Never mind A-Rod's apology, the question now is can he hit?
If there is something to be taken from the handwritten letter, the cursive loops upon bunched words upon a reach for public clemency, it is that each line is tilted slightly, ending higher than it started. And so, like everything else Alex Rodriguez anymore, it's all running uphill.
I don't think it bothers him, either, other than it maybe being a little hard on the hips.
Rodriguez apologized on Tuesday. Nineteen months after being suspended, 14 after embarking on that suspension, he wrote out a few well-crafted paragraphs meant to draw a line between what is past and what lies ahead. The man does have a knack for the earnest do-over.
He's sorry, he writes. It's "on me." After lots of idleness, a handful of lawsuits sprayed into the wind, a few good college football games and some hours in the batting cage, it is time again, he writes, to "play ball."
In a nod to the cruelty (or, if you prefer, whimsy) of that timing, the letter arrived a few hours after Biogenesis founder Tony Bosch was sentenced to four years in federal prison for, among other things, supplying illegal substances to Alex Rodriguez. It arrived a day after noted PED hound Jason Giambi retired. It arrived the day before spring training camps in Arizona and Florida would fill with pitchers and catchers. A day of, appropriately, renewal.
We're reminded the game trundles ahead, as it will with or without Alex Rodriguez, no matter who plays third base for the New York Yankees, no matter how 654 home runs and three MVP honors may be viewed, and no matter if this ends well or not. He is 39 years old and lucky to have made it this far. He is lucky to be getting another shot at this. The real world, which isn't so far off for him, might not be so forgiving.
After all the complications of the past couple years, Rodriguez's life becomes simple again. He can hit or he cannot.
Alex Rodriguez Career Batting Stats | FindTheBest
He can barrel toward 40 years old on repaired hips. He can be accepted back by teammates and fans. He can show up every day with the purest of intentions. He can make nice with Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine.
And then some young buck with a loose arm and a rising fastball will try to make a name for himself in March, and Rodriguez will put the bat head on the ball or not.
So let's not overthink this. Rodriguez did the right thing Tuesday, even if it wasn't necessary. He came as clean as he ever has. Again. There would be no sense in setting up another tent and gathering the usual cynical crowd for another round of awkwardness.
Besides, he knows what's coming. He knows there've been enough words. He knows plenty will be rooting against him, some of them very close by, some of them signing his paychecks. He knows 39-year-olds who've amassed 156 at-bats in something like 2½ years aren't often much use to anyone, no matter the guaranteed tens of millions still coming.
The road from here is long. It is uphill.
"This game has been my single biggest passion since I was a teenager," he writes. "When I go to spring training, I will do everything I can to be the best player and teammate possible, earn a spot on the Yankees and help us win."
Yeah, it could have gone better. But here he is. The game will decide exactly where that is. Put a bat in his hands and we'll all find out together.
