The great Malcolm X once described the media to a tee. “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and the make the guilty innocent and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Over 50 years later that powerful quote still holds true in all aspects of life. Now New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will never come close to having the impact that Malcolm X did, but nonetheless he is the prime example of someone who is caught up in the cross hairs of the media.
At first Rodriguez was the golden boy that could do no wrong. Rodriguez was the first overall pick of the 1993 Major League Baseball Draft by the Seattle Mariners. By 1994, Rodriguez made his MLB debut for the Mariners and he found himself in a lineup with the likes of Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Jay Buhner. By 1996, Rodriguez would show his worth by batting .358 to go along with 36 home runs and 123 runs batted in. Rodriguez would finish second in the American League’s MVP voting that season to Juan Gonzalez of the Texas Rangers. And for the 20-year old Rodriguez the world appeared to be his oyster. By 2000, Rodriguez had become a household name as he had displayed all of the tools necessary to be one of the greatest to ever play baseball. That off-season Rodriguez would embark on free agency which would forever change his life and the open market altogether in baseball.
The Mariners were offering Rodriguez in the area of a 10-year deal worth $110 million. But the Rangers blew every other team out of the water when they offered Rodriguez a 10-year deal for $252 million. The Rangers had been suckered in by Rodriguez’s agent Scott Boras who is known for driving a hard bargain. And ever since Rodriguez signed his name on that contract with the Rangers he has been looked at as a hated man. In his three seasons with the Rangers, Rodriguez put up gaudy numbers as he clubbed 156 home runs during his time in Arlington and he won his first American League MVP Award in 2003. But the Rangers never had a winning season with Rodriguez on board as his contract really hamstrung the front office as far as what they could do in order to build a winner. Rodriguez was then traded to the Yankees in 2004 where he has been fighting a losing battle with the New York media ever since.
Rodriguez was not going to beat out Derek Jeter to be the Yankees shortstop and thus he was shifted to third base. In his first season with the Yankees, Rodriguez made 13 errors in the field as he was learning a new position. Rodriguez got off to a slow start that year and the fans in New York and media alike let him know about it. Rodriguez still had a good season in 2004 as he batted .286 with 36 homers and 106 runs batted in. But when the Yanks blew a 3-0 lead in the ALCS that year to the Boston Red Sox, it was Rodriguez that was hung out to dry as far as being the scapegoat and nobody batted an eye about it. In two of the next three years Rodriguez would win the AL MVP, but poor showings in the postseason combined with the lofty expectations that the Yankees have made him more vulnerable to the media.
Rodriguez and Boras didn’t help the slugger’s media persona when they announced during the 2007 World Series that he was opting out of his deal in order to become a free agent. This was the time that belonged to the Red Sox and Colorado Rockies who were the two teams playing in the Fall Classic to shine and not Rodriguez’s and the media jumped on this miscue on his part.
Rodriguez would eventually dump Boras as his agent and negotiate a 10-year, $270 million deal to remain with the Yankees that included incentives as he reached certain home run milestones. The Yankees agreed to the mega deal with Rodriguez on the basis that he was going to be the “clean” guy that broke Major League Baseball’s all-time home run record. Rodriguez did help the Yankees win the World Series is 2009, but it has been completely downhill for him since then.
In early 2009, Rodriguez admitted that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his time with the Rangers. Rodriguez cited the pressure to live up to his massive contract as his reasoning behind it. All would be forgiven for Rodriguez up to that point when he helped the Yankees win the World Series in 2009, but in 2013 his name was linked to the Biogenesis scandal and that’s when the wheels began to fall off.
Initially Rodriguez was suspended by Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig for 211 games for his part in the controversy as he had gotten as “free pass” for past discrepancies. Rodriguez would appeal this decision which was reduced to 162 games. Rodriguez would miss the entire 2014 MLB season which cost him more than $20 million in salary. Unsuccessfully Rodriguez tried to fight MLB over this matter and lost. Rodriguez has recently apologized to the Yankees for his actions in taking PEDs as he knows that this is indeed his last chance in baseball.
At 39-years of age there are no more big contracts coming down the pike for Rodriguez as he is too controversial along with declining baseball skills. Rodriguez isn’t the first to do what he has done and he will not be the last. And as long as there’ll be large chunks of money at stake, athletes such as Rodriguez will do whatever it takes to get ahead. The same way that some reporters and writers alike will go to whatever lengths to break a story is the same way that athletes will attempt to boost their earning power. I’m not saying this to the point that Rodriguez should get a free pass for what he has done, but why does our society continuously decide to be shocked when an athlete fails a drug test when money is on the line? Rodriguez losing a year’s worth of salary was humiliating enough for him because it is money that he will never see again. But since he is A-Rod, he will always be the ugly duckling to Jeter with the New York media. If Rodriguez decides to go sunbathing in Central Park it becomes a story. And if it is Rodriguez’s day off then why should he not be allowed to enjoy his time off from his job and relax his mind? But at the same token there has never been a problem with Jeter dating a pretty girl.
If Rodriguez had taken less money to remain with the Mariners he more than likely would not have half of the problems that he currently has. In the Pacific Northwest, Rodriguez would have been a baseball god, but instead he will soon be a baseball castaway. As spring training is set to begin for the Yankees, the team doesn’t want the circus that will surround A-Rod, but they’ll have to deal with it. The Yanks would just simply love Rodriguez to go away, but with $64 million on the table for the next three years for him there’s a fat chance for that. But in the end Rodriguez is another classic example of what happens when the media simply does not like you.
Source: Baseball-reference.com
Leave A Comment