise high at the end--just when so many least expected it.
A truly great ending.
9
Thank you Marty. I was wondering if anyone out there had a heart. A Rod made many mistakes, he's paid for them. Let's now let him play and treat him as if it were one of us who made a mistake. No one died as a result of his decisions. If you are looking for blood why not try the Bush Administration. Now that's what I call a lie worthy of penalty. Play ball!
1
In 2012, Lance Armstrong was forced to return his medals after a long history of denying his cheating, drug-enhanced accomplishments in cycling. Last week, the top US Little League team, was stripped of its title for cheating (using ringers from outside their district).
Shouldn't major league baseball strip the 2009 Yankees of their title, given that Alex Rodriguez and his gummies gave them an unfair, decisive advantage over other teams? Shouldn't Rodriguez' achievements be scrubbed from the official record?
Doing such would send the message that PEDs are not acceptable in baseball, and the cheats are persona non grata. If the Little League can do it, so can the grown ups.
Shouldn't major league baseball strip the 2009 Yankees of their title, given that Alex Rodriguez and his gummies gave them an unfair, decisive advantage over other teams? Shouldn't Rodriguez' achievements be scrubbed from the official record?
Doing such would send the message that PEDs are not acceptable in baseball, and the cheats are persona non grata. If the Little League can do it, so can the grown ups.
74
I agree with you about stripping titles from teams that hold cheaters help them win it, but there are many other teams besides the Yankees that have benefited from cheaters. We can start with all of Tony LaRussa's managed teams. And don't forget those individual title holders ie. Barry Bonds. It never ends if you start disecting all the records and titles and victories beginning with the streroid era on through even today surely. At this point the most important thing to do is keep the superstar cheaters out of the Hall of Fame. And that should include manager-enablers as well.
So this grand idea would only apply to the Yankees - since, of course, no other team had similar issues? What about the Red Sox (Ortiz), the Giants (Bonds), the Reds (Rose's gambling and greenies), the NFL (whose PED problem far exceeds MLB's), and on and on? I think MLB has already sent a pretty clear message that PEDS are unacceptable.
This would be the most ham-handed way possible to resolve the "cheating" situation. Was it just that the Little League stripped Jackie Robinson West of their U.S. title, taking a trophy away from 15 children who were in no way responsible for the recruiting mistakes of their club? No. And stripping the Yankees of their 2009 World Series title in similar fashion would be the height of hypocrisy on the part of Major League Baseball.
Not only did 24 other players on the Yankees 2009 roster work hard to earn that title (and I would also like to add that Alex Rodriguez didn't play spectacularly in that World Series, his big numbers that postseason were mostly accrued during the Divisional + Championship series'), but you are deluding yourself as a fan of baseball if you don't think every single World Series winning club - going back until the late 80s and early 90s - didn't have at least one player on steroids.
Not only did 24 other players on the Yankees 2009 roster work hard to earn that title (and I would also like to add that Alex Rodriguez didn't play spectacularly in that World Series, his big numbers that postseason were mostly accrued during the Divisional + Championship series'), but you are deluding yourself as a fan of baseball if you don't think every single World Series winning club - going back until the late 80s and early 90s - didn't have at least one player on steroids.
He should have stayed in Seattle instead of looking for instant fame and success. Sorry he never learned the lesson that championships take time and that one must actually work for them. For us long suffering Mariner fans we know that lesson all too well. Hope springs eternal as the saying goes.
It is always fun when the circus comes to town. Everyone west of the Hudson finds this to be fun and entertaining. Here's to 4 more years of ARod and the Yankees.
2
Rodriquez lied and fought investigations with every ounce of fiber he had. This apology comes far too late. Rodriquez is doing it not out of pang of conscience but because the Yankees are trying to prevent him from receiving millions in money in bonus and home run money. That is what drives him and nothing mre.
Rodriquez cheated and then lied about it. He has zero credibility to my way of thinking, just like Bonds did, Clemens, McGwire did. They gave themselves an unfair advantage for years and hid it from the team, management and fans. Rodriquez should just retire and ride off into the sunset and use his money to buy some friends.
Rodriquez cheated and then lied about it. He has zero credibility to my way of thinking, just like Bonds did, Clemens, McGwire did. They gave themselves an unfair advantage for years and hid it from the team, management and fans. Rodriquez should just retire and ride off into the sunset and use his money to buy some friends.
Major League Baseball had become synonymous with cheating. And believe me, the cheating hasn't stopped and it won't, not as long as everyone in a position to stop it nods and winks their way through season after season with cheating.
