The New York Yankees won the World Series in 2009. Alex Rodriguez was their third baseman. Robinson Cano was their second baseman.
Robinson Cano emerged from relative obscurity to become one of Major League Baseball’s top second baseman. He was a major contributor to the 2009 Yankees.
Alex Rodriguez was a major contributor as well that year. In the playoffs he had clutch hit after clutch hit.
In late 2012 reports surfaced that Rodriguez was involved with a clinic called Biogenesis in Florida. It was linked to PEDs – performance enhancing drugs. Steroids. Cheating. Dishonesty. Lies.
Alex Rodriguez is a lie. He’s a walking lie. Everything that he says is false.
The 2009 New York Yankees season was a lie. Much of baseball over the past few decades has been a lie.
In 2016 the Yankees had a chance to move on from Rodriguez for good. He mercifully left the team mid-season.
Did you see the sky the night of his send-off? Wow.
It’s disturbing to see all of those good, decent men in his thrall. Unless you’ve faced evil, can you really understand it?
Joe Girardi, Lou Pinella, Mariano Rivera. Men of honor. Men of God. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Do they not know who Alex Rodriguez is? Let Carmen Sucart tell you. Wise woman.
Listen to the Yankees PA announcer recite Rodriguez’s career “accomplishments.” It’s a joke. It’s a farce. The man cheated. Those statistics are irrelevant. The Yankees shouldn’t have honored Rodriguez that night.
They should have waived him instead of allowing him to rejoin the team in 2015. They made themselves complicit in his lies by welcoming him back.
Look how the rain fell as The Liar was honored by the Yankees. This is not a man who is deserving of honor.
The next day at Yankee Stadium there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Aaron Judge made his major league debut that day. He hit a ball farther than I’ve ever seen hit in my life at that stadium.
Rodriguez was sent away. The clouds parted. And a new chapter began for the Yankees. Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird and the rest of the “Baby Bombers” grew up fast. Next thing you knew, the Yankees were in the ALCS in a year that all of the “experts” said they would be rebuilding.
This was a chance for the Yankees to move on from Rodriguez. Alex Rodriguez used PEDs. The 2009 World Series is tainted by his presence on the team. The New York Yankees have a great fanbase. They deserve a team that they can truly be proud of. The Pride of The Yankees missed 2009.
The Yankees had a chance to win the World Series this year. The Yankees could have given their fans a World Series to make up for the tainted 2009 season. Instead, they brought Alex Rodriguez back to the organization in a front office role. Huge mistake.
Alex Rodriguez has never apologized for anything. Every word that comes out of his mouth is a lie. Our culture’s embrace of him is hideous.
Katie Baker says Alex Rodriguez “found redemption.” Redemption requires penance. True penance.
Aaron Boone was an interesting hire for the Yankees. Boone was the Yankees third baseman before Alex Rodriguez got there. It was Boone’s freak injury in the offseason following 2003 that led to the trade for Rodriguez.
Hiring Boone was good karma for the Yankees. 2003 was the last season for the Yankees before Alex Rodriguez tainted the team with his noxious influence. Going back to Boone, then, was interesting from that perspective.
Any positive karmic effect that could have had on the Yankees was negated by bringing Rodriguez back to the organization. His ubiquity curses the Yankees.
The Red Sox were never cursed prior to 2004. They are cursed now, though. They are cursed by the lie of PEDs. Ortiz used PEDs. So did Ramirez. New England is in a collective state of denial.
The New York Yankees empire is in a state of collective denial as well. The 2009 championship cursed the Yankees. They had a chance to end that curse this season. Instead, Rodriguez’s constant presence with the team and in the media is a constant reminder of his malign influence.
The Yankees should have stuck with Joe Girardi. He redeemed himself last year in the ALDS for his role in the normalization of Rodriguez. How did he do that?
Watch this.
Then, watch this.
Karmic balancing.
Joe Girardi redeemed himself that night. The team rewarded him for it. They came back from down 0-2 and beat the Indians.
His reward? He was fired. And then the Yankees welcomed Rodriguez back to the organization.
Bad, bad karma.
Karma Matters. Truth Matters. That’s the first principle of SABR Skepticism.
Now, it comes out, Robinson Cano used PEDs (if you believe Robinson Cano didn’t use PEDS, well, then, that means The Beast got you).
Robinson Cano’s PED use is a reminder of Alex Rodriguez’s PED use. The 2009 World Series was already tainted by Rodriguez. This week’s news about Cano is a reminder of that taint. So is the news about Alex Rodriguez’s new show for ESPN.
The Yankees have been playing great. They started off the season slowly at just 9-9 through 18 games. Then, they surged, winning 17 of their next 18 games. They have a lot of talent on the roster.
They are just 2-2 in their last 4 games though. Just a hiccup? Or is their bubble about to burst?
This Yankees team’s recent play is more than just a talent bubble. This is a lie bubble. This Yankees team is an extension of our culture’s hideous embrace of Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez should be shunned by both our culture and by the Yankees organization. Instead, he is welcomed with open arms.
Rodriguez and people like him have a corrosive effect on the world. They are toxic. They turn everything around them to rot. That’s what lies do. The New York Yankees, a once proud franchise, are now nothing more than an extension of Rodriguez’s lies. His lies corrode this Yankees team.
This Yankees team is ripe for collapse. The Yankees will collapse this season.
When they do, what then? They have already made a deal with The Devil.
SABR Skeptic 