My $0.02: What I’d Tell A-Rod

Alex Rodriguez AP Photo
Alex Rodriguez (AP Photo)

So lets start with full disclosure.

  I have NO INTEREST in talking about/debating or arguing about steroids.
  Not who took ’em. Allegedly.
  Not who didn’t. Allegedly.
  Like most of you..been there/done that.
  This is about what somebody should be telling Alex Rodriquez.
  Not someone with an agenda. Or someone who can and would make money off of Alex or anything around him now or in the future. Not a newspaper guy. Not a TV guy. Not a sports talk radio guy. Or a 1,000 other people in a 1,000 other occupations.
  The “somebody” doesn’t need to be a friend. It would be nice..but when you make 450+ Million dollars, I’m not sure you can even know for sure who those are. Those blurred lines I would imagine would keep even the stablest of folks awake some nights.
  Who it DOES need to be is someone who is willing to tell Alex the truth. And I swear I think it probably needs to be a sports fan.
   Not an ARod apologist. Or an ARod hater. Not a sycophant. But not a casual fan.
   Not someone who is so prideful in being ‘old school” that I question their ability to know what year it is. You know..the guy who hasn’t realized how life..big picture LIFE..HAS actually changed around them so their blinders are both comical and horrifying.
  Don’t think it should be someone who derives “common sense” from reams of paper and numbers. You know..the guy who hasn’t realized that life..big picture LIFE..is actually taking place all around him so their blinders are both comical and horrifying,
  If you fit this “criteria” and you had 10 minutes with Alex Rodriquez..what would you tell him?
  What is your “truth” in this situation?
  Here’s mine :
  Get out. With some dignity. You pissed away a whole bunch of it. But like all of us who have seen that tank get closer to “E” than any of us would have liked..life offers fill-ups.
  Go away.
  Not forever. Not even for a long time.
  But don’t play baseball. Not this year. Not next. Not ever.
  I know..I KNOW..you could hit 4 HRs. Hell..you hit 9 this season. You are talented enough..muscle memory and 10’s of THOUSANDS of swings over all of these years alone would run you into 4 more.
  But at what price?
  What would make #700 different than #107? Or #382 Or #511?
  Here’s what it is. An incredible round #. And if that matters or means more to you than what it DOESN’T..you’ve learned NOTHING.
  Your “denials”? Your “apologies”? Your most recent “I want to be remembered as someone who kept getting up”?
  Throw them and every word you’ve spoken about how much you love the game and respect the game into the furnace. Not the trash. Shit can be taken out of the trash. Go straight to the incinerator. Burn it. All of it. With no ability to be pieced back together.
  It will have ALWAYS been about the #’s. And nothing else.
  Here’s what I know, Because I saw it.
  Mariano Rivera let the PA announcer..at Yankee Stadium..with your daughters hands in his..say that you were his friend. And he hugged you.
  Did I mention it was in Yankee Stadium?
  You got a standing ovation.
  You got a double. And an RBI. And another standing ovation.
  In Yankee Stadium!
  You played 3rd Base. For only one out. But it was a strikeout. And you got to throw it around the horn one more time.
  And everyone stood up. Again. As you hugged your teammates. And you waved your cap,
  And cried.
  Your kids saw ALL of that. Anything else they know..or will hear from here on out,,shouldn’t be more important than last Friday night.
  In Yankee Stadium.
  And if you don’t understand that another double..or RBI..or 4 or 40 more HRs will never be THAT..well I guess I wasn’t the right “somebody”
  You won. It’s as simple as that. If Friday night was your last game..you WON!

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