Even the players, coaches, managers, and owners who may not have cheated themselves but know it was widespread, have avoided coming forward to acknowledge what they'e known and seen for years. Major League Baseball players aren't only cheats, they're cowards too. There is no integrity left and there is no point in watching a bunch of overpaid, crybaby cheaters take advantage of the public's gullibility.
Baseball is fading -- fast. MLB is no longer a game any self-respecting family person would feel comfortable taking their children to see. And let's face it, what parent in his or her right mind would want their child to emulate a baseball player? Today's athletes aren't heroes, they're people who are driven to adopt any means necessary to win. Why? Because the more they win the more money they get, and at the end of the day that's what it's all about. Money. No one participates in sports of any kind for the love of the game anymore, it's all for the love of money.
Even the players, coaches, managers, and owners who may not have cheated themselves but know it was widespread, have avoided coming forward to acknowledge what they'e known and seen for years. Major League Baseball players aren't only cheats, they're cowards too. There is no integrity left and there is no point in watching a bunch of overpaid, crybaby cheaters take advantage of the public's gullibility.
Baseball is fading -- fast. MLB is no longer a game any self-respecting family person would feel comfortable taking their children to see. And let's face it, what parent in his or her right mind would want their child to emulate a baseball player? Today's athletes aren't heroes, they're people who are driven to adopt any means necessary to win. Why? Because the more they win the more money they get, and at the end of the day that's what it's all about. Money. No one participates in sports of any kind for the love of the game anymore, it's all for the love of money.
2
"I take full responsibility."
Yeah, sure. That's what they all say, though his PR team probably advised him that writing it long-hand might add some feel of sincerity to this nonsense.
It's great to see A-Rod and Armstrong on these pages within a day of each other, reminding us of just how much big money has corrupted sports. The only way A-Rod is going to get into the Hall of Fame will be if he buys it. Even the dreaded Yankees don't deserve this liar.
Yeah, sure. That's what they all say, though his PR team probably advised him that writing it long-hand might add some feel of sincerity to this nonsense.
It's great to see A-Rod and Armstrong on these pages within a day of each other, reminding us of just how much big money has corrupted sports. The only way A-Rod is going to get into the Hall of Fame will be if he buys it. Even the dreaded Yankees don't deserve this liar.
1
The most graceful thing that man could ever do would be to announce his retirement.
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So much talent with a miniscule moral compass. Unfortunately he will probably surpass Willie Mays, but hopefully not Babe Ruth or Henry Aaron. Barry Bonds is another story.
When will Americans realize that these guys are not 'role models' or 'heroes'? They are just guys of limited education who devoted their lives to doing something with a ball, whatever the shape of the ball, to make money. Let them have at it. Who really cares in the long run. The world spins, and climate change is real, and we have deep problems in society.
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Baseball is how many of us give ourselves much needed respite from climate change and society's other deep problems. We don't like characters like *Roid because they drag our attention back into the turmoil of the world we are temporarily trying to avoid. So it is not that we 'really' care and look up to athletes as role models. We just don't want our admittedly contrived momentary escape - its drama, its records, its beauty - sullied by players who can't just play the game without cheating and without becoming distractions because of their stupid behavior.
I doubt ARod will ever have another regular season major league at bat. $61 million to the Yankees is a rounding error at the end of the day.
Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone. I am sick and tired of the righteous indignation directed toward Alex Rodriguez. Oh, sure, he lied and broke the rules. Take a look in the mirror, people. Seriously. Who died? Who even got beat up? (Not his wife, fiancée, or girlfriend). The chattering classes, who cheated on their 9th grade science quiz, or on their wife, or their taxes, or their expense account, have really got some nerve. It doesn't mean what he did was right. It is episodes like this which bring out the unbridled hypocrisy which is one of mankinds most unctuous traits.
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Its entirely possible to forgive the person his transgressions while not forgiving the player his crime against baseball- yankee and non-yankee fans alike.
No need to consider his ability (or lack of) to play, he's exhausted all privileges to participate.
No need to consider his ability (or lack of) to play, he's exhausted all privileges to participate.
You write,"Rodriguez believed he needed those testosterone gummies to succeed." Here's another way of looking at it: A-Rod is obsessed with the game itself, with peak performance and to excel at it. This does not excuse lying or cheating. Writing about his beliefs, motivations and concerns, however, is pure conjecture.
