Alex Rodriguez’s Road To Redemption
Alex Rodriguez endured an off-season of controversy when it came out that he used performance enhancing drugs during his tenure with the Texas Rangers. The majority of this scrutiny came from those who cited a prior interview he had on 60 minutes where he denied ever using drugs, saying he "never needed them."
Many wondered if A-Rod's game would suffer this season as a result of the widespread criticism and increased attention from the media that has followed him since last fall.
Hip surgery kept him on the sidelines for the first 6 weeks of the season, further complicating matters for the Yankees' Superstar 3rd Basemen. Could he come back from surgery and be the same dominating A-Rod?
Based on his performance thus far, it appears so. Since his return to the baseball diamond on May 8th, Rodriguez has been on a fence clearing tear. He has hit 7 home runs and 17 RBI's in just over 60 AB's. Should he continue at this torrid pace, A-Rod will finish the 2009 season with 50+ home runs and 125+ RBI's.
Will collectors forgive and forget, or will A-Rod's hobby standing be forever tainted by his steroid use? Collectors seem to be responding favorably to his progress thus far, as A-Rod's baseball cards and memorabilia have begun to rebound to their pre-steroid state. Unlike many of the other MLB players connected to steroid use, Rodriguez has a legitimate chance to regain the trust and admiration of fans and collectors. There is still a long way to go before collectors embrace the exceptionally talented slugger, but it would seem, at least at the moment, that he is headed in the right direction.
The 2009 Season is but the beginning of a long and arduous road to redemption for Alex Rodriguez.
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yankeepro | May 27, 2009 | Reply
his steroid saga is mud and will stick for a very long time, his reputation is tainted and even if he was to retire he will always be known as a-roid, a-fraud.whatever!..his reputation as a trustworthy & faithful human being paints him as not a very nice person, his wife suffered terribily throughout their marriage with all the affairs,sex scandals & divorcing her for madonna, its not the road to redemption it another road to a another upcoming scandal, hes still unable to name the steroid he was juicing, I doubt if hes learnt any lessons. He is his own worst enermy.
Mike Smeth | May 28, 2009 | Reply
Yankeepro, thanks for your insightful commentary. I personally agree with most everything you said. I don’t like or respect Arod as a person. In fact, he is on the short list of players that I strongly dislike. However, I do think that his many MLB accomplishments to date are 95% due to his hard work and skill and 5% due to steroids.
I think that if he continues to perform at the high level that he has throughout his entire career that he deserves to go to the Hall of Fame as one of the best players to have played Major League Ball.
However, his hobby standing is another story. Sure, people collect cards based on a player’s performance and stats, but we also like to collect players that we fundamentally like, respect, and/or can identify with. I hope that if collectors decide to stay clear of Arod they do so for the latter reasons rather then his admission of steroid use.
Jeremy Porter | May 28, 2009 | Reply
A-Rod’s legacy will forever be tainted in much the same manner that Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, and now Manny Ramirez’s have. We as Americans have little tolerance for unrepentant liars and the “after the fact” contrition that these athletes show once their feet are held to the fire increasingly rings hollow.
Despite all of this, a World Series championship for the Bronx Bombers derived from a strong post season effort from A-Rod would do much to wipe away the stench of his past indiscretions and bloated contract. In the end, we as fans of our respective teams care foremost about winning and, for the most part, we are willing to overlook any dubious methods (i.e. cheating), creations of competitive unbalance or poor officiating in favor of of a championship. I can’t help but think that this axiom would hold true for the vast population of Yankees fans worldwide.
Baseball purist that I am, I hope it never happens as this game is a far better one without the ill-gotten accolades of today’s cheaters further ushering the past accomplishments of yesteryear’s heroes into obsolescence.