New York Yankees third baseman/designated hitter Alex Rodriguez may have just ended the most Pyrrhic career in the history of Major League Baseball.
The 41-year-old Rodriguez should go down as one of the 10 greatest offensive players in the history of the game. However, lack of clutch hitting, off-the-field controversies, and his general unlikability by just about everyone outside of The Bronx will be his calling card.
"A-Rod" showed more promise coming out of high school than any player of this generation. The Seattle Mariners believed in the then 18-year-old Rodriguez enough to select him first overall in 1993, and periodically had him in their lineup his first two seasons as a professional. By 1996, the Mariners would showcase a lineup of future Hall-of-Famers Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson, Mariner Hall-of-Famers Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez, and of course Rodriguez. The Mariners would win two divisional championships prior to Griffey's departure to the Cincinnati Reds in 2000, and picked up another in Rodriguez's final season of 2000, featuring an up-and-coming MLB sensation known as Ichiro Suzuki.
Rodriguez signed the largest contract in the history of professional sports (10 years, $252 million) in time for the 2001 season, leaving the Mariners for division rivals, the Texas Rangers. In his three years, Rodriguez hit 52, 57, and 47 home runs, leading the league all three times. He was awarded with the 2003 American League Most Valuable Player award, and finished in the top-10 in voting the previous two years. Still, the Rangers finished dead last in the AL West all three years. It was during his tenure with the Rangers where the focus seemed to shift from his athletic brilliance to the tidal wave of controversy that would shadow the remainder of his career.
Rodriguez admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs all three years playing for the Rangers, a fact that was not confirmed until he was implicated in the infamous BALCO scandal of 2004. Rodriguez became part of the motley crew that nearly destroyed all of the trust America put back into baseball after the strike-shortened 1994 season. Rodriguez became synonymous with others MLB'ers inplicated like McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, Canseco, Bonds, Giambi, NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski, and Olympic sprinter Marion Jones. Bonds and Rodriguez were the only of the former not to see the scandal terminate their careers.
Now A-Rod did not admit to his faults while as a member of the Rangers, as he had been traded to the Yankees during the 2003 offseason. Take away the steroids, the bloated contract, and joining the most hated sports franchise on the planet for one moment...if you can. Rodriguez's first season in The Bronx will forever be linked to one single moment during the Yankees drive to another "store bought" World Series Championship.
The Yankees had built a commanding three-games-to-none lead on their hated Boston Red Sox rivals in the 2004 AL Championship Series. The Red Sox then staved off elimination the next two games, setting the stage for the Yankees to have two chances to eliminate Boston at home. In Game Six, Rodriguez stepped in to face Red Sox reliever Bronson Arroyo with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Yankee captain Derek Jeter on first. Trailing 4-2, Rodriguez hit a weak grounder up the first base line, that Arroyo was easily able to field. Desperate not to be tagged out, Rodriguez openly swiped at Arroyo's glove, knocking the ball out, and sending the ball into foul ground in right field. Jeter came all the way around to score, cutting Boston's lead to 4-3. Rodriguez ended up at second while the Red Sox were chasing the ball down. After an immediate protest by Red Sox' manager Terry Francona, Rodriguez was correctly called out, and Jeter was brought back to first base. In what would become the most vivid image of Rodriguez' career, the third baseman was standing with both feet on top of second, both hands on his head, and mouth agape in disbelieve. Rodriguez tried to justify that his arms were in their normal running motion.
On 30 May 2007, Rodriguez admitted to the press after the game he verbally distracted Toronto Blue Jays third baseman John McDonald during a routine popup while running by. McDonald assumed he was being called off, and the ball landed on the turf, allowing Rodriguez to stop at third. The Yankees would plate three runs in lieu of the distraction. It was about this time where many national reporters began to question integrity, and began to dub Rodriguez as "A-Fraud."
Rodriguez became romantically linked to celebrities Madonna, former WWE wrestler Torrie Wilson, and actresses Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz during his time in New York. Rodriguez was also linked to two female escort rings, one run by Boston hairdresser Candice Houlihan, and the other by the "Manhattan Madam" Kristin M. Davis. Davis is currently in the midst of a 24-month prison sentence for drug possession and distribution.
Once MLB put steroid testing in place after the BALCO scandal, players had to find other means for hitting baseballs very far. Some began turning to human grown hormone (or "HGH"). Just like before, Rodriguez would be named in another doping scandal, this one in 2013. This time there was factual evidence, and this time Rodriguez would not be able to escape punishment.
Major League Baseball suspended Alex Rodriguez for the entire 2014 season on 5 August 2013.
Thus far this season, Rodriguez has only played in 62 of the Yankees 110 games, hitting a meager. 204, with nine home runs, and 29 runs batted in. It was announced earlier this morning that Rodriguez will retire after the Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday evening. Yankee General Manager stated during this morning's press conference that Rodriguez will be paid the entire $42 million he is owed on his remaining contract between this year and next. Rodriguez will stay on in 2017 as a special adviser and player instructor for the Yankees.
It seems fitting that Rodriguez, once thought of as capable of breaking every major batting record baseball ever had, has fallen to preparing the Yankee prospects for the future.
After all, young talent with small contracts are all the Yankees can afford, now that every drop of juice has been squeezed out of Alex Rodriguez.
-JC24