It started with accusations of PEDs down in Florida. It ended with a parade up in New York.

Yes, the 2009 season of Alex Rodriguez(notes) was one of the weirdest years ever staged by a Major League Baseball player. Containing both the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows, every headline that A-Rod managed to make always ended up being interesting. 

Big League Stew was there the whole way, chronicling the surreal twists and turns of the country's most scrutinized athlete. From his awkward press conferences and photo shoot to his championship celebrations, here's a look at some of the best Stew posts involving A-Rod.

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Jilted by Joe! (Jan. 25) When compared to the upcoming steroid storm, the controversy that started A-Rod's year was as tame as a grade school musical. As Joe Torre's Yankee memoirs prepared to go to press, it was reported that the former New York skipper was revealing that his former charge was known as "A-Fraud" around the Yankees clubhouse. Every New York media member clapped and rubbed their hands together over the prospect of asking A-Rod about this revelation when he reported to spring training. Of course, they never got the chance because ... 

Steroids! says Sports Illustrated (Feb. 7) The baseball world ground to a halt on what should have been a sleepy Saturday morning in February as SI.com broke the news that A-Rod had testified positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003 and his name placed on a not-so-secret list of 104 offenders that we'd soon all get tired of talking about.  

A-Rod confides in a sympathetic Peter Gammons (Feb. 10) Two days after the news broke, the Boras camp got its act together and an orange-faced A-Rod sat down with Gammons on the evening SportsCenter to confirm that he had indeed taken a banned substance. Our own Dave Brown followed with a thorough and brilliant breakdown of the transcript, including the number of times he referred to Selena Roberts as "lady" (eight).  

Facing the music with a Tampa press conference (Feb. 17) Ah, springtime in Florida. The smell of the grass. The crack of a bat. Another Yankee holding a mea culpa press conference for past steroid use. With the eyes of the world watching, a nervous A-Rod sat in front of the press and answered everything without really answering anything.

Who's your cousin? (Feb. 17) However, A-Rod say that he took the PEDs with the help of his cousin, who he refused to identify at the time. So we took a few guesses of our own and these were the familial suspects we came up with: 

A fourth row view of A-Rod's homer (Feb. 26) Our own Dave Brown was sitting in the fourth row when Rodriguez went yard against the Blue Jays with a bomb in his first spring training game. Somewhat stunningly, he — A-Rod, not DB — would later leave the Dunedin ballpark in a car with his aforementioned cousin Yuri.

Here's a view of his first spring training AB, complete with his first jeers of the season:

A-Rod tears his labrum (March 5) Writers everywhere were sent scurrying for their online medical dictionaries when it was announced that A-Rod had torn his labrum and would need surgery that would sideline him for 10 weeks. In less upsetting news (at least for the Dutch), the injury kept him from playing for the Dominican Republic WBC team. 

Will the Yankees actually miss A-Rod? (March 9) Yes, A-Rod vs. Cody Ransom(notes) at third was actually a debate being had by some (read: not me) in early March.

A-Rod makes out with someone he loves (March 17) Yes, this also really happened. The "dating Madonna" and Details photo shoot segment is going to be awesome when ESPN shoots its A-Rod "50 for 50" movie 20 years from now. 

The A-Road not taken (April 24) With the Rod-less Yankees set to face the Red Sox, Gordon Edes ruminated on what might have happened if A-Rod had gone to Boston way back in the day.

One pitch, one swing, one home run (May 8) A-Rod made his 2009 debut on a random night in Baltimore, taking the first pitch he saw into the seats for a three-run homer.

Return of The Rod (May 21) After a long road trip, A-Rod made his debut at new Yankee Stadium and was greeted by a majority of cheers from the Bronx Zoo. 

Hanging with HOVA (June 3) Months before they'd split a float up the Canyon of Heroes, Jay-Z and A-Rod hung out in the most unlikely of places — Cleveland. 

Redbeard rankles (June 11) An angry A-Rod and teammate Mark Teixeira(notes) confront Rick Sutcliffe after the ESPN broadcaster alleges the third baseman is signaling the catcher's setup location to Tex from the on-deck circle. 

Miami malaise (June 20) In the midst of a slump, A-Rod is benched for "fatigue" by manager Joe Girardi. He — A-Rod, not Girardi —  is later spotted in the back of a Maybach with Kate Hudson on South Beach. 

A-Rod's nephew (July 7) Thirteen-year-old Joe Dunand Jr. briefly makes headlines with his uncanny resemblance to his uncle in the batting cage and on the diamond.

A-Rod and Kate: Evolution of a relationship (July 27) After a month of speculation, hazy Page 6 reports and paparazzi photos, A-Rod and Kate Hudson make their relationship official with a very public smooch at Yankee Stadium. From this point, he posts a line of .316/.409/.554 with 16 homers and 64 RBIs in 80 regular season games. 

15th inning savior (Aug. 7) In what was arguably the best game not involving Mark Buehrle of the regular season, A-Rod hits a 15th-inning home run to lift the Yankees over the Red Sox on a Friday night. The dinger helped New York during a four-game sweep that put the team in a strong position to cruise to the AL East title.

Model citizen (Sept. 2) After a summer that was noticeably devoid of A-Rod tabloid controversy, we saluted him for his newfound ability to resemble wallpaper.

A-Rod tackles a lady mountie (Sept. 3) Then this happened.

Regular season rally (Oct. 4) In extreme danger of ending his 30-homer 100-RBI streak, A-Rod hits two homers and seven RBIs on the final day of the regular season to reach the marks for the 12th straight year.

October onslaught begins (Oct. 9) Any talk of A-Rod's struggles during the late fall were ended in the ninth inning of ALDS Game 2 when he launched a tying homer off Minnesota closer Joe Nathan(notes), setting up a big extra inning win for the Yankees.

Heeeeeeere's A-Rod! (Oct. 12) You just won the ALDS, but look out Derek!

An MVP-worthy ALCS performance (Oct. 25) A deserving CC Sabathia(notes) took home the hardware, but A-Rod made a strong argument for co-MVPs with three homers, six RBIs and a 1.519 OPS over six games against the Angels.

Centaurs among us! (Oct. 30) Six strikeouts in the first two World Series games plus a centaur-related revelation makes it look like his great postseason is coming to an end.

Slow-motion superhero  (Oct. 31) But neigh-neigh! A-Rod hits a key home run off Cole Hamels(notes) in Game 3, making history when the ball bounces off a Fox camera and the would-have-been double is overturned for a homer in the first replay review in World Series history. 

Mr. Reliable (Nov. 1) A-Rod delivers again the next night, providing the game-winning RBI after Johnny Damon's double dash puts the Phillies on the ropes. The hits helps the Yankees take a 3-1 World Series lead and puts A-Rod on the doorstep of his first title.

Celebrate A-Rod will (Nov. 4) It took 16 seasons and over 2,000 regular season games, but A-Rod finally erased his name from the list of best players to never win a championship. To mark the occasion, he did a shooter with catcher Jose Molina(notes).

Related: Mark Teixeira, Cole Hamels, CC Sabathia, José Molina, Joe Nathan, Álex Rodríguez, 2009 postseason on the Stew, A-Rod on BLS, 2009 World Series on the Stew