Alex Rodriguez is the best player in baseball.
Now, I’m not making this definitive assertion based on any statistical merits, though I very well could. Rodriguez is a .306 lifetime hitter with 553 home runs at the tender age of 33. He has 2,404 hits and 1,606 RBIs. And all of that is true, inasmuch as stats can be true these days, in light of what we know now; but that’s not the point.
Rodriguez has excelled, traditionally, in every aspect of the game. What sets him apart from both his contemporaries and, certainly, his predecessors, is his seeming preoccupation with his own public image. Some would say this quality makes Rodriguez more despicable, and they have a point. Fans hate the idea of a self-conscious athlete, whether they’ll admit it or not, and A-Rod may be (and probably is) the most self-conscious athlete in professional sports today.
Further, Rodriguez’s confession seemed painfully contrived at times; he said he didn’t know what he was taking, and he denied ever having seen or even heard of anyone taking steroids before coming to the Rangers. Either A-Rod is creatively editing his story, or he is the most clueless player in the league.
But whether or not Rodriguez was wholly honest is of little consequence; he didn’t wag his finger at a grand jury or claim that he couldn’t speak English, after all. He owned up to the charges, somewhat, which is more than Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens or Rafael Palmeiro (etc.) can say. And this savvy hint of honesty is what may eventually put A-Rod in Cooperstown.
Generally speaking, baseball writers are far more protective of the integrity of the game than any player or coach, especially concerning the Hall of Fame, the Mecca of baseball purists. So it is no wonder that a palpable stink has been caused by writers concerning A-Rod’s Hall of Fame status.
Jim Reeves’ article in Monday’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram, titled “It should be Hall of Shame, Not Hall of Fame for Alex Rodriguez” reads about as you would imagine it would. While Reeves concedes that Rodriguez’s apology will garner some public sympathy, he says, “I can almost guarantee his crocodile tears won’t lubricate his entrance into the Hall of Fame, however, nor should they.”
Conversely, the Dallas Morning News’ Tim Cowlishaw gives the former-Ranger a bit more slack, saying that Rodriguez has “taken a step in the right direction.”
Interestingly, both of these writers have Hall of Fame votes. A-Rod’s induction will be a source of debate for years to come; he has nine years left on his current contract with the Yankees, and he’s showed no sign of slowing down, statistically anyway. However, if he doesn’t get into the Hall, does anyone from this era? Reeves suggests shutting the doors at Cooperstown in Monday’s piece, semi-facetiously, but it appears that we’re not very far from this idea becoming a reality.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and we’re experiencing the reaction for years of lax testing policies and selective vision on behalf of owners as well as fans. America as a whole was riding a power-high for years, and now comes the crash, during which empty Hall of Fame ballots may be a side effect.
Whether Alex Rodriguez is a Hall of Famer is certainly debatable; cases can be made for either side. Media savvy has become an aspect of the game that’s more important than it ever should have been; but it is, nonetheless. And just like in every other aspect of baseball as we know it, A-Rod is, simply, the best.
