Baseball-Rodriguez confident of winning doping appeal

Nov 22 (Reuters) - New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, who is at the center of a doping case that has rocked Major League Baseball, has said he is confident of his appeal. In an interview with ESPN.com, the embattled third baseman predicted he would win the case. The comments came just two days after Rodriguez stormed out of his grievance hearing and declared it a farce. "We crushed it," Rodriguez said, referring to his lawyers' arguments against MLB's decision to suspend him for 211 games. "They had nothing." Despite his apparent confidence, Rodriguez, who opted not to testify in the hearing, said he remained wary about the way the appeal was heard. "Now that it's over, as far as the state of the case, how the evidence went in, how my team challenged it, I feel great, Rodriguez said. "The only thing that concerns me is the process." Rodriguez's appeal against his lengthy suspension ended on Thursday, the 13th day of hearings on the grievance filed by the players' association to overturn Rodriguez's lengthy suspension. Local media speculated a verdict likely would be announced in January. Rodriguez's lawyers said they would "release all the evidence" but delayed the release on Friday, according to the New York Times. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had handed down the season-plus punishment in August for violating MLB's joint drug agreement through the Yankees third baseman's alleged involvement with the now-closed Florida anti-aging clinic that was accused of dispensing performance enhancing drugs. Thirteen other players were suspended for their alleged ties to the Biogenesis clinic, with 12 of them agreeing to 50-game suspensions, and former National League most valuable player Ryan Braun accepting a 65-game ban. Rodriguez, in appealing the suspension, has denied any wrongdoing and argued he was singled out for excessive punishment by MLB and called into question the way evidence has been gathered in the case. (Reporting by Julian Linden in New York, Editing by Gene Cherry)