As for all the personal attacks, I’ll only say that I couldn’t care less who A-Rod (or any player, for that matter) is sleeping with or what team he plays for in the WBC. I, personally, simply don’t care. However, all of that feeds into how he’s perceived by the public – again, “logical” or not, and whether you think it should or not.

“…. can’t effectively handle his WBC decision”
Well…. at first he though he would, and then decided against it. This is a high crime indeed.

“…. and is less than discreet when having an affair with a stripper”
Ah… you know for a fact he was having an affair? This is not an assumption of your part, is it? And you want him to be discreet? Like needing to charter a helicoptor to take you to a remote friend’s house, so you can spend a few hours with someone? Oh that’s right, somehow that made the news too. It’s kind of hard to ‘be discreet’ when hundreds of people make a living hounding your every move,

“…who has the biggest contract”
Jeter, Giambi, Manny, Zito, Sori, Santana, soon CC and Tex, and a number of others make pretty good money TO PLAY BASEBALL. In terms of effort and production, I’d say ARod earns his money moreso then most.

“…. when they don’t have a certain personal likableness about them. A-Rod isn’t charismatic.”
Again guy, another high crime. Terribble. He is NOT charismatic. Ergo, we hate him and look for every single opportunity to trash him.

So, without anything to do with baseball, and interms of his personal life which is really nobody’s business but his own, basically what you say is that there are certain people he can’t see without our approval (Madonna or a stripper), he can’t ever change his mind on a relatively minor decision (even if this happened due to external pressures), and he’s not charismatic.

Is it possible your post is the very definition of NOT what is wrong with ARod, but with the ‘fans’ and press around him? You might as well hate him for having 10 fingers and 10 toes, because the things your stated simply make him as human as all the rest of us.

Also, the money thing. It’s hard to sympathize with anyone who has the biggest contract in the game when they don’t have a certain personal likableness about them. A-Rod isn’t charismatic.

Pirates gamble on raw talents with million-dollar arms
“PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates hope Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel really do have million-dollar arms.

The two 20-year-old pitchers, neither of whom had picked up a baseball until earlier this year, signed free-agent contracts Monday with the Pirates. They are believed to be the first athletes from India to sign professional baseball contracts outside their country.

Singh and Patel came to the United States six months ago after being the top finishers in an Indian reality TV show called the “Million Dollar Arm” that drew about 30,000 contestants. The show sought to find athletes who could throw strikes at 85 miles per hour or faster.”

I wish the media would get off ARod’s back. Hey… I got divorced and had a GF after. Nobody wrote about me in a newspaper. Is a man getting a divorce really news? A man having a GF? And realistically, if you consider the huge choice of women ARod could have, and instead he chooses a woman 20 years older then himself, this tells me there is something real and deep about their relationship.

I think the real story of ARod is a great one. A boy abandoned by his father, who as a man, is trying to deal with the residue. A man who is often called ‘the best player in the game’, with a 10 years contract… and yet he continues to push himself to be better, work like a dog, run hard and play hard everyday. This is a man who is driven…. and in a good direction.

Imagine what we the fans, would have seen from Mickey, if Mantle took this approach. And what about Junior, who is probably more talented then ARod. What might Junior have accomplished if he had ARod’s disipline and drive. How about Cano? We know the kid is talented. What if he has an apiphany, and goes the ARod route. What will we get to see from Robbie.

So… the news is ARod is a flawed human being… unlike myself, you all, and the writers who write about him? To me, in many ways, ARod is an example of what makes greatness. Of disipline and drive to achieve even beyond his God given talents. There have been many stronger guys in baseball. Many better hitters… many greater talents. Yet it is ARod who we look to to break 800 HRs, and destroy many other records along the way.

Why is the media and many fans so hellbent on tearing this guy down?
I don’t get it.