When he steps up to plate, a chorus of boos drowns out all other sounds. His increasing unpopularity with fans, though (not that he was ever particularly popular) is probably the least of his problems now.
The Yankees’ third baseman, Alex Rodriguez (or A-Rod), has become the face of baseball’s performance enhancing drugs problem—more so than Ryan Braun, and even Barry Bonds. It seems, though, this is in large part because he draws much of this attention on himself. Yes, because of his insanely large contract and his immense talent (which, unfortunately for Yankee fans, has dropped with his age), people were naturally going to follow any news on him—but A-Rod hasn’t helped himself in the public’s eye by adamantly, and somewhat noisily, searching for legal relief.
While Braun, in some ways, saved a little face by quietly accepting his suspension, and whatever punishment Major League Baseball (MLB) handed to him, A-Rod has become increasingly embroiled in several different, potential lawsuits–not only is he appealing his 211 game suspension, but MLB is trying to build a case proving that he tampered with evidence in trying to cover up his involvement with the biogenesis scandal. A-Rod too is on the offensive, considering his options in filing something against the Yankees for mismanaging his medical treatment after his injury at the end of last season.
In what has become a messy affair between player and team, A-Rod has accused the Yankees of intentionally trying to keep him off the field, first, temporarily to recover insurance money, but ultimately in the hopes that they could opt out of the remainder of his monster contract, saving millions. The Yankees’ general manager, Brian Cashman, meanwhile, has accused A-Rod of lying, and went as far as saying that the situation felt “litigious.”
Whatever the case, A-Rod’s predicament has made it very clear that, for the most part, sports and legal procedure don’t mix—that when they do, the ensuing carnival creates awkwardness and detracts from the performance of the team. Regardless of this, however, the two are constantly mashed together in uncomfortable positions.