Joel Sherman, who's one of the best writers in baseball when he's not scripting venom about Joe Girardi, tells the story of how A-Rod and Jeter almost became real enemies. It was the fall of 2000, and Alex Rodriguez and my beloved New York Mets were closing in on a record-deal. But that was before the following demands were allegedly made by Rodriguez and Scott Boras:
-A Shea Stadium office for A-Rod to handle off-the-field issues. Like potentially, where to put you know, those substances MLB would eventually prohibit you from taking.
-Instant, on-demand charter jet service for friends and family. We assume Madonna and Jocelyn from Scores count in the friends department.
-And here's one to improve the A-Rod-Jeter relationship. A guarantee that Rodriguez would have the largest billboard presence in the Big Apple, over "The Captain."
So does Steve Phillips and the Wilpons get a pass for saying thanks but no thanks? Not really. As much as I don't like A-Rod the person, there's nothing bad to say about A-Rod the player, roids or no roids(and you know how I feel about that). Hey, I'm even the guy that thinks the "he's not clutch" statements are ridiculous.
But let's face it, I'm not losing sleep over missing a chance to root for Alex Rodriguez.
Photo courtesy of NY Daily News
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