The New York Yankees spent the early part of the 2015 season refusing to acknowledge the milestones being chased by their controversial star Alex Rodriguez. That's how toxic the relationship between the slugger and the team had become.
Things are better in A-Rod-land these days, as the club announced Friday that it has planned a pre-game ceremony for Sept. 13 to celebrate A-Rod's 3,000 hit, which happened all the way back on June 19. Better late than never, eh?
The issues between A-Rod and the Yankees weren't so much about his PED past as they were his million-dollar future. They'd been at odds about marketing bonuses A-Rod was to receive for climbing the all-time home run list. Reports surfaced as early as January that the Yankees had no intention of paying A-Rod his $6 million "milestone" bonuses for each player he passed on the list. The Yanks thought he'd sullied his reputation and therefore wasn't as marketable as when he signed the contract.
When A-Rod hit home run No. 660 on May 1 and tied Willie Mays, the Yankees' downplayed it. In the weeks leading up to the homer, they didn't even mention the milestone in their game notes, which is standard practice around MLB.
After the homer, they reiterated that they wouldn't pay the $6 million. A-Rod was pondering a grievance around the time he notched his 3,000th hit in mid-June. On July 3, the two sides settled the matter of the $6 million bonus, with the Yankees announcing they'd give $3.5 million to charity instead.
With that matter in the past, it seems like the Yankees are finally ready to celebrate A-Rod. The timing may not be as good as a few months ago, since he's been ice cold at the plate lately, hitting .146 with no homers thus far in August.
But A-Rod will get his day to celebrate 3,000. Some fans will cheer for him. Others will curse him out. That's life for A-Rod in 2015. With every good, there's still some bad and with every milestone, there's still some baggage.
No comments:
Post a Comment