Bad News for A-Rod, Worse News for MLB: Wrapping Up Baseball's Saddest Weekend

It’s been almost 48 hours since it was announced by Sports Illustrated that Alex Rodriguez used anabolic steroids during at least the 2003 season—and yet, I still feel terrible.

It is no secret that Alex Rodriguez is one of the most hated figures in baseball, and perhaps all of sports.

I for one have always been a huge A-Rod fan and one of his most avid supporters—especially since he was traded to the Yankees. And through thick and thin, I would forever defend one of my favorite players.

From the slap at the ball in Bronson Arroyo’s glove, to the annual stupid quotes at every Yankee spring training, to the striper incident in Toronto, to the escapades with Madonna, the one thing I could always count on was that the results on the field were always the same. No matter what others said about the man, the fact that he would one day be the greatest player, statistically, to ever play the game was enough to justify his less-than-admirable antics off the field.

Unfortunately, A-Rod was unable to hold up his end of the deal. Now, after five years of defending Alex Rodriguez, he has let me down—and I have been left with my size 10 foot in my mouth.

When I was told the troubling news on Saturday morning, I swear, I felt sick. But the reason for that was not necessarily because of my love for Alex Rodriguez. It was for my love of the game.

To all of you Red Sox, Met, Angel, and any other fans out there that are jealous of the phrase “26 Time World Champions,” I say to you do not let your ignorance get the best of you. If this is bad news for the New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez, then it is catastrophic news for Major League Baseball.

The most upsetting thing about this whole ordeal is not what the future holds for this one man. Despite what your personal opinion was of A-Rod, the fact is that he was supposed to be a symbol of hope—a cleanser of the game. He could have been the man who did not cheat to achieve greatness. He would have saved baseball.  

No matter what the Nielsen ratings say, baseball is still, and always will be, America’s baby. The proof is in the pudding. Through the 1994 players strike, the steroid era, and those ridiculous court hearings, fans have remained loyal. Major league attendance has been at an all-time high since the year 2000.

I believe that this is because “baseball has marked time,” as James Earl Jones so eloquently put it during his speech in the film Field of Dreams. Throughout the history of modern America, you could match up any historical event since 1900 with something historical happening in the game of baseball.

This is why people are so upset with A-Rod’s decision. It is not because it will damage his reputation further. Most fans already hated him anyway. Rather, it is because it appears that, at this point in time, the most hallowed record in sports is destined to forever be tainted. And that is the saddest thing that comes out of all of this weekend’s events.

So where do we go from here? What is to become of America’s Pastime? So many possible questions and thoughts arise after this debacle.

Firstly, I believe that the Player’s Association is in need of a total makeover. If nothing else, the actions of Gene Orza and his alleged attempt to warn Rodriguez about a possible drug test in September of 2004 plainly proves that the system does not work.

Cheaters are still getting away with cheating, while the voices of a waning amount of legit players are failing to be heard.

Secondly, I believe that Bud Selig needs to either wake the hell up or get the hell out. This truly is the final straw in a tenure that has brought nothing good to the game of baseball (including that stupid All-Star Game rule).

The man needs to snap out of that glassy eyed trance he always seems to be in every time a camera pans to him and realize that the last saving grace for his time as Commissioner of Major League Baseball just went flying out the window.

Thirdly, who the hell are these other 103 players that were identified as steroid users during this 2003 survey? I realize that A-Rod would have to be the big fish on the list, but the fact that his was the only name to be leaked out from the 2003 records (why those records were not destroyed is beyond me) cannot help but make me wonder if a certain amount of malice or an alternate agenda came into play when these four sources decided to spill the beans.

And what about Alex himself? Where does he go from here?

The best thing for him to do would probably go the Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi route—just admit what you did and hey, we might eventually forgive you.

You have already lied to us once, Alex. That was on 60 Minutes with Katie Couric in which you avidly proclaimed that you had never used steroids in your life because you never felt that you were “ over-matched.” Do not insult our intelligence again.

On the contrary, I, an avid Yankee fan, could tell you that New York fans can be the biggest hypocrites in the world of sports. One day we are booing a guy, talking about how despicable he is, while the next day we could be on our feet cheering for him after he has hit a walk off home run or thrown a 60-yard touchdown.

To all of you New York fans who have announced that you will never stand up and cheer for Alex Rodriguez again, I hope I can be there to call you out if he happens to win a World Series for us sometime in the next decade.

You laugh now, but on a team with a pitching staff consisting of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, and Andy Pettitte, I would not put it past anyone. I can guarantee you that a World Series is in the near future for the Yankees—and I can guarantee you that A-Rod will be on that team.

I know that I will be cheering, because I realize that whether he is a jerk or not, he is still a big part of this team—and I love this team.

Is he the greatest player in the game anymore, as I have so adamantly argued over the past decade? No. He is not. That torch has now been passed on to Albert Pujols, without question. 

Should Rodriguez still be considered a future Hall of Famer anymore? My initial reaction is, “yes.” However, that answer requires an explanation that I will have to save for another day.

In the end, the most important thing that comes out of all of this is still that he will one day break Barry Bonds’s record of 762 career home runs, making him baseball’s “Home Run King.” However, until someone breaks whatever mark A-Rod reaches (right now on pace to be approximately 904 home runs), I, along with the majority of baseball fans all over the country, will continue to consider Henry Aaron the true Home Run King.

It is funny. All of this kind of makes you wish Ken Griffey Jr. had not been so injury-prone during his days in Cincinnati. This probably would not have been such a big deal if that was the case.