Thanks to our good friends at Men's Vogue for pointing out this up close and personal story on Alex Rodriguez. He is a topic that has been exhausted and villainized in the past and probably has more assumptions about him than anybody else in sports....Except maybe Dennis Rodman. At the very least you owe it to yourself to read a spread about the man who has no in-between feelings and at most it is an interesting read all-around.
If his personal life is not your thing, than at least check out his workout regimen. Maybe next time some of you won't question his heart and desire to play well for his team when you figure out what the man does to himself everyday. Here are the highlights:
"On Mondays, it's a series of 440-, 220-, and 110-yard sprints, never more than a mile at a time ("When you run long distances, you start getting slower," he says).
Tuesdays: sandpit workout and stair sprints.
Wednesdays: 18 straight 110-yard dashes.
Thursdays: uphill runs.
Fridays: high-speed plyometric movements to build muscle. "
I know on Tuesdays I also enjoy working out in my personal sand pit, especially when I am not utilizing my high-speed plyometric movement machine to build muscle, so maybe I'm closer than I think to dropping the whole blogging/college gig and becoming the next big thing.
And just in case you completely ignored my first two awesome links, be sure to find out how people who actually matter (people involved with the inner workings of baseball and yes, I'm kidding) feel about the perennial All-Star: Cal Ripken, Rafael Palmeiro (steroids did not affect his brain by my understanding), George Steinbrenner, Doug Mientkiewicz (perhaps the most intriguing of all the comments), Derek Jeter (1997), Derek Jeter (2006), Brian Cashman, Trot "Satan" Nixon, Joe Torre (After the surrounding comments), Curt Schilling (take a look at his weight in that picture), Hank Steinbrenner, Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano (A-Rod is clearly a terrible teammate and human being), and Jose Canseco (his sweet second book is coming out) all weigh in.
What I got out of the quotes: A-Rod and Jeter have a Mantle-Maris type relationship in that the media exploits the negatives out of proportion, calling him a primadonna and a bad teammate or clubhouse cancer is simply the ignorant stating ignorance and the Red Sox don't like the guy, but recognize he is all too often a scapegoat in New York. If there was any major point made in any of these links in so little words, it is found in these quotes. There will be a lot said about A-Rod, whether it is his offense, defense, playoff performance, or personal life this season, but keep in mind how the people that are near him the most view the player.
Seems to me Trot Nixon, the "Dirt Dawg" and ultimate teammate, is the one sounding like sour grapes in this situation. and it seems like A-Rod has taken on a veteran-tutor type of role to some of the younger players on the team. I don't know what happened with the contract issues this offseason, but it was clearly mishandled and the feud with A-Rod and Boras seems to be real. There is always some blame to put on a player when money is involved and when you make a lot of it, expectations should deservingly be held to a higher regard, but sometimes people really don't translate well in the media. And sometimes people are stuck in their opinions about someone and all the insider knowledge and truth to the contrary will never change their minds. At least here, we have an opportunity to see another point of view.
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