So The Daily News got its hands on a copy of Selena Roberts’ tell-all book about A-Rod, and as you can imagine, the book is as bad as we feared. That’s right folks — A-Rod tipped only 15 percent at Hooters. Tsk. Tsk.
We’ll delve into the more serious content after the “read more” tag, but for all of you who either don’t care or don’t want to know, just head on over to Joe’s game recap. Why let this piece of expected but still dismaying news ruin a start in which Joba utterly dominated the Tigers for seven innings.
Okay. Now that the dirty part is out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Tracy Connor breaks it down:
Although the slugger insists he dabbled in steroids only while with the Texas Rangers, the book “A-Rod” strongly suggests he didn’t give up performance enhancers when he came to New York.
Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts, who broke the story that A-Rod flunked a steroid screening in 2003, reveals fellow Bombers nicknamed the third baseman “B—h T–s” in 2005. That was after he put on 15pounds in the off-season and seemed to develop round pectorals, a condition called gynecomastia that can be caused by anabolic steroids, she writes.
In addition, an unnamed major-leaguer is quoted as saying Rodriguez and steroid-tainted pitcher Kevin Brown were seen together with human growth hormone – HGH – in 2004. Brown, who was named in the Mitchell Report on steroids, denied through a lawyer that he ever shared the hormone with the highest-paid player in baseball.
Two other anonymous Yankees said they believed A-Rod was using based on side effects they saw – and a clubhouse staffer said management wondered if he was using banned substances. “No one ever asked Alex directly that I know of, but there was a lot of suspicion in house,” the employee is quoted as saying.
Welcome to Legally Covering Your Ass 101 by Selena Roberts. It seems that Roberts’ book is going to tread very little new ground. A bunch of anonymous sources are going to allege that they thought A-Rod maybe took steroids, and it sounds as though the book is missing the smoking gun of the same ilk as the supposedly anonymous test results.
The worst part, as Connor puts, is hardly shocking. “Roberts dishes up a highly unflattering portrait of A-Rod as a needy me-firster who had to have his ego constantly stroked,” The Daily News scribe writes. You don’t say.
He may have tipped opponents off to pitches. He definitely cheated on his wife and played a lot of poker. And yes, as Connor reports, he tips just 15 percent at Hooters.
All in all, I’m fairly unsurprised by any of this. I didn’t expect anything less, and it frankly sounds pretty tame compared to the revelations Roberts unleashed upon the baseball world in February. I believe she used her most concrete materials in the Sports Illustrated story.
A-Rod plans to play in a rehab game today, and according to his doctor, the slugger could be back with the Yanks within ten days. Roberts’ book hits right after that, and while we’re expecting a hurricane, based on Connor’s advanced word, we’re going to get just a scattered shower.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.