You know how much I like to read Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record. You know that I've defended Alex Rodriguez alot... probably more than I should. Well, I read this incredible timeline outlining Alex and his time in the Bronx and there is so much "stuff" that he's been connected to over the years, it's amazing. So, I'm just reprinting the whole thing. Bravo Caldera, you've done it again. Read this and enjoy this... I did:
A closer look at some of the drama surrounding
Alex Rodriguez since he became a Yankee in 2004:
July 2004: Gestures toward Red Sox pitcher
Bronson Arroyo after being plunked and is shoved by catcher
Jason Varitek, leading to a brawl at Fenway Park. Varitek supposedly told ARod, "We don’t throw at .260 hitters."
October 2004: Called out for interference for slapping at the glove hand of Arroyo, knocking the ball loose in ALCS Game 6 versus Boston. Finishes series 1-for-15 with no RBI as Yanks blow a 3-0 series lead.
February 2005: Hammered by Red Sox players for seemingly boastful comments to The Record’s Bob Klapisch about his lengthy workout regimen.
Trot Nixon:
"He’s running stairs at 6 in the morning while I’m sleeping and taking my kids to school? I’m like, ‘Well, I’m not a deadbeat dad, Alex.’ "
October 2005: Wins 2005 AL MVP, but hits .133 in ALDS with no RBI as Yanks fall to Angels in first round.
October 2006: Manager Joe Torre bats ARod eighth in ALDS Game 4 at Detroit. "That’s double cleanup," Reggie Jackson said by way of deflection. Bats .071 for the series with no RBI as Yanks bow again in opening playoff round.
May 2007: A front page tabloid photo shows ARod out on the town in Toronto with a "mystery blonde" who is not his wife. Later rumored to be romantically involved with Madonna, ARod divorces wife, Cynthia, in 2008.
Also in Toronto, ARod incenses the Blue Jays while on the bases by yelling "Ha!’’ behind third baseman Howie Clark. Thinking he’d been called off the play, Clark backs off and the ball falls for an RBI single. "To me, it’s bush league," Jays manager John Gibbons said.
October 2007: Wins his second AL MVP as a Yankee, but has one RBI in ALDS as Yanks fall to Cleveland.
Draws the ire of the Yankees and MLB with announcement during Game 4 of the Red Sox’ World Series clincher at Colorado that he’s exercised his opt-out clause to become a free agent.
February 2009: Forced to admit his past steroid use when Sports Illustrated reveals his failed sample test in 2003. Insists the use was limited from 2001-03 with the Texas Rangers and that he’s played clean since.
March 2009: Undergoes right-hip surgery and misses the first five weeks of the season.
April 2010: Trots across the mound and back to first base after a foul ball in Oakland, a baseball code violation that makes pitcher
Dallas Braden livid.
"He should probably take a note from his captain [Derek Jeter] over there," Braden says.
June 2011: ARod’s cousin, Yuri Sucart, reportedly is seen at the team hotel in San Francisco. Sucart had been banned from team property after being named by ARod as having procured PEDs for them during his Texas days.
July 2011: Canadian sports doctor Anthony Galea, who treated ARod following his hip surgery, pleads guilty in U.S. Federal Court to bringing human growth hormone and other unapproved drugs into the States. ARod tells MLB investigators that he never received PEDs from Galea.
August 2011: MLB officials investigate and question ARod after a report that he participated in an illegal high-stakes poker game where cocaine was used by other participants and a fight allegedly took place. ARod labels the report as "inaccurate and unfair." He’d been previously warned about his participation in underground poker clubs by MLB officials.
November 2011: Travels to Germany on Kobe Bryant’s advice to undergo a "blood-spinning" treatment on his left shoulder and right knee.
October 2012: Pinch-hit for and benched multiple times by Joe Girardi during the ALDS and ALCS, batting a combined 3-for-25 with no RBI.
During the ALCS opener, ARod — already out of the game — is flagged for flirting with two female fans and for having a ball boy toss a baseball with his phone number written on it to one of them.
December 2012: Tampa’s WTSP reports some tenants in ARod’s area real estate venture describe living conditions as slum-like. It’s not the first such accusation of Rodriguez as an absentee landlord.
January 2013: Undergoes a second hip surgery in four years, this time on his left side. Expected to be sidelined until the season’s second half.
Through a public relations firm, he denies any links to Anthony Bosch or use of steroids from 2009-12 after the Miami New Times reports ARod purchased human growth hormone and other PEDs from a now-defunct South Florida anti-aging clinic. MLB and the feds are investigating.
The original piece can be found
HERE.
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