Via the San Francisco Chronicle:
Alex Rodriguez knew the Madonna questions were coming. He knew he wouldn’t sit with reporters for 50 minutes without getting asked about his pending divorce and relationship with the pop queen.
A-Rod said it helps to get through his personal soap opera by focusing on baseball.
“Look, everyone has distractions,” he said. “Everyone goes through personal issues. Mine are on the front page of the papers. I’m fine with that. It’s a gift and a curse. I’ll get through it. So much good goes with it. I’m not blaming anyone. I’ve just got to move forward.”
Yankees teammate Derek Jeter is another story.
“I’ve only been dealing with New York for five years. He’s had to deal with it for 13 years. He’s been a model citizen,” A-Rod said. “I wish I was as good as him dealing with you guys. I’m not.”
One other difference: “He was a Yankee fan; I was a Met fan. That’s why everyone hates me,” A-Rod said with a smile.
…[Jeter] was a Yankee fan; I was a Met fan. That’s why everyone hates me…
Willie Randoph was a Mets fan as a kid and later became a beloved Yankee. Joe Torre was a Mets player and manager, and he rooted for the Giants as a kid, and he became a beloved Yankee. Heck, Phil Hughes grew up rooting for the Red Sox, and, to many Yankees fans he’s great and can-do-no-wrong.
Yeah, I know A-Rod is supposed to be kidding when he said this…but, it’s still a stupid thing to say. In fact, why even bring up Jeter in the first place? What’s he got to do with any of the attention that Alex has brought on himself? Sounds like Rodriguez still has a little inferiority complex when it comes to Jeter and how they are both viewed in the eyes of baseball fans and the media.
4 Responses to “A-Rod Opens Up On “Distractions””
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July 15th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Seriously Steve? The quote is presented in a notebook column…so it’s basically just bullet points. You have no idea what type of questions A-Rod was being asked and you have no idea who actually brought Jeter up in the conversation It’s just as likely a writer brought him up. Even more likely I’d argue.
And really, you’re going to rake him over the coals for something the writer basically says is a joke, something your realize is a joke, and something no one in their right mind would think that he was saying seriously?
Truth be told, I didn’t want to hear about any of this stuff. It’s none of our business if you ask me, but there’s no way to avoid it. That being said, A-Rod says exactly what I want to hear. He doesn’t set himself up as the victim or as being persecuted, which is the last thing a fan wants to hear about from someone like A-Rod. He openly admits that dealing with this sort of garbage is just one of the prices you have to pay when you’re on the Yankees and you’re the highest paid player in baseball. Doesn’t that sound like a guy that gets it, or is at least starting to get it? Would the A-Rod of 2006 have said that?
July 15th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
bfriley76 is 110% correct.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I absolutely agree with bfriley76, it has become completely moronic that the media and others need to dissect and evaluate every single thing A-Rod says or does. His personal life is just that, his personal life, and should remain so. I know it will never be that way because he works for the NY Yankees and lives in NY and that there are so many people that have a general dislike for him.
Just leave the guy alone and let him play baseball. The other crap is none of my business and I really do not care anymore.
July 16th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Just leave the guy alone and let him play baseball. The other crap is none of my business and I really do not care anymore.
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Problem is, other people do. And that’s what sells papers. So we’ll have to prepare ourselves for more front page pictures of Rodriguez sunbathing in Central Park, or leaving Toronto hotels with strippers and whatnot.