So Yankees 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez is on the verge of joining the prestigious 600 home run club...my response, big deal! For me the A-Rod homer count, that seems to be everywhere these days, is met with a yawn. To be fair, there's no denying he's always been an enormously talented player. Rodriguez is a thirteen time all-star and three time winner of the A.L. MVP award. However, for those of you who have a selective memory, he's also a steroid cheat.
Just over a year ago, Rodriguez admitted to what for years had been speculated: he used banned substances. This revelation came after he had denied ever taking performance enhancing drugs during an interview with Katie Couric in 2007. It took a softball question and answer session with ESPN, followed weeks later by a press conference for A-Rod to finally get his story straight. Even then, he came up with some ridiculous tale about an unnamed cousin injecting him with an over the counter, yet unidentified drug "known on the streets as boli or bollee."
The whole thing sounded like an ABC after school special gone wrong with Rodriguez claiming he was "young, stupid and naive." He added that it was "hard to say" whether it gave him a competitive edge, and "all his years in New York have been clean." I hope you didn't buy all of that...if so I've got some swampland and a bridge to sell you. If the guy lied about PED's in the first place, how can I believe that he only used for two years? On top of that, why continue taking them if he wasn't sure they were really helping?
It all comes down to a matter of trust. If I don't trust that his accomplishments are legitimate, then it doesn't matter if he hits 600, 700 or 800 home runs. The way I see it, his stats are tainted. No amount of time is ever going to change that fact or wash it away. The second his unnamed cousin put that needle into his ass, A-Rod's numbers became irrelevant. I have the feeling that stings a whole lot more than the shots he was taking.
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