I Know A Change Gonna Come
Twenty years from now, this article so far will seem anachronistic as A-Rod has already reshaped his image.
Perhaps it is not surprising that Alex had one more good role reversal in him. He had already gone from spoiled steroider to contrite World Series champion in 2009, then right back to a duplicitous douche bag.
He ordered us to judge him by his actions from that ’09 presser on…and was suspended for a full year by 2014. I know many fans who had no problem judging him by his actions. However, as this is a family site, I will not now share that judgment.
Fortunately for him, Alex did a little judging of his own. He made changes to his outlook, attitude, and entourage. And once he removed his last mask, the man we could now see turned out to be smart, funny, humble and engaging.
He became an even better teammate and ambassador for the game. And he turned out to be a phenomenal announcer. Here’s his outlook now as reported by Mac Engel of the Star-Telegram:
"“What I can control is my behavior, my actions, what kind of father I am, what kind of teammate I am…whoever is my teammate,” A-Rod said in a recent ESPN Baseball conference call. “So I think it’s not an image. This is a long ride and it’s a slow burn. And nothing’s going to happen easy,” he said. “What I enjoy most now, to be honest with you, is visiting with high school or college kids and talking to them about the mistakes I’ve made, and hopefully they don’t make the same mistakes.”"
Alex seems to have found the bottom of at least one baseball maxim: You are either humble now, or the game will make you so.