Cheaters never prosper. At least in days gone by. Selena Roberts broke the story with Sports Illustrated. About a slumlord named Alex Rodriguez.
She use to work at the New York Times. Her last article at the New York Times had been about a slumlord named Alex Rodriguez.
December 7, 2007
By SELENA ROBERTS
Alex Rodriguez isn’t exactly a slumlord, but he has become a landlord caricature among some of those who live in the properties that he owns and operates.
October 5, 2007
By SELENA ROBERTS
Only A-Rod could turn being contrived into a virtue. Only A-Rod could orchestrate an unplanned redemption. Do you like the new A-Rod who doesn’t care if he is liked?
I actually dig this version even though I’m absolutely sure I’ve fallen into a P.R. plan hatched by overbearing handlers to humanize Rodriguez in an effort to free his talent from the burden of being perfect.
See Alex laugh at himself — and then inwardly cackle all the way around the bases. See Alex hang out with his teammates — and then create a season so far removed from others it should be encased in glass.
A-Rod’s plan to make this postseason special began during the spring. It all started when he showed up in Tampa, Fla., with a catharsis on the subject that had always left his pinstriped pants on fire: the issue of how many times he really and truly has roasted marshmallows with Derek Jeter which, truth told, is none.
“Let’s make a contract,” Rodriguez told reporters in February. “You don’t ask about Derek anymore and I promise I’ll stop lying to you.”
Deal. That moment of Jeter liberation ended the days of the needy Alex, the obsequious Alex. It didn’t mean A-Rod would always escape controversy. The tabloids ensured his megacelebrity would expand when they splashed his dalliances with a stripper on the back pages. His wife’s response? Cynthia Rodriguez wore a profane T-shirt to a game that told everyone to back off her hubby.
And they have. Amazing what a support system A-Rod has assembled. The Yankees and the manager who abandoned him last year are there for him this season.
By TYLER KEPNER
Published: February 7, 2009
Rodriguez was well established by 2003, and when he joined the Yankees the next season, he was widely considered the best player in baseball By the time he was 30 — in spring training of 2006 — he was all but whining about the scrutiny he lived under.
“My whole life is about getting crushed,” he said. A few years ago, I casually mentioned to Rodriguez that his knowledge of the game could make him a good television analyst, if he ever wanted the job. He startled me with his response, saying bitterly that when he retires, nobody in baseball will see him again.
Until Saturday, though, Rodriguez had never been directly linked to steroid use, and that will change his carefully crafted image forever.
There had been inferences from Jose Canseco but nothing like the revelations first reported on SI.com web site (Sports Illustrated).
“His legacy, now, is gone,” one Yankee official said of Rodriguez, speaking on condition of anonymity because the organization had no public comment. “He’ll just play it out. Now he’s a worker. Do your job, collect your paycheck and when you’re finished playing, go away. That’s what it is.”
Several other front-office officials declined to comment Saturday, but the Yankees were clearly blindsided. Just like that, the questions about Joe Torre’s book do not seem so distracting anymore.
…. His legacy, if not his whole life, is getting crushed
by Jack Curry
Published: February 8, 2009
“Rodriguez has worked to try to become the perfect player, although he has been far from that in the post season. Perfect swing, perfect work habits, perfect knowledge of the game, perfect everything. But perfect players are not expected to pursue unfair advantages. Perfect players are not supposed to use steroids.”
Published: February 9, 2009
“Now admitting he took performance-enhancing substances for several seasons, Rodriguez said he did not know exactly what substances he took, but that he hadn’t taken substances since 2003. ‘I am guilty of being negligent, naïve, not asking all the right questions,’ the Yankees’ third baseman said.”
Those test results from 2003 were never supposed to be made public.
IN THE NEW YORK WORLD THAT HAS SUCH STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT BERNARD MADOFF, WHEREAS A-ROD IS ALLOWED TO KEEP REPRESENTING THE ETHICS OF A CITY IN A BASEBALL UNIFORM. STEALING ONLY MILLIONS INSTEAD OF BILLIONS.
http://www.observer.com/2009/media/who-s-lady-meet-selena-roberts-rod-s-worst-nightmare
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