Take a strike, er hike, A-Rod
At one point last year, Alex Rodriguez denied having any relationship with Anthony Bosch, or ever receiving treatment or advice from him. Bosch, an admitted peddler of PEDs to other MLB players, had somehow received $25,000 to help out with attorney’s fees from A-Rod, and had a ton of text messages from A-Rod’s Blackberry.
Nonetheless, after MLB did an investigation and called in Rodriguez to answer a few questions about his relationship with Bosch, the Yankee third baseman, not exactly acting like an innocent man, invoked his right not to speak.
MLB commissioner Bud Seligthen imposed an unprecedented 211-game suspension on Rodriguez. A-Rod, being A-Rod, decided that this was outrageous and that there was absolutely no evidence that he ever took a PED (since the last time he admitted taking PEDs and thereafter lying about it). So he goes out and hires an attorney. And then another attorney. And another. And, well, you get the picture.
A-Rod and his attorneys decided not only to appeal the commissioner’s unprecedented suspension, but perhaps figuring the best defense is a good offense, Rodriguez’s representatives went after Selig and other MLB officials, Yankee personnel and even doctors, and suggested that there was a giant conspiracy to among them all to get A-Rod.
Apparently after looking at the evidence that MLB had collected against A-Rod and talking to its client, this team of legal eagles concluded that there was no evidence the former All-Star violated MLB’s drug program.
Indeed, Joe Tacopina appeared on the “Today Show” with Matt Lauer and was questioned as to whether A-Rod could ever cut a deal with MLB. “If he listens to me, if I were advising him based on the evidence and based on what I know about the evidence,” Tacopina said, “I would tell him, ‘Don’t take one inning, Alex. Forget 50 games. Don’t take one inning.’” Looking like a deer caught the headlights, Tacopina said he would love to talk about the evidence, but arbitration rules prevented him from sharing everything with the public. Of course, Lauer then famously pulled out a letter from MLB waiving the confidentiality clause, and left Tacopina sputtering on national television.
A-Rod and another one of his lawyers subsequently went on Mike Francesa’s radio show as the arbitration proceedings were going on and said there was absolutely no evidence presented to the arbitrator showing that Rodriguez had used PEDs. Furthermore, Rodriguez’s attorney said there was an extraordinary amount of evidence put in the arbitration that Alex didn’t do anything wrong!
Rodriguez and his mouthpiece bemoaned the fact that they had spent days preparing for Selig’s testimony and were “shocked, shocked” when the commissioner refused to appear at the arbitration hearings. Which is very strange, considering I am not aware of the commissioner testifying in any other MLB drug arbitration proceedings.
When questioned as to why A-Rod didn’t take the stand in his own defense, his counsel noted that if the player took the stand, MLB could potentially hit him with additional suspensions by saying he lied, and, ipso facto as they say in the law, no one could possibly testify under such Draconian rules. (A-Rod’s legal team failed to point out that in any criminal or civil matter, any witness is subject to perjury charges if he or she takes the stand and lies).
Francesa, who was criticized for going easy on A-Rod during the interview, noted that either Rodriguez was lying or MLB was lying, but in either case the whole thing was “outrageous” and somebody was really badly wrong here. Rodriguez’s attorney chimed in and said MLB did not meet its burden of proof and put forth no evidence to uphold the 211game suspension.
In one revealing moment during the interview, A-Rod said, “This is my whole life. My legacy. I am part of history,” and later added, “Here is the thing. There are a lot of people out there that don’t like me. I get it.”
After the arbitrator upheld a 162-game suspension, A-Rod and his mouthpieces ranted and raved how they would have a federal judge toss the arbitrator’s decision for being unfair and un-American, and promptly sued not only MLB, but also the players’ union as well.
Then last month a federal judge refused to seal the arbitration decision A-Rod’s lawyers had attached to the lawsuit against MLB and the union, making it public, and for the first time, we all got to see what the evidence was. In suspending Rodriguez for a full season, the arbitrator noted that Bosch provided A-Rod with a written protocol for PED use, drew blood from him in Florida and New York, communicated with Bosch by phone, text and BlackBerry Messenger, and met him in person numerous times.
In addition, it was noted that Bosch’s testimony was not refuted by anyone, including but not limited to, Alex Rodriguez. And A-Rod’s attorneys say there was no evidence presented? Guess A-Rod just really liked hanging out with Tony Bosch. This saga apparently ended on Friday, when A-Rod and his attorneys decided not to pursue the federal action, even though in their minds there is absolutely no evidence that A-Rod ever took PEDs (except since the last time he took them and lied about it).
Interestingly, there have been reports that A-Rod may want to repair the damage he has done to himself and others and focus on the 2015 season. This is less than three months after the third baseman filed a lawsuit in which he said the commissioner was on a “witch hunt” designed to smear A-Rod’s character.
My advice, Alex, is to stop hiring attorneys. Instead, hop on a plane, and use some of the cash you may have left to take a nice vacation and try to work through some issues. Don’t go away mad. But please, just go away.