Bronx Is Boiling: Alex Rodriguez Should Go Away

By Wayne Cavadi | Feb 9, 2015

Friday, February 6th marked George Herman Ruth’s 120th birthday. The Sultan of Swat to this day is still probably the most known figure in professional sports. Never has any star shined so large, both figuratively and literally. 80 years after Ruth’s final game, he is still the ghost that many of baseball’s superstars chase to achieve that Bambino legendary status.

The Daily News reported, on the same day as The Babe’s birthday, that the Yankees have agreed to sit down with Alex Rodriguez after initially denying his most recent request. I wonder what Babe Ruth, who turned the New York Yankees into the franchise that they are, would think of A-Rod and his entire ordeal. The Bronx is boiling and I need to blow some steam.

JUST GO AWAY

The Bambino was no saint. He was suspended quite a few times by the Yankees and before they started reeling off championships, legendary coach Miller Huggins laid down an ultimatum: either Ruth goes or I go. Obviously, they worked out there differences and the rest is history.

Ruth’s press wasn’t always positive, but it was seemingly always awe-inspiring. All eyes of the baseball world would tune in to see what Ruth would do next. His colossal numbers still, 80 years later are atop the baseball world in a sport largely driven by stats. Ruth was a century ahead of his time.

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Alex Rodriguez daily scrutiny to the Yankees but it doesn’t have anything to do with his on field production. Quite frankly, it is getting annoying. Never mind the fact that he is a liar. Never mind the fact that he seemingly eats PEDs like the rest of us eat cereal. A-Rod’s biggest fault is, and has always been, his “me-first” mentality. His hunger for the spotlight has taken him to quite possibly the biggest diva in the history of sports.

What’s A-Rod’s angle in wanting to meet with the Yankees before Spring Training opens? If he truly wants to apologize, if he really wants to attempt to mend the fence that he trampled over and took the Yankees with him, then I think the meeting is a good idea.

But A-Rod has done nothing in his career to warrant Yankees fans to believe that he truly ha the team at heart. I know it, you know it, and so does Cashman and the Steinbrenners which is why the must be so reluctant to meet with the fallen superstar.

No, that can’t be it. A-Rod is the man who tried to sue baseball, the Player’s Union and the New York Yankees themselves because… well, I’m not really sure what grounds he felt he had to sue. A-Rod wants to meet with Yankees brass because he wants his incentives.

He doesn’t necessarily want to tell them Yanks front brass that he is now team-driven and all about the Yankees. No, he wants reassurance that the Yankees will have his back when spring training opens and that the big, ol’, mean media will leave poor A-Rod alone.

The Yankees are already trying to figure out a way to get out of paying A-Rod his $6-million bonus for every home run he hits once he passes Willie Mays and his 660 home runs (A-Rod is a mere 6 home runs away from that milestone). Based on Rodriguez’s past, he doesn’t want to meet to say he’s sorry and “clear the air”, he wants to make sure his wallet keeps growing because at least that can make his bruised ego feel a bit better.

A lot of Yankees fans themselves are torn with the future of A-Rod on this team. Some want the Yankees to bench him despite his ludicrous contract to show him up and prove that the Yankees are still the greatest power in baseball.

Others want the Yankees to just cut him outright and eat the money, because at least that removes the headache of Rodriguez. There is a faction, albeit a smaller one, that welcomes A-Rod back as a Yankee, not necessarily because they like him, but because the 2014 Yankees offense was so abysmal that A-Rod’s offensive production at 50 percent is still better than most of the 25-man roster at 100 percent. I started out the latter at first, but I think I just want him to go away now.

It will be interesting to see if Cash and the Steinbrenners simply sit down and nod their heads, or if they stay strong and tell A-Rod how it is going to be.

Babe Ruth brought a lot of drama and fireworks off the field to the Yankees, but there was a big difference between the two. Never mind the four World Series rings he won in pinstripes, never mind that he put the Yankees on the map. Babe Ruth was Babe Ruth. Nothing was hidden, what you saw was what you got.

With A-Rod, it always seems like something is being done with smoke and mirrors and quite frankly, I’m over it.

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