Years after turmoil-filled career ended, Alex Rodriguez happy to be back in the fold with Yankees
The Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez talks to fans during Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
As a player, Alex Rodriguez’s legacy is practically encased in cement: an unforgettable talent, a flop in the postseason until he led the Yankees to their most recent World Series title in 2009, and an all-time great who likely won’t ever get into the Hall of Fame because of his use of performance-enhancing drugs.
As a person? The jury is still out.
But it sounds as if he’s trying.
Rodriguez returned to Yankee Stadium on Saturday for his first Old-Timers’ Day as the Yankees honored the 2009 championship team.
Rodriguez, 49, slipped on a No. 13 Yankees pinstriped uniform top, and I asked him when the last time was that he’d worn that jersey.
Derek Jeter, A-Rod’s longtime frenemy, answered.
“He wears it at home all the time,” Jeter said to laughter as he, Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, A.J. Burnett and Joe Girardi sat together in the Yankee Stadium interview room.
“I think it was on Aug. 12,” Rodriguez said. “I was right here in this room.”
Rodriguez was talking about Aug. 12, 2016, when he retired — or, more accurately, was pushed out by the Yankees as he looked done at age 41 — after 22 seasons in the majors.
A-Rod had a long career filled with three MVP awards, 14 All-Star Game selections, 696 home runs, more than $440 million in earnings, one World Series ring, and more controversies than just about any other player in big-league history.
Relations between A-Rod and the Yankees have not always been as chummy as they were on Saturday. That’s kinda what happens when you sue the team doctor, as A-Rod did in 2013 as he was embroiled in a steroid scandal of his own making.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman famously said A-Rod “should just shut the [bleep] up” during another controversy later that year. And that’s before Rodriguez was suspended by MLB for steroid use and missed the 2014 season.
Ah, but the Yankees and A-Rod will always have 2009. That championship season was on full display on Saturday.
“Those are pretty good memories, right?” master of ceremonies Michael Kay said to the half-filled stands before introducing the Old-Timers.
Rodriguez, who as a player often took up all the oxygen in the room, on this occasion was a cheerful role player. He was introduced seventh-from-last to a warm ovation from the crowd. The cheers paled in comparison to the ones that greeted 2009 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui and Hall of Famers Rivera and Jeter.
Jeter was introduced last, of course — just as Joe DiMaggio insisted he had to be on Old-Timers’ Day — and the crowd chanted “De-rek Je-ter” in the former captain’s second Old-Timers’ Day appearance.
A-Rod would love to be the object of such affection, but his time with the Yankees was too scarred by off-the-field nonsense.
On this day, A-Rod seemed content to be one of the guys, which wasn’t always the case when he preened as the best player with the largest contract in baseball.
“I was actually surprised that I got an invitation,” Rodriguez said. “Honored. Very happy. I told my daughters right away. It's a great thrill.
“I was telling A.J. as we walked off the field, ‘It felt like we were just here in ’09.’ I'm a year away from 50, and you understand the magnitude and the gravity of winning, how difficult it is, and to do it with such great guys with such high character, with a great manager and an unbelievable, underrated coaching staff . . . It takes a village to win a championship, and I cherish it. I only have one, and I'm just glad I was part of being part of that team.”
Why was he surprised to be invited?
“It’s my first time back in a long time,” Rodriguez said. “I love being a Yankee. It’s a great family. I’ve been in touch with [Yankees vice president of communications and media relations Jason] Zillo and had a nice conversation with Cashman today. It’s just nice. It’s nice to be back in the fold.”
How back in the fold is he? There’s an easy way to quantify that.
Is Hal Steinbrenner ever going to OK either retiring A-Rod’s number (worn since his retirement by only Joey Gallo and Jazz Chisholm Jr.) or perhaps even give him a plaque or monument in Monument Park?
Earlier in the day, Yankees manager Aaron Boone — whose serious pickup basketball knee injury in 2004 led to the club acquiring A-Rod from Texas — was asked if he thinks Rodriguez should join the Yankees’ immortals (and, let’s face it, a few less-than-immortals) in Monument Park.
“He’s been a great Yankee,” Boone said. “I think that’s a reasonable request.”
A-Rod’s take?
“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “I would love to be in. But obviously, that’s not my decision. But I honor everything about the New York Yankees, and it would be an honor.”
Good answer.
Hal, if you’re listening, the ball’s in your court.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
