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Judge, Jury, and Executioner Too

Anybody who knows me knows how I feel about Alex Rodriguez. Aside from the obvious steroid use that has tainted his image among most of the baseball world, there are his many other noteworthy questionable actions. There is the time he swatted the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s glove when the Red Sox pitcher tried to tag A-Rod out during the 2004 ALCS. A-Rod has made questionable comments about fellow teammate and one time friend, Derek Jeter. There is the famous “aha” shout to a Toronto Blue Jays player trying to catch a fly ball. I also judge him pretty harshly for his personal escapades, although he is hardly the first ball player to cheat on his wife, nobody seems to flaunt it as much as he does (getting fed popcorn by Cameron Diaz at the super Bowl was too much to handle).

All of these reasons and many more, including his most recent run in with Oakland A’s pitcher Dallas Braden, have left me with the impression that Rodriguez may be an amazing player, but he shows a lack of respect for the game and those around him. It is very frustrating to watch someone with his seemingly unlimited talent come off as a cheater and a jerk.

Yet, despite all of this, I still get excited and glue my eyes to the television every time he comes up to the plate. Every time he swings the bat, I hope he connects and sends the ball flying past the outfield and into the stands for a lucky fan to grab. The main reason I still root for him is because for those few minutes when he steps up to the plate, I can forget about all of his past and his personality and focus on his raw talent. I don’t have to agree with the man to appreciate what he is capable of. After all, he is hardly the only all-star slimeball.

Another reason I am trying to look past A-Rod’s flaws is that he may someday be a Hall of Famer. Many members of the sports media have started to speculate if time heals all wounds (except for those inflicted by Pete Rose, apparently). Maybe this generation and the next generation can’t overlook what A-Rod, Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds, and the countless other steroid abusers have done, but it doesn’t mean someday another generation won’t forgive them all.

For this reason I try to look through the flaws and take A-Rod for what he is: an amazing ball player. I do judge A-Rod pretty harshly, but it is important to take things into context: If the popular board game “Monopoly” were to create a pro circuit and I was offered a $25 million contract, I would someday have to confess the truth that when I was 13 years old, I used to steal money from the bank, while my little sister was looking away. This didn’t stop the fact that I still had mad dice rolling skills.