Tainted A-Rod helped beat the Phillies in 2009
Philadelphia barely saw Alex Rodriguez during a 22-year career that he tearfully announced Sunday will come to an official close Friday night at Yankee Stadium. We did, however, see him enough to loathe him in much the same way they do in Boston, Baltimore and all of the New York Yankees' rival cities.
Philadelphia barely saw Alex Rodriguez during a 22-year career that he tearfully announced Sunday will come to an official close Friday night at Yankee Stadium. We did, however, see him enough to loathe him in much the same way they do in Boston, Baltimore and all of the New York Yankees' rival cities.
In fact, Phillies fans have more reason to dislike him than all the other cities combined. Brian Cashman reminded us why Sunday. When asked about the man the Yankees will pay $20 million not to play next season, the team's general manager removed his 2009 World Series ring to make a point.
"That doesn't come along to this trophy case without Alex Rodriguez," Cashman said.
He was right. A-Rod was ridiculously good for the Yankees during the 2009 postseason. They would not have beaten the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Championship Series without him and that, of course, earned the Yankees a date with the Phillies in the World Series. Rodriguez cooled off some in the Fall Classic, but his ninth-inning RBI double off Brad Lidge in Game 4 at Citizens Bank Park broke a 4-4 tie and turned the series heavily in New York's favor. He also hit a two-run home run off Cole Hamels with the Phillies leading 3-0 in Game 3 and that, too, altered momentum.
That alone is not reason enough to despise A-Rod forever. It is what we found out later that made him the most despicable of villains. Early in 2013, Rodriguez's name surfaced in the Miami New Times as being linked to Biogenesis, a Florida-based anti-aging clinic.
By August of that year, after a long investigation ordered by the commissioner's office, baseball suspended A-Rod for 211 games for "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years" and "for attempting to cover-up his violations of the [substance abuse] program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the office of the commissioner's investigation."
There was an appeal and eventually the suspension became the 2014 season, which cost Rodriguez $25 million. Nobody in Philadelphia cared about any of that. What they should have cared about is that the Phillies were beaten by perhaps the biggest cheater in baseball history. Suspending him for a season and keeping him out of the Hall of Fame will never bring back the Phillies' only shot in franchise history to win consecutive World Series.
I asked Hamels about it shortly after the A-Rod suspension was announced.
"He was the big playoff hero for the Yankees that year," the pitcher said. "Without him, they might not have made it that far. But it is what it is. I think the thing now is to clean up the game the best that we can. That needs to be first and foremost."
It was a good, professional answer. I'd have been more upset.
Other than that, there's no reason for fans with Philadelphia loyalties to give a rat's derriere about Alex Rodriguez's career and that's too bad.
The first time he made an appearance in Philadelphia was 1996 when he played in the All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium. He was only 20 years old. He went on that year to win the batting title, hitting. 358 with 54 doubles, 36 home runs and 123 RBIs.
There is no way to know if he was cheating even then, but the dawn of the fraudulent Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run derby was just around the corner. I do know his body looked a lot different when I walked into the American League clubhouse at the Vet that year.
To me, the most disturbing thing about A-Rod and Barry Bonds is that they did not need performance-enhancing drugs. They would have been Hall of Famers without them because they had that much pure talent.
The only other interest in A-Rod now is how he will be received in his final week, which will include three games at Fenway Park in Boston starting Tuesday night before his career finale at Yankee Stadium on Friday. The New York Daily News reported Sunday that the average price for a ticket to A-Rod's final game is at $375.00, according to TiqIQ. That's up 355 percent from the average of $75.
Obviously that means the demand is great. A-Rod's relationship with Yankees fans is complicated. A lot of them do not like him. The majority of them do. He has earned the disdain and should feel fortunate there is still some adulation.
The Phillies, of course, have a similar farewell on the horizon. No, Ryan Howard did not have A-Rod's career, but he meant as much to the Phillies as A-Rod did to the Yankees. That's why Citizens Bank Park should be filled when Howard makes his curtain call Oct. 2 against the New York Mets. He has definitely earned it.
@brookob