I’ve been a lifelong Yankees fan. The pinstripes are under my skin and it’s something that will never go away. But one of the trends over the past decade plus that I absolutely HATE is how many Yankees have been caught dabbling around the steroid-era and PED scene. That’s not what BEING A YANKEE is all about.
Clemens, Pettitte, A-Rod, Melky Cabrera, Matt Lawton back in 2005, Daniel McCutchen (while in the minors), Sergio Mitre (another Yankees minor leaguer). Sadly when you add up the numbers we seem to have the team with the most PED/Steroid users. Sure some deny it, justify it, or make it seem like they didn’t know. Bullshit! When these guys are making millions and millions with a staff of handlers, teammates, PR people, etc. I’m supposed to believe NOBODY saw you do this stuff and that you didn’t know what you were putting into your jacked up Superhero bodies? Yeah.. OK.. Keep telling yourself that while the rest of us make sure our kids forget your names before they can be remembered.
Alex Rodriguez is in some ways the worst of them all. First the denials leading to the original admission. Did it to save his career and in some ways was given a PASS by the MLB in his first go around. It’s no secret among the Yankees Nation of fans that we don’t want A-Rod on the team anymore, and have not for a long time. Some, myself included; wanted nothing to do with A-Roid from the start. The contract was too big, the talent honestly already made it’s splash. A few great years sure, but has he consistently been that guy since? No. Except for his ’09 Post Season performance (PED’d up now it seems) he has tanked more than shined. Winning individual awards does not get you a Parade so they mean little to me. The drama he brings with him is not what the pinstripes are all about to the real fans. Forget the fans who showed up after the 90′s/00′s Yankees winning titles, you always get seasonal fans when a team wins. The hardcore fans. The ones who remember Greg Nettles, Bobby Murcer, Dave Winfield, O’Neill, Mantle, Ruth, Yogi, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Righetti, Mattingly, Billy Martin, Roger Maris, Phil Rizzuto (the Money Store!!), Thurman Munson, Whitey Ford, Casey Stengel, Reggie Jackson, Guidry, Gossage, the list goes ON and ON and ON. GREATS. Legends of their time with a loyal following. Guess what they all have in common??
NO PED OR STEROID USE. No accusations, no wondering, no second guessing. They were all die hard Yankees and being a Yankee to most of them meant more than anything else in their careers. Tarnishing that was not an option for these people.
So what about Alex Rodriguez? A chart-breaking talent at the start of his career and he signs a 10-year, $275 million dollar contract with the Yankees in 2007.
2 years later in 2009 he admits to using PEDs saying he used them in 2001-2003 aka the time he built hit value and legacy with Seattle and Texas running up that inflated value and getting the huge contract. He’s worth less. FAR LESS. If anything his contract alone costs the team flexibility, the ability to cultivate mid-range talent, and the occasional free agent score. Sure it’s the Yankees and they always spend anyway, but it’s still a drain on the team finances. In Joe Torre’s 2009 book, The Yankee Years, Joe says that the nickname A-Fraud was given to him from his teammates and clubhouse attendants. You don’t get nicknames like that, even in jest unless you’re a bit of a jerk off to the people around you.
A-Rod has had a career that since signing with the Yankees in 2004 has all but flatlined. Peaked out those first few years when he was Selfish A-Rod and has the beef with Jeter and other teammates and constantly was bitching and moaning about not being accepted. He’s not winning awards like he used to because his play just is not as good as it was. Now we have a player who obviously was willfully continuing down the path of PED use after admitting to his mistakes. Can he be any dumber?
In 2007 don’t forget. Alex Rodriguez opted-out on his contract, and on the team, the fans. It’s time finally in 2013 that we opt-out on him. There’s no room left for this guy on the roster. This is the time to make the move and let the Yankees regain the clout and mystique they once had.
Involved in BALCO 1, and now involved in what many are already calling BALCO 2. This is not what Yankee fans want or deserve.
Some links from latest incident:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/alex-rodriguez-is-the-biggest-name-in-a-new-ped-report-that-could-rival-balco-143803741.html
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2013/01/29/alex-rodriguez-other-latinos-linked-to-ped/
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8893139/report-alex-rodriguez-others-miami-clinic-ped-lists
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/8894904/new-york-yankees-attempting-void-alex-rodriguez-contract-according-sources