A-Rod has been a the top player in the game. His beleaguered hips notwithstanding, he has been of great value on the field. Even in the 2013 season his numbers (a smaller sample due to time spent on the DL), as noted in the column, were highly competitive, above most of that of last season's team.
The Yankees signing Headley would indicate that the team has decided A-Rod's future value is as a DH. This is not so much a slap in A-Rod's face as it is a wise tactic to ease the wear and tear he would endure at 3rd Base. It also makes it easier for him to drive in runs and hit those HR milestones for which he will be owed bonus money as per his contract.
The Yankees will score each run and RBI those A-Rod HRs earn. As he nears, reaches and then goes toward the next milestone the press will cover it and may bring in more of what The Boss loved: fannies in the seats.
The Yankees will reap their benefits from any success A-Rod has over the course of the rest of his contract. Attempts to negate the contract HR milestone payments will only revive the "A-Rod Circus" and be of no benefit to either side. Legal fees and negative press will not enrich either side.
A-Rod has been a the top player in the game. His beleaguered hips notwithstanding, he has been of great value on the field. Even in the 2013 season his numbers (a smaller sample due to time spent on the DL), as noted in the column, were highly competitive, above most of that of last season's team.
The Yankees signing Headley would indicate that the team has decided A-Rod's future value is as a DH. This is not so much a slap in A-Rod's face as it is a wise tactic to ease the wear and tear he would endure at 3rd Base. It also makes it easier for him to drive in runs and hit those HR milestones for which he will be owed bonus money as per his contract.
The Yankees will score each run and RBI those A-Rod HRs earn. As he nears, reaches and then goes toward the next milestone the press will cover it and may bring in more of what The Boss loved: fannies in the seats.
The Yankees will reap their benefits from any success A-Rod has over the course of the rest of his contract. Attempts to negate the contract HR milestone payments will only revive the "A-Rod Circus" and be of no benefit to either side. Legal fees and negative press will not enrich either side.
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continued from my previous comment...
Which brings us to today. Alex (smartly in my opinion), bypasses the sports media to take his message (whether you believe the apology to be authentic or not) directly to the fans, and the writers respond with vitriol and rancor. Most of the sports media know that, today more than ever, their jobs are superfluous. The average fan, if interested, no longer needs to have a filter to get news about the sports figures he follows.
Look at the whining that ensued when Marshon Lynch decided to essentially not speak to the press. I chuckled through several articles that tried desperately to convince me that I should care that sportswriters couldn't get a decent quote out of the man.
I would not presume to tell anyone how to behave as a fan of a sports figure or team, but in my opinion, all that matters is what the player does on the field of play (obviously, if someone is committing crimes that is a different story).
If Alex can produce this year, cheer him (believe me, the Yankees have no sacred legacy for him to besmirch - the non-hagiographic history of the Yankees really is kind of sordid) If he doesn't, feel free to boo him mercilessly (as New York fans are wont to do. I mean, you guys boo'd Derek Jeter a few years ago!). But don't make any decisions based on a sportswriter's opinions.
Which brings us to today. Alex (smartly in my opinion), bypasses the sports media to take his message (whether you believe the apology to be authentic or not) directly to the fans, and the writers respond with vitriol and rancor. Most of the sports media know that, today more than ever, their jobs are superfluous. The average fan, if interested, no longer needs to have a filter to get news about the sports figures he follows.
Look at the whining that ensued when Marshon Lynch decided to essentially not speak to the press. I chuckled through several articles that tried desperately to convince me that I should care that sportswriters couldn't get a decent quote out of the man.
I would not presume to tell anyone how to behave as a fan of a sports figure or team, but in my opinion, all that matters is what the player does on the field of play (obviously, if someone is committing crimes that is a different story).
If Alex can produce this year, cheer him (believe me, the Yankees have no sacred legacy for him to besmirch - the non-hagiographic history of the Yankees really is kind of sordid) If he doesn't, feel free to boo him mercilessly (as New York fans are wont to do. I mean, you guys boo'd Derek Jeter a few years ago!). But don't make any decisions based on a sportswriter's opinions.
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Totally agree.
In the event he plays well he will be grudgingly forgiven. In the event sloppy he will be booed off the field. Once upon a time the players gave their best for love of the game. Today all of our sports are about the money.
http://michaelslevinson.com
http://michaelslevinson.com
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This is just me speculating, I haven't read A-Rod's contract. If I were the Yankees I would drug test he every time he shows up to work at the beginning of the shift and then again at the end of the shift. With A-Rod's ego and a year off from baseball I would expect that as some point facing either a mediocre return or trying to vindicate himself he will hit the juice again. Surely using steroids at this point should void the contract.
