It took Alex Rodriguez 12 years, but he has finally reached a place in his career where he feels as comfortable with the New York Yankees as he did with the Seattle Mariners. Forget the whole 211-game suspension thing and all the accusations about performance-enhancing drugs. The 38-year-old feels better than ever.
“I really think there is no pressure on me, less than ever before,” Rodriguez told Kevin Kernan of the NY Post on Wednesday night. “This is the calmest I’ve felt going all the way back to my days in Seattle. I just think it’s a combination of everything. I really feel good. I’m not trying to do too much.”
A-Rod has played in eight games since he returned from the disabled list. He is batting .303 with a homer and four RBI during that stretch, but the off-field distractions are not going to go away any time soon. Despite that, he said he has felt very welcome by his teammates since returning.
“The support I’ve gotten in this clubhouse, the support I’ve gotten from my manager and from the coaches, has just been overwhelming,” A-Rod said.
Reports are floating around that indicate Rodriguez and his lawyers are prepared to sue Major League Baseball if his suspension is not wiped clean. Perhaps the scorned slugger feels that MLB’s case against him is much weaker than the public perceives it to be. How could this possibly be one of the calmest points of his career? Something tells me you would need a world-renowned psychologist to understand the inner workings of a mind like Alex Rodriguez’s.
The Yankees have won four straight, but they have a tough test coming up this weekend as they head to Boston. They are currently 8.5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and cannot afford to lose any more ground if they want a shot at the playoffs. Let’s see how far A-Rod can take them while he’s feeling at peace with his life.
