3114 Hits
696 Home Runs
2021 Runs
2084 RBI
.295 batting Average
Because of these numbers, even non-baseball fans know the name Alex Rodriguez. When someone so famous and accomplished retires, there are usually farewell tours, gifts given, appreciation days, and all the other money making opportunities that go with the athlete's last hurrah.
Alex Rodriguez's career ended with a 20 minute press conference that ended with "Al, are you good?" Then he left.
2 times proven to have taken banned substances
100s of times lying about not taking banned substances
These numbers are why Alex Rodriguez heard his career end with a whimper. But was it solely his fault? I say no. He made approximately $480 million dollars playing baseball. I hope I would be able to say 'No keep your $480 mil. I'm doing this the right way." But I have no idea. Furthermore, this behavior sure seemed to be encouraged... because if he was making $480 million, I'd bet the league was making 10 times that off of him.
So If not A Fraud, who should we blame?
Bud Selig
The man who destroyed my love of baseball.
In 1998, baseball seemed to be losing popularity. The owners had forced a players' strike 4 years earlier. When the 1994 World Series was canceled, some fans left and refused to return. The league needed to bring people back in.
Here comes Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire to the rescue. They became locked in a chase to break Roger Maris single season home run record which had stood at 61 for over 35 years. It appeared very clear to anyone who had followed the players' careers (and head size) that something didn't seem quite natural about each player's physique (and head size). There were rumblings on talk radio about illegal performance enhancing drugs being consumed. When asked about it that season, Sosa even joked his success was due to"'Flintstone Vitamins" (that make your head grow apparently.
But ballparks were packed and TV ratings soared. All under Seleig's watchful eye. Both players eventually hit more than 61 homers (I refuse to say they broke the record). The players and Major League Baseball made a ton of money. All under Seleig's watchful eye.
It was obvious that these players were cheating. Or were they? Although baseball had banned steroids in 1991 the league did not start testing for them until 2003. You guessed it. All under Seleig's watchful eye.
But wait, A Rod didn't start using PEDs until 2001 (or at least that's when he admits to it). How does Sosa and McGuire impact him? Well here's where my crazy theory comes into play.
In 1998, while the "chase" was taking place and Barry Bonds was still the size of a normal human being, he was busy batting .303, hitting 37 home runs, and knocking in 122 RBI. Those are MVP type numbers. But they were also human numbers. And the league showed they weren't interested in human numbers anymore.
By 2000, Barry Bonds didn't need to worry about that anymore. Miraculously he had grown to super human size as well (including his head). And then he crushed every record in the book. Wait for it...All under Seleig's watchful eye.
But what could Seleig have done? After all the rules were collectively bargained? Well he could have pushed to have testing added and ,like in any negotiation, give something up to get something valuable. Or he could have used the "best interests of baseball" clause to step in. It seems to me that he did not want to step in. Stepping in surely would have meant less money.
Bond's "accomplishments" and subsequent big paydays caused every player to look at themselves and say "I know I'm good... but how much better could I be if?" My guess is that A Rod was one of these players. And we know how he answered.
Alex Rodriguez's career will end with a whimper this week. Thank goodness, that way Selig won't have to hear another result of what he cultivated.