Vituperative is the first word that comes to mind as I read this article. But, Mr Kepner is probably a Yankee fan and I grant Arod deserves all the scorn fans and columnists and fair minded people care to heap on him. But, Arod is no more, in my mind, than a man of his times.
Handlers, apologies, and lies galore. Who needs politics?
When I attended grade school, and was learning to read, I read the LA Times comics section every morning first thing and then my father and I read the sports page. Only later did I read the front page...and eventually discovered the NYTimes. Kids today can skip this run-up to corruption--call it living in the "real world"--and learn about the double standard and double dealing in the fourth grade, when they become Yankee fans. Surely it will prepare them for understanding the college admissions process.
Handlers, apologies, and lies galore. Who needs politics?
When I attended grade school, and was learning to read, I read the LA Times comics section every morning first thing and then my father and I read the sports page. Only later did I read the front page...and eventually discovered the NYTimes. Kids today can skip this run-up to corruption--call it living in the "real world"--and learn about the double standard and double dealing in the fourth grade, when they become Yankee fans. Surely it will prepare them for understanding the college admissions process.
A team that can't score runs. A smokescreen for a starting rotation. My fellow Yankee fans, we have to face up to reality: This is a last place team.
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I think what is most telling about this op-ed and its discussion about Rodriguez's apology is how few comments it elicited. I think that's an indication that most people have essentially written Alex Rodriguez off as an old story not really worth discussing anymore. I would be very surprised if he contributed something meaningful this year. Baseball is as much a mental game, perhaps even more so, than a physical game. Whatever physical attributes Alex Rodriguez may still possess, I doubt he is in a place mentally to play the game well.
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I haven't been a big fan of A-Rod's since he left Seattle and won that ridiculous $250m contract with Texas, which I felt was bad for the game. So I have to wonder if a lot of the antipathy towards the guy today among Yankee fans is explained by that $61m salary cap pant-load - more so than the cheating. In fact if he had gone to Boston in 2004 instead of NY and had just been released, I could see the Yankees signing him for a year at a deep discount, with cleanish slate... be honest
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Rodriquez is a 40 year old who just missed a year because of suspension. He will no longer play third base and will strictly be a DH. At some point the Yankees will buy him out and get rid of him. The Yankees invested how much in Rodriquez and he cheats? The Yankees are very image conscious and do not want that millstone hanging around their neck any longer than they have to.
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A-Rod has been the best player in the league for decades, even before the doping. Now he will be the best 40 yr old, probably better than most 32 yr olds. The Yankees own him. They tried devaluing him for most of his career by playing him at 3rd when he was the best SS on the team since he signed. There is no winning in betting against A-Rod. Enjoy him while he's there, and enjoy what he costs the Steinbrenners.
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"... and enjoy what he costs the Steinbrenners."
Excellent Statement
Excellent Statement
But we don't know how good he would have been without drugs. And probably he would have been like most 40 year old players whose best days were over years before.
Remember that for years Ken Griffey, Jr. was considered to be the players most likely to break Hank Aaron's record. Injuries ended his career early. Perhaps if he used PEDS he like A-Rod and Bonds would have been able to play longer. Despite the widespread belief that players use PEDS to build up strength, in fact most used them because they reduced the time it took to recover from injuries.
Remember that for years Ken Griffey, Jr. was considered to be the players most likely to break Hank Aaron's record. Injuries ended his career early. Perhaps if he used PEDS he like A-Rod and Bonds would have been able to play longer. Despite the widespread belief that players use PEDS to build up strength, in fact most used them because they reduced the time it took to recover from injuries.
How do you know he wasn't doping since high school? There are reports...
This year for the first time in over a decade we did not renew our partial season ticket plan with the Yankees.
I won't say it was because of A-Rod -- but his return gives us no reason to change our mind. His is a wasted roster spot. He has disgraced himself, MLB and the Yankees organization. His ham-handed "written" apology is clearly the work of a hired publicist. I seriously doubt if A-Rod has a scintilla of humility such that he could craft such a sorry excuse for an apology.
Maybe we will miss going to The Stadium this year although I think not. It's anyway became more and more a circus of tourists rather than a place to watch baseball. Like many fans -- we've left. I don't know if we'll ever come back.
Maybe we'll come back when the Steinbrenner kids get tired of it all and sell out to a new owner.
