I am finishing up this 9.5 hour interview with A-Rod right now and I have too much to say on the issue, I had to start writing.  OK, so basically, Sir Pink Lips says this:  1. He felt pressure to be great when he got to Texas. 2. He was stupid. 3. People should be very upset with him. 4. But, really, people should still love him. 5. He was naive.  6. That bitch from Sports Illustrated is really pissing him off. 7. He’s “sorry”. 8. He was selfish. 9. He still thinks he should be in the Hall of Fame. 10. He was stupid.

OK, I think that pretty much sums it up from A-Rod’s side of things.  Now let me interpret a little… 

 Of course he felt, pressure to succeed when he was in Texas, the man was making 1/4 of a freakin’ billion dollars.  Let me tell you something though, you do not sign a contract like that and expect to fly under the radar.  It’s just not the way it works.  So, you’re not buying any sympathy on that one, bub. And yes, you say you’re sorry, and you were stupid, and selfish and etc. etc.  The fact of the matter is though, he is only sorry that he got caught.  As cliche as that is to say, in this case it is absolutely true.  Still, at the same time we cannot crucify him for not coming clean earlier.  Any one of us put in his situation would have done the exact same thing he did.  Not to say we would have taken the drugs to begin with… But had we taken drugs, and not been caught, we would not just go around telling the likes of Katie Couric and the rest of the American public about it.  A-Rod was and is one of the greatest baseball players of not only his time, but of all time.  Are any of us naive enough to think that had he not been caught, he would have just volunteered the information to tarnish his image and legacy irrevocably?  It is silly to think that he would or should have done something like that…

…Lots of things bother me about this interview.  The main thing is that this is just A-Rod being A-Rod.  And by that I mean, this is the same guy we always see trying desperately to be liked.  His contrition is forced, and his apologies are barely believed.  And on top of it all, all of it masks the real reason he decided to give this interview: to try to save his legacy.  He argues 3 or 4 times during the interview as to why he should still be considered a great player.  He sites 1996 and 2007, saying they are his best years, and he was clean during them.  While it is debatable that these are his best years, he also assumes that we can take him at his word that he was clean in his Seattle days.  Personally, I would tend to think in 1996 he was clean, but who the hell knows anymore.  

As for his legacy… I really still think the man is one of the greatest of all time.  You want to put an asterisk next to his numbers, I suppose that’s your prerogative.  But the bottom line is then, you need to put one next to about 15-20 years worth of numbers.  Because everyone, pitchers and hitters alike, was using the stuff.  Some were just unlucky enough to get caught.  I’d like to believe guys like Albert Pujols are clean, but in my heart I know where there’s doubt, there’s probably a reason.  As for A-Rod, his 3 best years in terms of OPS were 2007, 2005 (while testing was in place), and 1996 (presumably before he started using).  As he campaigned during his interview, he has been quite consistent over his career.  And it can be argued that his increase in power while he was in Texas is as much a product of the park he played in as it was the substances he ingested.  If the man stopped playing baseball today, he would have my vote for the Hall of Fame.

That’s pretty much all the rambling I have in me for now.  I won’t get started on the whole “I didn’t know what drugs I was taking” thing (give me a break.  America is dumb, but we’re not that dumb).  And I don’t really wanna get into “WHO’S TO BLAME FOR THIS DEBACLE!?!”.  Because personally… it’s the players, the trainers, the managers and owners that looked the other way, the reporters who never reported it (and were in the locker room all the time), and the fans who watched in awe as balls soared out of stadiums at record paces.  We looked the other way, and we continue to look the other way in other sports (namely football).  So how can you blame a guy like A-Rod when he can get $250 mil and we continue to pay to watch him play.  Not that I condone it, but I can understand it, and I can certainly move on from it.  It has been a shitty couple of days for baseball, but at the same time, it’s not the end of the world.  I really think we need to stop the steroid witch hunts, and just move on.  At this point, we get it, lots of good players did the shit.  Now, I’d prefer to not know any more.  I’ll just let my imagination do the rest.

On a lighter note… With Pettite, Clemens, A-Rod, Sheffield, Giambi, Knoblauch?, David Justice?, Jeter???  … were there any Yankees that weren’t juicing?  Is Torre on roids?  What about George?  Is that why he was so ornery all the time?

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In the wake of Jon Lester’s no hitter I have to wonder at what point his story becomes too good for even Disney to pick up. In the past two years he has had his pro-debut, been a rookie phenom (remember if it hadn’t been for an unprecedented 2006 rookie class which included Justin Verlander, Jonathan Papelbon, Francisco Liriano and Jered Weaver, Lester could have been a rookie of the year candidate), been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, overcome the disease, won a deciding World Series Game and has thrown a No-Hitter. Seriously, would you enjoy a movie based on this story line, or you would it be as ridiculous as Rocky boxing in his 60s?

The more practical implication from Lester’s no-hitter is that, combined with his past six starts, he is starting to look like a quality Major League starter. Over his past seven starts he has a 2:1 K:BB ratio and five quality starts. Before this stretch significant questions existed regarding his ability to consistently throw strikes, to keep his pitch count down and base runners off the base path. Lately he has been throwing his fastball for strikes, and his secondary pitches, which include a tantalizing curveball and a filthy cutter, are starting to resemble the quality that his scouting reports always boasted off.

This is not say that Lester is going to be better than Johan Santana. I personally see him as Andy Petite without the steroids. But his success raises some interesting questions about the rumored Johan Santana trades from this off-season. The two options that were discussed centered around Lester or Centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury. The Lester trade would have also involved Coco Crisp, and both trades would have included pitching prospect Justin Masterson and infield prospect Jed Lowrie. So far, all five of these players have played significant contributions to the Red Sox this season and all five will cost almost $13 million less than Santana this year. What the Sox are saying with this roster decision is that quality depth and cost-controlled players coming in to their prime are worth as much as an all-star pitcher.

When the trade did not go through a number of writers stated that they were pleased to see Lester and Ellsbury stay because they were our guys, we drafted them, developed them and cheered for them. For many Red Sox fans, myself included, this subjective inclination for the homegrown talent forced them to overlook Johan’s talent and almost certain success in Fenway. Yankees fans did the same thing; the only difference is that their prospects are not as good. The non-trade for Santana displays a constant issue facing fans: we want to win, but we want to do it on our own terms with the players that we come to love.

For better or for worse, this irrational fondness for the hometown team’s prospects has in this case been vindicated. Ellsbury has been solid, Bowden has been dominant in the minors and thrown two gems in the majors, while Lowrie displayed the ability to hit major league pitching. The biggest name going the other way though was and will continue to be Lester. As his performances continue to improve, Boston fans will continuously be reminded of this great story, one that we can both empirically and illogically enjoy. Even if Disney wouldn’t believe it.

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