A-Rod to meet with Feds today
Just over a year removed from the admission he used performance-enhancing drugs, Alex Rodriguez is set to meet with Federal Investigators today regarding Dr. Anthony Galea. Those close to the slugger insist that there is nothing to worry about; the meeting is all about Galea, who is facing drug charges in Canada and an FBI investigation in the US about PEDs.
A-Rod is set to say that he received legal platelet replacement treatment from the Doc and nothing else. Big Al will claim he had no relationship with Galea prior to meeting him on the instruction of his chiropractor Mark Lindsay following hip surgery last March. If what he says is true then the Yankees, their fans and Alex himself have nothing to worry about. If it turns out he’s lying through his teeth then that’s another story.
So can he really be trusted? I’m sure any player would claim what he’s saying in his shoes, but I really want to believe him. Not only because of his stellar 2009 championship season but because he seems like he has turned over a new leaf and is a new man.
On the one hand, this doesn’t appear to be the same Alex Rodriguez that was an egotistical, unlikeable, clubhouse cancer in years past. Heck, even Derek Jeter has warmed up to him again. If Captain can look past years of being an irritating schmuck, tabloid fodder, self-absorbed prick and the “Single White Female-like obsession” so should all Yankee fans. Plus, I get the feeling that he appears more loose, able to be himself and is indeed a new man. I guess getting a humongous gorilla off your back will do that to a player. But you never know, looks can be deceiving.
On the other hand, do people ever really change? How can we trust a guy who cheated on his wife with a 50-plus-year-old bag of bones? How are we supposed to worship and respect a player that once tried to smack the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s glove during one of the worst playoff collapses in sports history? What are we supposed to think of a man that posed for these kinds of pictures? Finally, and perhaps most importantly, why would he go all the way to Canada to get treated by some shady doctor if the whole procedure was, in fact, legal? The free health care? It just doesn’t add up.
I guess we can only wait and see. Only two people know the truth about what he and Dr. Galea did behind closed doors north of the border, and hopefully what happened won’t lead to another embarrassing press conference. The fans’ faith in baseball has been dwindling ever since the first steroid story broke, and this cold be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Don’t do it to us again, Alex. We’re better than that and deserve more.
Mr. Rodriguez, if your baseball career falters because of this I know of another business looking for employees.
Coincidence or consequence: check out what the Yankees brass is doing while their star third baseman is getting the third degree from The Man.