A-Rod book report: Test yourself
Debating whether to buy "A-Rod: The Many Lives of
the book written by Sports Illustrated columnist Selena Roberts and available in bookstores Monday?
Know that it is a serious book about a complicated, flawed subject, one whose fondest dream mirrored the words of Roy Hobbs' character in "The Natural": "So then people would see me walking down the street and say, 'There goes Roy Hobbs. The best there ever was, best there ever will be in the game.' "
That will never happen now, not after the allegations by Roberts of Rodriguez's use of performance-enhancing substances over a much longer period than the three years with the Texas Rangers to which he has so far admitted. This is a portrait of an immensely talented yet profoundly insecure and needy man who seemingly reached the pinnacle of his profession but whose carefully cultivated image now lies in jagged shards at his feet.
Many of the more salacious details have been revealed in previously published reports. How well do you know them, and others you may not yet have heard? Take this quiz and find out:
1. Dodd Romero, who quit as A-Rod's trainer, showed his disgust for A-Rod's wayward lifestyle by:
a) dropping barbells on his foot
b) putting sand in the gas tank of his Maybach
c) throwing A-Rod's life-sized cutout into the street to be run over by passing cars
d) painting "Smiley" faces on the needle marks
Answer: c. Page 219. There was a spiritual and ethical side to the training Romero offered, and he was dismayed by A-Rod's hedonistic lifestyle. He parted with A-Rod in 2008. "Brother, I represent good, and what you're doing isn't good," said Romero, who insists he was unaware of A-Rod's steroid use. "I have to step off now."
2. After A-Rod negotiated a $300 million contract extension from the Yankees, one American League executive said, "It was dumb and dumber. Alex played them for fools." The executive was talking about:
a) Randy Levine and Brian Cashman
b) Hal and Hank Steinbrenner
c) Scott Boras and Warren Buffett
d) Bud Selig and Don Fehr
Answer: b. Page 212. Roberts writes that GM Brian Cashman didn't want to re-sign A-Rod after he opted out of his contract following the 2007 season. "Cashman was thinking, 'No way, we're done with Alex,' " she quoted one person close to Cashman saying. "He knew it was time to move on. There was an Alex fatigue." Hank Steinbrenner said there was "no chance" A-Rod would be back. But in a meeting at Hal Steinbrenner's home, a contrite A-Rod persuaded the brothers to give him another chance, at a price no other team would likely have met.
3. When A-Rod called author Selena Roberts after SI.com broke the story of his steroid use, he told her:
a) "My life will never be the same."
b) "I hope you have a good lawyer."
c) "Go ahead, make my day."
d) "Do they play baseball in Borneo?"
Answer: a. Page 240. Rodriguez called to apologize to Roberts after falsely accusing her of being thrown out of his apartment in New York City, trespassing at the University of Miami while he was working out and trying to break into his house in Miami Beach. All three allegations were easily proven wrong before A-Rod apologized "for what I thought [Roberts] committed."
4. A-Rod's teammates in New York, noting a change in his physical condition due to his apparent use of performance-enhancing substances, nicknamed him:
a) "Thunder Thighs"
b) "Lover Lips"
c) "B----h T-ts"
d) "Peanut Brain"
Answer: c. Page 185. The term, Roberts writes, was a reference to what teammates perceived to be "his now slightly rounded breasts." That's a side effect – known as gynecomastia – common among steroid users. Roberts goes on to describe a summons Rodriguez receives from owner George Steinbrenner, about the time of the Congressional hearings on steroids, in which A-Rod is petrified the owner intends to confront him about steroids. Instead, Steinbrenner delivered a motivational "Earn your pinstripes"-type speech.
5. When A-Rod entered a nightclub, one of the first things he'd say was:
a) "Anyone seen Madonna?"
b) "Want to see my bat?"
c) "Who's hotter, me or
d) "Who's hotter, me or Don Zimmer?"
Answer: c. Page 165. It was a pickup line he repeated often, Roberts writes, according to guys he went clubbing with. "The Jeter thing ate Alex alive," one Rodriguez friend is quoted as saying, describing A-Rod's obsession with the Yankees' captain, with whom he'd once been close friends until he foolishly criticized Jeter in an Esquire interview.
