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The debate about A-Rod will be A-Lot.
Alex Rodriguez is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time on the 2022 ballot, which invariably means there will be a circus surrounding his candidacy.
His stats are gaudy. His 696 career home runs are fourth all-time, trailing just Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. He was a 14-time All-Star, three-time AL MVP and two-time Gold Glove winner. Although he had some postseasons to forget, he was a major catalyst on the 2009 Yankees World Series champion team.
On the other hand, steroids. A-Rod was suspended for the entire 2014 season for PEDs in one of the loudest MLB controversies of all-time. Who can forget when he stormed into Mike Francesa’s studio, and derisively referred to former MLB commissioner Bud Selig as the “man from Milwaukee”?
“I made mistakes, and then doubled down and became a bigger jerk and then went on sports radio and made an ass of myself,” Rodriguez later said of the interview.
Bonds and Roger Clemens, two of the other all-time greats who were implicated in baseball’s PED fiasco, have not yet been enshrined in Cooperstown.They’re both in their final year of eligibility on the ballot.
A-Rod does not just have the on-field noise, either.
He has famously dated celebrities – most recently Jennifer Lopez. Other former flames include Torrie Wilson, Demi Moore, Anne Wojcicki, Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz and Madonna – and he remains in the limelight as new co-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Further, A-Rod is a current MLB broadcaster. For the past several seasons, he has been in the booth of ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” as a color commentator, and been on Fox Sports’ studio coverage of the MLB playoffs and World Series. (Last week, the Post’s Andrew Marchand tabbed it as about a 50-50 shot that A-Rod returns to the ESPN booth in 2022).
Joining A-Rod on the ballot for the first time is David Ortiz, who had a more nebulous PED controversy; he was reportedly on the list of players who tested positive during MLB’s trial run in 2003, but has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Jimmy Rollins, Mark Teixeira, Jonathan Papelbon, Jake Peavy, Tim Lincecum, Joe Nathan, Carl Crawford, Prince Fielder and Justin Morneau are among the other nominees.
To qualify for the Hall, A-Rod would need 75 percent of the votes from BBWAA panelists. We will find out on Jan. 22, 2022 who, if anyone, will get the call to Cooperstown.
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