I won't say it was because of A-Rod -- but his return gives us no reason to change our mind. His is a wasted roster spot. He has disgraced himself, MLB and the Yankees organization. His ham-handed "written" apology is clearly the work of a hired publicist. I seriously doubt if A-Rod has a scintilla of humility such that he could craft such a sorry excuse for an apology.
Maybe we will miss going to The Stadium this year although I think not. It's anyway became more and more a circus of tourists rather than a place to watch baseball. Like many fans -- we've left. I don't know if we'll ever come back.
Maybe we'll come back when the Steinbrenner kids get tired of it all and sell out to a new owner.
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If you are totally honest, you will admit that you didn't get tickets because all of the stars are gone and Yankee prospects aren't very bright. You will also admit that you will be back as soon as they field an exciting winning team.
To paraphrase another New York team owner, "We don't want you. Go to the Mets".
George, I'll take A-Rod's "ham-handed" apology over your ham-handed fair-weather fan Dear John letter to the Yankees any day. You blame everyone - A-Rod, the tourists, the circus atmosphere, the Steinbrenner kids - but yourself. You're not much of a baseball fan and that's that. Baseball isn't like it used to be, in part, because baseball fans aren't like they used to be. "I don't know if we'll ever come back." Don't.
It's interesting how the press demanded for years that Rodriguez apologize, yet now that he has done so insist that's not enough. It's almost as if sportswriters are motivated more by creating a narrative where none exists than by simply reporting on things as they happen and providing thoughtful analysis.
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Exactly. And nothing illustrates that fact better than their coverage of Rodriguez. This seems to be baseball writers' favorite "story," and most have had several versions written for months. If Alex had said nothing, he was a coward. Issuing an apology means he is looking for sympathy. Holding a press conference means he is looking for attention. Failing to answer questions, even if being legally unable to, means he is being evasive. This is a no win situation for Alex. Meanwhile, most baseball fans only care what happens on the field.
how could you have missed that Rodriguez's repeated apologies, which all (thus far) have turned out to be utterly empty and untrue, has become the story?
The only thing he is genuinely sorry for is the fact that he got caught.
He and the Yankees deserve each other.
The only thing he is genuinely sorry for is the fact that he got caught.
He and the Yankees deserve each other.
The Yankees should bite the bullet, take the $61M hit, and let him go. There's no upside even if he bats .275 and hits 20 home runs. It's time for the Yankees to build from within again, like they did in the early '90s. Rodriguez can't be ignored because the press will always write about him. At this point he is like a tragic character, a fascination. The public now wants to read about another misstep in his fall from grace. His presence will only inhibit a rebuilding process.
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Leave the guy alone. Organizations, the media and fans wanting to believe the narrative given and sold by the media can sometimes be a distortion of the truth. He's way to easy a target to sell that story so leave the guy alone. Play ball A-ROD! - This here Yankees Gan has got your back. Have a great season!!
Bill, unfortunately the Steinbrenner kids are not interested in winning, at least yet. Say what you want about A-Rod, but the man fills up seats like no one else, even Jeter. Now that Jeter is gone, an A-Rod-less Yankees would see empty seats in their home stands regularly throughout the season. That sight isn't good for business.
Couldn't agree more Cathy. I have been puzzled for years over the fact that we are a totally pharmacological society; we almost all have used medicines, pain relievers, aids of one sort of another to help us live, work and dare I say perform (calling all Viagra users). It is incongruous that we hold athletes to a standard that we do not apply to ourselves. Frank Deford was right more than thirty years ago, and I'm paraphrasing here, when he said that fans wouldn't what players were taking as long as they, the fans, could hoist another banner, keep the beer cold and have their seats on the fifty or in front of the television.
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Based on your comments I assume you hold yourself to the same standard as professional football players, on every level. My only question is why you would do that.
There is nothing wrong with holding some people to a different standard than others. If a teacher, for example, can teach my kid more effectively by taking some kind of medication that otherwise does not harm them, and does it of their own free will, then in my opinion they should go ahead and take the med -- we all win. On the other hand, when Arod or some other player obtains a competitive advantage through some substance and as a result they beat my team, a team of players who do NOT take the substance (you can argue they do, I'm making a point) then that's unfair.
People who are indifferent to, or who don't like, sports are always quick to criticize players and fans for being duplicitous.
There is nothing wrong with holding some people to a different standard than others. If a teacher, for example, can teach my kid more effectively by taking some kind of medication that otherwise does not harm them, and does it of their own free will, then in my opinion they should go ahead and take the med -- we all win. On the other hand, when Arod or some other player obtains a competitive advantage through some substance and as a result they beat my team, a team of players who do NOT take the substance (you can argue they do, I'm making a point) then that's unfair.
