What Might Have Been
A-Rod was on the 2000 Seattle team that won 118 games during the regular season and then lost to the Yankees in 5 in the ALCS.
I didn't much care for him then, but knew that he was a supreme talent.
There was little doubt that he could turn into the greatest player ever.
Everyone also knew that he would also outgrow Seattle and sign a huge money contract somewhere.
But he didn't go to Boston or New York...
...instead he signed down in Texas...
over $250 million dollars!
We all screamed:
No one is worth that!!
Turns out he wasn't.
Texas was finishing near the basement despite the fact that A-Rod was hitting nearly 50 home runs every year.
I still didn't much care for him.
And then the rumors started.
Boston was going to get him.
It was a done deal.
But the commissioner stepped in and said that the money couldn't be deferred in the way that the Suck Sux wanted to do it.
And A-Rod was traded to the Yankees.
I didn't know what to think.
I still didn't like him.
But I decided to root for him when he hit homers.
The Yankees didn't win a championship with him though, and he seemed supremely jealous of Derek Jeter, who didn't seem to care for him.
A-Rod was just too much of a diva.
But all was forgotten in 2009 when they beat the hapless Phillies to win #27. (A-Rod was actually very good in the series).
All right, I guess I could live with him on the team.
And then the steroids.
And the lies.
And wanting to sue MLB.
Listen...there were about 80% of major leaguers cheating, but A-Rod became the poster boy for all that was wrong.
Too bad, I thought. He made his bed.
Then he spent a year on the sidelines.
"Cut him!" I screamed.
I still didn't much care for him.
I kept thinking about what might have been and how a man could ruin his life by never accepting 'good enough.'
But here was where it turned for me:
A-Rod took his medicine.
He showed up in shape.
He started hanging with the children before the game.
He acted human!
I started to like him a little!
Actually like him!
And now his skills are gone.
The Yankees are done with him.
And A-Rod will limp off into the sunset:
Forever being the guy who might have been the greatest player ever.
But he blew it.
Take your half-a-billion and go home...
...buy your ticket into Cooperstown to watch Jeter get inducted.
I didn't much care for him then, but knew that he was a supreme talent.
There was little doubt that he could turn into the greatest player ever.
Everyone also knew that he would also outgrow Seattle and sign a huge money contract somewhere.
But he didn't go to Boston or New York...
...instead he signed down in Texas...
over $250 million dollars!
We all screamed:
No one is worth that!!
Turns out he wasn't.
Texas was finishing near the basement despite the fact that A-Rod was hitting nearly 50 home runs every year.
I still didn't much care for him.
And then the rumors started.
Boston was going to get him.
It was a done deal.
But the commissioner stepped in and said that the money couldn't be deferred in the way that the Suck Sux wanted to do it.
And A-Rod was traded to the Yankees.
I didn't know what to think.
I still didn't like him.
But I decided to root for him when he hit homers.
The Yankees didn't win a championship with him though, and he seemed supremely jealous of Derek Jeter, who didn't seem to care for him.
A-Rod was just too much of a diva.
But all was forgotten in 2009 when they beat the hapless Phillies to win #27. (A-Rod was actually very good in the series).
All right, I guess I could live with him on the team.
And then the steroids.
And the lies.
And wanting to sue MLB.
Listen...there were about 80% of major leaguers cheating, but A-Rod became the poster boy for all that was wrong.
Too bad, I thought. He made his bed.
Then he spent a year on the sidelines.
"Cut him!" I screamed.
I still didn't much care for him.
I kept thinking about what might have been and how a man could ruin his life by never accepting 'good enough.'
But here was where it turned for me:
A-Rod took his medicine.
He showed up in shape.
He started hanging with the children before the game.
He acted human!
I started to like him a little!
Actually like him!
And now his skills are gone.
The Yankees are done with him.
And A-Rod will limp off into the sunset:
Forever being the guy who might have been the greatest player ever.
But he blew it.
Take your half-a-billion and go home...
...buy your ticket into Cooperstown to watch Jeter get inducted.
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