Alex Rodriguez responds to poor showing on Hall of Fame ballot

Alex Rodriguez is holding out hope that his Hall of Fame candidacy gains traction despite a disappointing showing in his first year on the ballot.

Rodriguez garnered only 34.3 percent of the vote in January, his first year of eligibility for Hall of Fame consideration. That is well short of the required 75 percent threshold, and leaves him facing an uphill climb for election.

The longtime Yankee admitted that he would be “terribly disappointed” to be excluded from the Hall of Fame, but would hold out hope and refuse to campaign for himself.

“If I don’t get in, I have no one to blame but myself,” Rodriguez told reporters Wednesday, via Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. “But I’m certainly going to make it a point — and have so far — to stay out of it and play it straight and let the chips fall where they fall.

“The past is the past. I’m the No. 1 cheerleader. I hope I get in one day. It would be an incredible honor.”

Rodriguez’s past admission of steroid use makes his Hall of Fame case difficult, though he already would have been under a cloud of suspicion even without the confession. That admission, along with his attempts to hinder an investigation into his past PED use, helped get him suspended for the 2014 season, a permanent blot on his record.

Nobody doubts that Rodriguez has a resume worthy of the Hall of Fame. However, how he conducted himself makes it very hard for some writers to vote for his candidacy, which he has openly admitted in the past.

Photo: Feb 2, 2020; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Alex Rodriguez on the sidelines before Super Bowl LIV between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports