MLBBy Alexander Goot on

Maybe Alex Rodriguez just wanted to give us all plenty of time to look for a retirement gift.

That’s one way of looking at a very weird Wednesday in the never boring life of the Yankee superstar.  It all began when with a report that the man known as A-Rod would be stepping away from Major League Baseball at the conclusion of his current contract.  “I won’t play after next year,” Rodriguez was quoted, by ESPN’s Andrew Marchand, “I’ve really enjoyed my time. For me, it is time for me to go home and be Dad.”  But then, just hours later, because nothing is ever simple in his universe, Rodriguez indicated that we shouldn’t actually hold him to that timeline, telling the New York Post that, “I’m thinking in terms of my contract which ends in 2017. After that, we’ll see what happens.”

Whatever does happen, there’s no doubt it seems a little odd to be beginning the farewell tour when the three-time MVP has two entire seasons, hundreds of baseball games, still to play.  David Ortiz, Rodriguez’ longtime friend and rival, hasn’t even kicked off his own final season yet, but apparently, in this age of the Derek Jeter RE2PECT Tour, and the Kobe Bryant Goodbye Poetry Jam, this is the new normal. So here is baseball’s lightning rod, making headlines, as ever, and ensuring that we’ve got 19 entire months to say goodbye.

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Apparently someone didn’t get MLB’s new pace of game memos.

But there is something fitting about a long departure, if only because this is a player who managed to fit more storylines, more plot twists, more drama, into a single professional sporting career, than anyone could have ever thought possible.  Alex Rodriguez has run through a great many narrative arcs into his two decades of major league ball.  There was the indescribable athletic phenom who showed up on the scene in Seattle, destined to carry the torch from Ken Griffey Jr. and become the city’s next superstar.  There was the opportunist who headed to Texas after signing what was then the biggest contract (by a factor of two!) in the history of professional sports.  There was the “choke artist” who was traded to the Yankees, and despite continuing Hall of Fame level production, was pilloried for failing to break through in the postseason.

And of course, there was the villain, the “black hat” of baseball who made multiple admissions of performance enhancing drug use, but only after being, essentially, caught red-handed.  This phase of Rodriguez’ career, naturally, left a number of indelible memories.  There was the apology to Katie Couric, the national introduction to “Cousin Yuri”, the tense 2009 press conference apology, and of course, there was the entire cycle repeating itself, once A-Rod was also revealed to be tied up in the Biogenesis scandal, which eventually saw him suspended for the entire 2014 season.

All of this seems so long ago now, which is a testament to just how smoothly Rodriguez managed to rehabilitate himself last season.  Perhaps recognizing that there was nowhere to go but up, and that, for certain people in and around the game, he would always be a pariah, a calmer, less ludicrous, more comfortable-in-his-own-skin A-Rod began to emerge.  He smiled, he cracked jokes, he spit sunflower seeds with Katie Nolan, he looked at ease once more, and given all the ups and downs, it was remarkable to think that he was settling into yet another act.

Of course, it also didn’t hurt, particularly for his reception among Yankee fans, that he continued to mash.  In his first season spent primarily as a designated hitter, Rodriguez hit 33 homers, and posted an OPS of .842.  As he approaches the age of 40, A-Rod remains a very productive player, which will undoubtedly provoke a fair share of eyerolls, given his past.  But it also tends to explain why he might walk back the retirement talk.  Two more seasons, at even 25 homers per year, would put him well within striking distance of Barry Bonds’ all-time record.  Could Rodriguez really step away if he were that close?

Ultimately, of course, he’ll have plenty of time to make those decisions.  Two years, in fact, which is what made Wednesday’s back-and-forth the perfect story, (or nonstory!) for a lull in the sports calendar.  It was all so ridiculous, which is to say, it was all so perfectly A-Rod.  While we were obsessing over the future of one of the most prolific, productive players in baseball history, he was more concerned with putting hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place.

That’s what’s so fascinating about Alex Rodriguez.  He’s played every part, been put into every box imaginable.  He’s the dirty cheater, willing to cut corners to achieve success.  He’s the bush leaguer, swatting away baseballs and shouting at infielders trying to make a play.  He’s the narcissist, who may or may not have commissioned a painting of himself as a centaur, but who definitely posed unironically for this photo.

And now?  Now, as he approaches his final act, Alex Rodriguez is the dorky dad, playing boardgames with his daughters.  (Seriously Alex, Monopoly is so 1997.  Teach your girls how to play Settlers of Catan, it’s far superior.)

Whenever he does leave, we’re going to miss Alex Rodriguez, the bad guy, the buffoon, the baseball flashpoint.  Pick your favorite argument from our national pastime.  PEDs?  Sportsmanship? Celebrations? Ego? The existence of “clutch”?  Our national pastime is built on these sorts of squabbles, and at one point or another, Alex Rodriguez has been at the center of all of them.  We’re not likely to see another MLB anti-hero like him, at least not anytime soon.

But perhaps the gradual acceptance, the thawing of his relationship with the media, the notion that we’re actually going to miss him when he’s gone, maybe it all goes to show that we’re finally moving past the steroid era, that we’re starting to discard some of the sport’s bitterness, and rancor, and learning not to take the game so darn seriously.  Chances are that Bud Selig and Rob Manfred won’t be fans of A-Rod any time soon.  He almost certainly won’t receive the same gushing farewell tour as the former teammate who made him change positions.  And no, until something changes, dramatically, in the voting process, the Hall of Fame is likely to remain off-limits.

But Barry Bonds is teaching the Marlins how to crush baseballs, Mark McGwire might be a manager soon, and Alex Rodriguez, bless his heart, is going to be playing for two, or maybe three, or lord knows how many more years.  It’s ok to enjoy all of it, because baseball is a more fun, more colorful place with them in the fold.  So, let’s all agree to savor A-Rod, for however long he does stick around.

(Oh, and Alex, when you do finally make a decision.  Maybe just call your old buddy and put something up at The Player’s Tribune.  That should eliminate all ambiguity.)

About Alexander Goot

Alexander Goot is a sports television producer, and a writer whose work has appeared at The Cauldron, Vice Sports, Fansided, Sports On Earth, and the Classical. He is a passionate fan of jambands, NASCAR racing, and New York sports, and believed in Kristaps Porzingis from the very beginning. He can be reached at alexander.goot@gmail.com if you'd like to discuss the Mets rotation, or the music of Phish.

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