Alex Rodriguez: A Look Back at A-Rod's Most Cringe-Worthy Moments

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(Photo by Mark Makela/Corbis via Getty Images) /

Throughout his MLB career, Alex Rodriguez (aka “A-Rod”) was not only a great ballplayer, but he was also a non-stop fountain of cringe-worthy moments.

Once a lauded baseball player, Alex Rodriguez was twice implicated in MLB’s on-going performance-enhancing scandal. Over the last few years, however, A-Rod has undergone one of the great comebacks of all-time.

Now, this isn’t a story about A-Rod’s incredible journey from rock bottom, it’s more of a look at how the once lightning-rod became one of baseball’s most hated figures.

We know it wasn’t his performance on the field that made him so hated. A quick glance at his stats and you’ll see that his on-field performance is perhaps one of the few reasons people actually liked A-Rod during his playing days.

I mean, how many players have been able to put together the type of resume A-Rod has:

4th all-time in HR with 696
3rd all-time in RBI with 2086
21st all-time in H with 3115
14x All-Star and 3x MVP

Alex Rodriguez’s rise to become public enemy number one in MLB was the result of 20 years worth of incidents that left baseball fans all over the world wondering, “what the heck is wrong with this guy?”

It all came to head after the Biogenesis scandal, which in and of itself was really one of the most bizarre incidents in American sports history (see Billy Corben’s “Screwball: A Batsh*t Tale of Steroids, Schemers, and Baseball Stars”).

Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of A-Rod’s most cringe-worthy moments no particular order. Make sure to cast your vote on the last slide of this piece.

(Photo by Ron Antonelli/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) /

Shirtless and Mirror Kissing

One of the things that really frustrated baseball fans about Alex Rodriguez was his apparent constant need to draw attention to himself. Nobody thinks that superstars laying shirtless in Central Park or mirror-kissing pics or owning paintings of themselves as centaurs is normal right?

Well, tell that to A-Rod.

Let’s begin with the Central Park incident. In July of 2006, Alex Rodriguez was seen laying shirtless in New York City’s busiest, most famous park. The next day, after a pathetic 3-error game against his former team, the Seattle Mariners, the picture was all over the back page of the New York Post.

In response to being photographed, A-Rod had this to say:

“I thought I looked good in the modeling picture,” Rodriguez joked before adding, “No, just laying out with my daughter and wife.”

Now, if you thought that was bad, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

You see, at the very least you can buy the story that A-Rod was just laying out with his daughter in Central Park. Many folks do it so why not A-Rod, right?

This next image, however, is flat out just an egomaniac totally loving himself, no holds barred. Originally published in Details Magazine, It features Rodriguez kissing himself… in the mirror

well said RT @SeanGrandePBP: Man, when this is over, A-Rod's going to have to take a long hard look in the mirror. pic.twitter.com/wqyqm73d
— SI Vault (@si_vault) October 12, 2012

To be fair, A-Rod has gone on record recently saying that the photo makes him “cringe,” but so do we, Alex, so do we.

(Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

The Slap Heard ‘Round the World

Luckily for Alex Rodriguez, the 2004 ALCS will forever be remembered as the greatest collapse in postseason history. After taking the first three games against the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees would go on to lost the next four consecutively. This resulted in the Red Sox winning the World Series for the first time since 1918.

If not for that, 2004 would go down in history as “the year of the slap.”

It all happened in game 6 of the ALCS between the Yanks and the Sox. Desperate to keep the 8th inning alive against Bronson Arroyo who had put a runner on before him, A-Rod slapped the ball out of Arroyo’s hand as he attempted to tag him out on the way to first (below).

It’s not so much that A-Rod did everything he could to get on base, it’s how obvious he was about it. Watch the video again in slo-mo (1:53) and all you see is his giant, white-gloved hand slap the ball out of Arroyo’s glove.

Recently, A-Rod spoke about the incident in Barstool’s Pardon my Take Podcast, saying,

“It was worth the try. How’s that?” Rodriguez said. “I was trying to go for his glove, and Arroyo’s a very good athlete. He got off the mound very quickly. “I was trying to go for his glove and the karate chop went a little too far and I got his forearm.”

But wait, there’s more!

“This Lady”

This is the point in Alex Rodriguez’s career where cringe-worthy meets ugly. It takes place in the span of approximately 5 years.

First, entering the 2009 season, A-Rod is implicated in an SI report written by Selena Roberts. Instead of owning up to it, Rodriguez gave us a preview of what is to come years later by going on the offensive, saying

“This lady is coming out with all these allegations, all these lies, because she’s writing an article for Sports Illustrated and she’s coming out with a book in May. And really respectable journalists are following this lady off the cliff. And following her lead. And that to me is unfortunate.”

Turns out “this lady” was right. Soon after, A-Rod held a press conference during Spring Training with all of his Yankees teammates present, confirming that “lady’s” report. In that presser, Rodriguez’s voice cracked as the Yankees spring complex was filled with players and reporters.

Little did they all know, this would happen again in the near future.

Read the statement, picked apart by MassLive HERE.

Mike’s On!

I’m not sure if this category belongs solely to Alex Rodriguez. MLB deserves some play in this portion of this piece since they were equal violaters of the same crime.

More from Call to the Pen

I’m talking of course about the Biogenesis scandal, A-Rod’s second go-around with the PED issue.

When Alex’s name was seen plastered across every major newspaper and sports television show being linked with Tony Bosch and his anti-aging clinic Biogenesis, A-Rod sought to share the spotlight with other big league players. Soon after, according to reports, the names of teammate Francisco Cervelli and Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun were also linked to Biogenesis.

Who leaked those names? You guessed it! Alex Rodriguez.

It gets uglier.

After storming out of an arbitration hearing regarding the Biogenesis scandal attended by MLB and Tony Bosch, A-Rod took to New York Sports Radio legend Mike Francesa’s show, broadcast on WFAN and the YES Network to defend himself.

In the interview, A-Rod accuses Bud Selig of hating New York, asks Francesa why he should serve 1-minute of the suspension, and then vehemently denies any connection to Tony Bosch.

Okay, it’s your turn to vote. Results will be published as soon as the results are in!

Next. Yankees: How the 2019 All-Injured team Compares to 2018. dark

What is the most cringe-worthy moment in Alex Rodriguez's career? #Yankees #PinstripePride
— Manuel Gómez (@MannyGo3) April 12, 2019

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