Yesterday Alex Rodriquez had an opportunity to if not put his use of steroids behind him, at least quiet the storm, and I thought that’s what he would do like Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte before him. Instead A-Rod only added fuel to the fire. What a disappointment.
The press conference started off on the wrong foot right from the start when A-Rod showed up 20 minutes late for what was perhaps his most important public address that he’ll ever give in his professional career – if trying to salvage his legacy and reputation isn’t something you make it a priority to be on time for I don’t know what is. A-Rod read a lengthy statement that came across as if someone else had written it and handed it to him for the first time two minutes before he sat down to read it. Although A-Rod has never been the best of public speakers, I expected that someone for whom baseball is his life and passion would speak from the heart, but there seemed to be very little heart-felt emotion except perhaps when he addressed his teammates. Instead he offered up hollow excuses, evasive answers and implausible reasons to explain everything away that left more questions than answers.
I found virtually everything that A-Rod said difficult to swallow. I’m supposed to believe that a professional athlete who is meticulous about working out and taking care of himself, injected a mystery substance for three years, even though he claimed he didn’t know if he was using it correctly or even if it was having any effect on him? Multiple times A-Rod referred to himself as “young,” “naïve” and “stupid.” I’ll agree on the stupid part but young and naïve doesn’t work for me. Maybe if he was 12, but a 25-year old adult who has been playing professional baseball for years is old enough to know better. A-Rod claimed that he didn’t know he was doing anything wrong, then when questioned why he felt he had to be secretive about it if it wasn’t wrong, admitted that he knew they “weren’t using tic-tacs.” Please! If you know you’re injecting something into your ass you can’t tell anyone about, you know you’re doing something wrong!
It’s difficult to believe A-Rod is being sincere when his credibility is hurt by some of his previous statements that turned out to be lacking in fact. Such as when he claimed in his interview with Peter Gammons that Selena Roberts, the Sports Illustrated writer who broke the story that he tested positive for steroids had attempted to break into his house while his children were upstairs. That story doesn’t appear to have a shred of truth to it and A-Rod was forced to call Roberts to apologize. A-Rod said that he misunderstood the facts but it seems to me that it was actually a complete fabrication. There’s also how A-Rod claimed to Katie Couric in 2007 that he never used steroids, which we now know is false. Or how A-Rod said twice in his interview with Gammons just over a week ago that he didn’t know what it was that he took during those three years, then yesterday knew exactly what he took and had a whole story about getting “boli” from his cousin, a cousin he somehow neglected to mention in that interview even though Gammons asked him how he was introduced to steroids. One has to wonder just exactly what else A-Rod might be leaving out, misunderstanding the facts on or possibly even making up completely.
Some will say that if I don’t believe A-Rod I must be a hater. Wrong. I’m a long-time fan of A-Rod’s dating back to when he was with the Seattle Mariners who was thrilled when he was traded to the Yankees. Others will say that A-Rod doesn’t owe anyone any answers, and it’s true - unless he’s legally compelled to do so, A-Rod doesn’t have to give details or explain anything to anyone. But if A-Rod’s going to make statements like he did yesterday, then he has to expect to be greeted with skepticism. Even Brian Cashman didn’t appear find A-Rod’s explanation to be very convincing and coldly referred to A-Rod as an “asset in crisis.” As I listened to the press conference I felt like my intelligence was being insulted that I was expected to believe A-Rod’s evasive and at times contradictory answers as the truth.
Many Yankee fans are hoping that now that the press conference has been held it’ll all go away. That’s unlikely to happen. This is a major news story, part of one of the biggest scandals that this sport has ever seen, and it’s a story that is worthy of being covered. As much as some would like to believe that the media is somehow to blame for all of this, the only person to blame for this mess is A-Rod. The Yankees need A-Rod to be a productive player for them this season and I hope he goes on to have an MVP type season. But he – and his teammates – better be prepared for continual questions, the likelihood of more revelations, and a very cold and negative reception from fans, including possibly from Yankee fans. While I’ll celebrate when A-Rod hits a homerun or otherwise helps the Yankees to win games, this fan is going to have a very hard time cheering for A-Rod in the future.
Deborah is co-administrator of, and an op-ed contributor to, NYYF. She can be reached at silverdsl (at) NYYFans.com.
