A-Rod will retire from Major League Baseball with close to 700 home runs, 14 All-Star selections, 10 Silver Slugger Awards, three American League MVP nods and a World Series ring.
He’ll also walk away with some level of regret.
Alex Rodriguez long has been one of sports’ biggest villains, with a great deal of vitriol stemming from his link to steroids. Rodriguez, who eventually was suspended for the entire 2014 season for violating MLB’s policy against performance-enhancing drugs, initially fought the allegations against him to the death, even suing the league and the New York Yankees’ team doctor amid the whole mess. But he eventually dropped the lawsuits and now sounds like someone who wishes he acted differently.
“I’m upset about the mistakes and disappointed, but I’m even more disappointed that I acted like an ass,” Rodriguez said Wednesday in an interview with WFAN’s Suzyn Waldman while reflecting on his 2013 battle, per CBS New York. “I doubled down, and that whole process was painful. In the back nine of my career, I hope to be able to pay it forward and let youngsters know about my mistakes, and hopefully they can avoid some of those.”
Rodriguez, who has admitted to using banned substances in the past, never specifically mentioned steroids or PEDs during his interview with Waldman. He didn’t need to, though. The regret is obvious.
Here’s to one of the most complicated legacies in MLB history.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
