A-Rod insincere? Really?
By JUSTIN TERRANOVA
Did you believe what Alex Rodriguez was saying at the press conference he had after Sports Illustrated’s steroid allegations came out?
Me neither. It came out as rehearsed and anything but forthcoming. And the Yankees third baseman took a hit then. But now that reports and excerpts from Selena Roberts’ book are starting to and will continue to come out, that may have been the best thing for him.
Today’s revelations that Rodriguez may have used performance-enhancing substances earlier and/or longer than he said he did can’t be newsorthy to anyone who’s still following these repetitive stories.
Except for the allegation A-Rod was a poor tipper at Hooter’s (shame on him), and assuming the original excerpts released in February by Sports Illustrated are the juiciest, which is usually the case, none of this new “news” will come as a great surprise.
And because Rodriguez won’t be back with the Yankees for another week or so, this gives time for some of this buzz to die down. There were reporters harassing him today in Tampa, where he went 1-for-6 with a home run in an intrasquad game, but not nearly the number that will be awaiting him when he joins the big-league club.
Rodriguez gave his standard company line whenever the word steroids left a reporter’s mouth.
“I’m not going there,” Rodriguez said today. “I am just so excited about being back on the field and playing baseball. My team won two games up there, so hopefully I can come back and help them win some more.”
He gave a similar response when asked if he was completely honest with reporters during his press conference in February when he said he had done steroids only when he was with the Rangers from 2001-’03.
Does the fact this won’t come as a shock make Rodriguez a better person? No; worse if anything.
But as I wrote yesterday, New York fans have a high tolerance for bad behavior as long as it is accompanied by home runs, RBIs and wins. And if Rodriguez struggles, he will booed unmercifully, but when isn’t that case.
