First of all, I dislike the New York Yankees.
It's got nothing to do with the massive payroll. In fact, I've always applauded the fact that the team regularly turned a profit despite the obscene salaries most of its players receive (and the fact that they pay a huge payroll tax and send large amounts of money to the have-nots).
The Yankees represent the best and worst of a capitalist society. To make money you have to spend money, and the Yankees are perfect example of that from the North American perspective. I'm sure after all the jealousy subsides fans of every other team would love it if their favourite squad spent with such aplomb.
As I penned above, I've never been a fan of the Yankees, but not for the usual motives. Instead, as someone who is paid by the game and not by the hour, I dislike the Yankees for playing the game at a plodding pace.
Whether in the field, where pitchers step off the rubber a ridiculous number of times and prompt Jorge Posada to visit a league-leading number of times, or at the plate, where they foul off borderline strikes like it's batting practice and seemingly never get strikes called on the them on pitches on the black (especially at home), taking in a Yankees game can be a frustrating exercise.
(Sorry, I've gotten way off topic here.)
The object of all the typing was merely a caveat to finally giving Alex Rodriguez, much maligned since landing in New York, his due. Make that, his overdue.
It's been an interesting journey this season for baseball's highest paid lightning rod. He started the season on the disabled list after undergoing hip surgery during spring training. And because it was Rodriguez, there were whispers that he really wasn't hurt at all, that after a Sports Illustrated reporter outed Rodriguez's steroid use in 2003, when he won the A.L. MVP with the Rangers and also tested positive before more stringent rules came into effect. With the brand spanking new Yankee Stadium, at a cost of $1.5 billion, being opened, maybe it would be better to shift the focus away from A-Rod's alleged drug use and onto their new digs. In a 2007 interview with Katie Couric on '60 Minutes', she asked him if A) Ever "used steroids, Human Growth Hormone (HGH) or any other performance-enhancing substance?"; and B) Was ever "tempted to use any of those things?"
His answer to both questions was a straightforward, "No."
Fast forward to this spring, with Sports Illustrated and every other sports new organization now hounding him as he arrived for training camp, he finally came clean and admitted his steroid use, which began in 2001, to ESPN's Peter Gammons, claiming that the enormous contract that he signed with the Rangers (10 years, $252 million) had put him under massive pressure to live up to that deal. And now, baseball fans everywhere had an even greater reason to despise Rodriguez, an admitted liar.
But Americans are forgiving people; especially with their sports stars. The witch hunt will continue, at a huge cost to the taxpayer, to try and prove that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens lied about not using performance-enhancing drugs. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, once the engine of two World Series titles for the Red Sox, still get standing ovations from their hometown crowds despite failing drug tests.
But in the case of Rodriguez, the one they love to hate even in New York, his career has been of the stuff that Hollywood script writers drool over. Drafted first overall in 1993, in the majors at the age of 18, 54 doubles and 123 RBI at age 20, youngest player to reach the 300, 400 and 500 home run plateaus, and a three-time MVP playing in baseball's brightest spotlight.
Factor in a personal life that has seen him canoodling with the likes of Madonna and Kate Hudson, being photographed by the paparazzi going into a Toronto hotel with a stripper while his wife and children were back home in New York and it's not hard to see why he wasn't exactly loved by baseball fans both in and out of the Big Apple, especially playing alongside squeaky-clean team captain Derek Jeter on the left side of the Yankees infield.
This season, after returning to line-up on May 8, Rodriguez didn't have to be the man. Not with the free agent signings of CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett, and not with Jeter enjoying one of the finest seasons of his storied career. The result has been an obscene 87-43 record with A-Rod in the line-up this season, and finally a coming-out party in the playoffs. Before 2009, his post-season stats left a lot to be desired: .245 average, four home runs, nine RBI in 24 games (10-14 record) and not a single swing of the bat in the World Series. But the most glaring stat is Rodriguez going just 2 for 20 with runners in scoring position.
Something is extremely different this post-season, though. Eight hits in his first 23 at-bats through Monday, four home runs and nine RBI, runs driven in all six games to date, and 3 for 5 with runners in scoring position. If the Yankees are able vanquish the Angels and go on to win their 27th World Series title, Rodriguez will finally be welcomed in to the stratosphere of Yankees' superstars.
It is that acceptance that would put a nice bow on a brilliant career. Whether he will get into Cooperstown, baseball's highest honour is another thing. Drug cheats have yet to be called Hall of Famers. This story, like all things to do with the Yankees, still has several chapters to be told, I'm sure.
