Alex Rodriguez certainly seemed in better spirits than the last time we saw him during his first public appearance yesterday since admitting to ESPN's Peter Gammons earlier in the week that he had in fact taken steroids for at least three of the years he has played baseball professionally. A-Rod joked to the crowd at the University of Miami, "As you all know it's been a very quiet week for me, so it's really nice to get out on a Friday night."
Rodriguez was speaking in honor of the renaming of his hometown college's stadium to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. A-Rod donated just under $4 million to the program in 2003, the same year he now infamously tested positive for a banned substance. Last night he told the crowd of around 500, "I have been so fortunate to have received so much from a game I love so much that I have a responsibility to give back. Or better: to pay it forward. Now that doesn't mean I haven't made mistakes. And unless you've been in a cave or under the ocean this past week, you know I have made some." He also advised youngsters in attendance to "address your errors and right your path."
Another former major leaguer who has also landed on the wrong side of league regulations wasn't quite as upbeat in assessing A-Rod's situation yesterday. While interviewed on WFAN, Pete Rose said, "He wasn't a young kid not knowing what he was doing." As for A-Rod's justification of using steroids due to the enormous pressure of signing the biggest contract in baseball history with Texas in 2001, Rose could relate. And he still wasn't buying it saying, "When I became a Philadelphia Phillie for the '79 season, I signed a contract that made me the highest paid player in any team sport...The only pressure you have is an obligation to the fans to play hard and bust your chops."
Next week A-Rod will join pitchers and catchers at Spring Training, where he will have to face questions from reporters that are likely to be harsher than what many see as the softball treatment given to him this week by ESPN's Gammons. For the time being, he's still treating the media circus around him with levity, last night referring to the horde of photographers in attendance by saying, "I want to welcome my friends in the back. We travel together. Just like a family - a dysfunctional family."