6. A-Rod allegedly began using steroids in:
a) Seattle
b) Texas
c) high school
d) first grade
Answer: c. Page 48. One of the book's most explosive allegations, and one made by anonymous sources – former players at Westminster Christian in Miami, where Rodriguez was drafted No. 1 overall by the Mariners after his senior year. Rodriguez was an unabashed admirer of Jose Canseco, already a legend in Miami; they first met in the Miami Boys and Girls Club in 1993, and Canseco says he took him into his home and they became workout partners. "Was he on steroids in high school? I think probably so, " says Canseco (page 102), the pied piper of steroids. "I worked out with him when he was 18. He could lift almost as much as I could."
7. A-Rod's teammates in Texas noticed that he was:
a) tipping umpires
b) tipping pitches
c) tipping cows
d) tipping the official scorer
Answer: b. Page 119. Another startling allegation, again attributed to anonymous sources, in this case unnamed Rangers. Supposedly, A-Rod in one-sided games would let friends on the other side know what pitch was coming, with the understanding that they would reciprocate when he was at the plate. If true, it only reinforces those who contend A-Rod cares only about his own stats, over the welfare of his team. MLB will look into these allegations, you can be sure.
8. An unnamed teammate said he saw A-Rod sharing HGH with:
a) Kevin Brown
b) Jose Canseco
c) Debbie Clemens
d) Mine That Bird
Answer: a. Page 175. Kevin Brown was a client of Kirk Radomski, the Mets clubhouse attendant turned drug supplier. Radomski told the Mitchell investigation that he had sent several orders of performance-enhancing drugs to the pitcher over a three-year period and considered him an expert on HGH use. An unnamed player is cited as the source by Roberts that A-Rod was seen with HGH in Brown's company. Brown through a lawyer denied the allegation. A-Rod is quoted as saying he didn't want "to throw Brown under the bus."
9. Because he tipped the minimum and was often rude, A-Rod was despised by the staff at:
a) Elaine's
b) Hooters
c) the Yankee clubhouse
d) Jiffy Lube
Answer: b. Page 218. This was last spring at a Hooters in Baltimore, one in which A-Rod had eaten before and knew the staff. "The girls have their issues with him," a manager is quoted as saying. "I don't really want to say he's an [expletive]. He's definitely, well, rude."
10. While with the Rangers, A-Rod demanded after every game that a clubhouse attendant:
a) put toothpaste on his toothbrush
b) tell him how wonderful he was
c) roll out a red carpet to his locker
d) wipe the kiss marks off his mirror
Answer: a. Page 127. The New York Mets, who had eagerly approached A-Rod when he became a free agent after the 2000 season, quickly abandoned their pursuit because of what then-GM Steve Phillips considered outrageous demands for special treatment, which included the use of a private jet, a hotel suite on the road and a personal marketing staff (page 109). Among the other perks A-Rod received in Texas was a basket of his favorite foods in hotel suites on the road. This caused resentment among teammates. "If Alex Rodriguez told me to jump off a cliff," former pitcher Tim Crabtree said, "I'd say, 'You first.' "
11. Who said of A-Rod, "He wanted to be me."
a) Derek Jeter
b) Madonna
c) Jose Canseco
d)
Answer: c. Page 101. Roberts describes their relationship this way: "Alex was starstruck. He would, throughout his career, use Canseco as his template: Alex would use steroids, put up big stats, sign the richest contracts, and even date Madonna."
12. A-Rod's connection to steroid use has been linked to this man:
a) Angel Presinal
b) Angelo Dundee
c) Angel Cordero
d) Criss Angel
Answer: a. Page 135. A-Rod first became Presinal's client in 2001, one year before Presinal – a trainer especially popular among players from the Dominican Republic – was banned from every MLB ballpark. MLB lawyer Rob Manfred handed down the sanction after an incident in Toronto in which customs officials confiscated a bag filled with steroids and hypodermic needles that appeared to belong either to Indians slugger Juan Gonzalez or Presinal, who was training Gonzalez. Not only did A-Rod ignore the ban, the Rangers booked rooms for Presinal on the road before finally barring him from the ballpark. Presinal continued to train A-Rod at home and on the road and surfaced again when A-Rod was with the Yankees.
