With his legacy and place in the annals of the game hanging in the balance, Alex Rodriguez has a difficult decision to make. Sooner or later he will have to answer to the storm of media scrutiny regarding his alleged failed steroid test in 2003. Alex Rodriguez was supposed to be Major League Baseball’s shining and guiding light that would lead them out of the steroid era. He is on pace to hit over 800 home runs for his career, which would have passed Barry Bonds and once again legitimized the most important and recognized record in American sports.
Suddenly, all of that has changed and Rodriguez has been exposed as a possible cheat himself. Although, he will never be looked at the same again, he may be able to save face a bit, and convince writers of his Hall of Fame status once his career is over. While not impossible it will be extremely difficult for Arod to pull off. Take for example, Mark Mcgwire, a player who hit 583 home runs in his career, good for eighth all time, saw his HOF votes decrease from a year ago. And we all know about Barry Bonds (All time HR King) and Roger Clemens (9th most wins all time), who not only have been vilified for their steroids scandals, but may also go to jail for perjury. While these examples do not help Arod’s case, I believe how he handles the charges may save his HOF status.
In my mind Rodriguez is limited to three real options of how to react to the allegations. He can take the road that Bonds and Clemens have taken, which is to vehemently deny the charges. As you may know, this hasn’t worked out well for the two of them. Both face possible perjury charges and could see jail time in the near future. Option two is to not say much of anything at all (see Mark Mcgwire and Sammy Sosa). While not saying anything is not exactly considered lying, the silence that Mcgwire displayed on the stand in front of congress might as well have been an admission to cheating.
In the end Arod’s final and best option is to come clean. He needs to tell the truthl; fully and completely. He needs to say he did it to legitimize his enormous contract, that he felt he had to because just about everyone else was, and to solidify his place as an all time great. He needs to say that it hasn’t happened since then as he has not failed any other tests administered since then and that it will never happen again. He needs to apologize to the fans and to everyone who has ever supported him. While he will never be looked at the same again, this may allow him to finish his career to play out with some sort of normalcy and become the first of the true superstars who have been caught up in the steroids scandal to come clean.
Suddenly, all of that has changed and Rodriguez has been exposed as a possible cheat himself. Although, he will never be looked at the same again, he may be able to save face a bit, and convince writers of his Hall of Fame status once his career is over. While not impossible it will be extremely difficult for Arod to pull off. Take for example, Mark Mcgwire, a player who hit 583 home runs in his career, good for eighth all time, saw his HOF votes decrease from a year ago. And we all know about Barry Bonds (All time HR King) and Roger Clemens (9th most wins all time), who not only have been vilified for their steroids scandals, but may also go to jail for perjury. While these examples do not help Arod’s case, I believe how he handles the charges may save his HOF status.
In my mind Rodriguez is limited to three real options of how to react to the allegations. He can take the road that Bonds and Clemens have taken, which is to vehemently deny the charges. As you may know, this hasn’t worked out well for the two of them. Both face possible perjury charges and could see jail time in the near future. Option two is to not say much of anything at all (see Mark Mcgwire and Sammy Sosa). While not saying anything is not exactly considered lying, the silence that Mcgwire displayed on the stand in front of congress might as well have been an admission to cheating.
In the end Arod’s final and best option is to come clean. He needs to tell the truthl; fully and completely. He needs to say he did it to legitimize his enormous contract, that he felt he had to because just about everyone else was, and to solidify his place as an all time great. He needs to say that it hasn’t happened since then as he has not failed any other tests administered since then and that it will never happen again. He needs to apologize to the fans and to everyone who has ever supported him. While he will never be looked at the same again, this may allow him to finish his career to play out with some sort of normalcy and become the first of the true superstars who have been caught up in the steroids scandal to come clean.
-Favad Ali
Posts
Excellent article.
ReplyDelete