People who are indifferent to, or who don't like, sports are always quick to criticize players and fans for being duplicitous.
The business of baseball rewarded ARod mightily for enhancing his performance. It is inconceivable that many teammates, opponents, coaching staffs and even some owners were not aware that specific players were juicing. All of them either looked the other way and pretended it wasn't going on or knew and chose to protect juicers with their silence. It is inconceivable that Joe Girardi, Tony LaRussa and Barry Bond's batting coach, for example, were not fully aware. The Players Association and owners conspired to cover up the names of players who had been caught using.
This is not about ARod. Every single championship during the steroid era is tainted and virtually every single player's season stat line, whether they juiced or not, was altered by the accomplishments of teammates or competition against players like ARod who were not clean.
Without transparency, there can never be full accountability. Without full accountability, PED use will continue to be incentivized. Until contracts can be revoked and salary clawed back if a player is found to have cheated, why shouldn't a player use steroids in order to secure hundreds of millions? Until championships trophies are taken away and playoff bonuses clawed back, why shouldn't coaches and teammates keep quiet about their star pitcher or power hitter who they have seen apply the cream in the training room during the season?
This is not about ARod. Every single championship during the steroid era is tainted and virtually every single player's season stat line, whether they juiced or not, was altered by the accomplishments of teammates or competition against players like ARod who were not clean.
Without transparency, there can never be full accountability. Without full accountability, PED use will continue to be incentivized. Until contracts can be revoked and salary clawed back if a player is found to have cheated, why shouldn't a player use steroids in order to secure hundreds of millions? Until championships trophies are taken away and playoff bonuses clawed back, why shouldn't coaches and teammates keep quiet about their star pitcher or power hitter who they have seen apply the cream in the training room during the season?
3
The only thing that can salvage A-Roid's career and reputation is for him to change his name to Derek Jeter, perform the way Jeter did on the field and conduct himself the way Jeter did off the field.
4
In some ways, the Yankees are in a no lose situation. They have already committed to spend the $61 million. If Rodriguez produces any offense, the Yankees benefit. The home town fans will come around, more or less. If he produces nothing, they are no worse off than before. He's unlikely to draw attention to himself if he can't produce. If he's forced to retire because of a career ending injury, the Yankees will get a bonanza, but even without that they could buy available talent if there is any out there to buy.
4
I am not condoning AROD but where are the investigations for illegal steroid and other PED use in Hollywood, wrestling, MMA, and maybe even in our elected officials? To see implausibly muscled actors over the age of 50 is just as likely to urge our young people to want to use them, and the Hollywood folks make millions off doing it(by selling tickets for their movies) just like AROD did. (I wonder..how is Bradley Cooper going to lose all that weight he gained for that part)Meanwhile the NFL players get a mention and a brief suspension for using a "banned substance" but get their jobs right back too.
Meanwhile the Patriots apparently get a free pass for cheating with the footballs underinflated.
I love sports and have 2 young kids but will not spend a dime on anything the NFL or MLB offers or promotes.
Meanwhile the Patriots apparently get a free pass for cheating with the footballs underinflated.
I love sports and have 2 young kids but will not spend a dime on anything the NFL or MLB offers or promotes.
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CathyZ, you've jumped to a guilty verdict on the Pats before the facts are even in. Are you aware that only 11 of the 12 balls in question were only a tick under the limit (ony 1 was significantly underinflated), and that there is a perfectly commonplace explanation based on physics (reported in here in the Times) for all the balls' lower pressure? It seems like you bought the media's hysterical first reaction to the (non)story but haven't updated your info or your conclusion.
4
Maybe you missed the news, but the Patriots did not cheat. The NFL has said that only 1 football was at least 2 psi under minimum pre-game pressure, and that was the one the Colts had on their sideline after an interception. The others were well within the range to be expected of any inflated ball brought out into the cold wet weather. The 11 of 12 initially reported was a lie and a smear for which no one will now admit responsibility (the reporter won't name his 'source').
The only team guilty of anything is the Colts for tampering with a football in an attempt to smear the greatest coach/qb combo the world has ever seen.
The only team guilty of anything is the Colts for tampering with a football in an attempt to smear the greatest coach/qb combo the world has ever seen.
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CathyZ, don't be fooled to think that artists, athletes, actors and politicians, including the President of the USA, are role models. You are your children's role model.
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