As for the 5 years later part (when Rodriguez finally does retire)…
I will refer to this year’s HOF articles. Craig stated clearly he would have voted for both Bonds and Clemens but that he understood not voting for players against whom there is actual evidence of PED use. What he called crazy was writers voting against Bagwell and Piazza based on nothing more substantive than innuendo. Then, when this story first broke, he posted that Rodriguez if truly found to have used PEDs in 2009-2012 would deserve less sympathy than Bonds or Clemens. Thus, no,that won’t be what he posts 5 years from now, presuming the full investigation confirms the allegations in the Miami New Times.

Aw, who am I kidding? I would laugh my Dominican ass off. Suck it, suckaz!

NYY – Alex, your playing left and batting 8th.
A – Uh, but I’m the 3rd baseman.
NYY – No you’re not. Jeter is. He decided to move there for the good of the team.
A – Yeah, but. Perhaps a corner outfiled spot may not be a good idea. I mean I may have to go near the stands to get a foul ball. Those aren’t the suit and tie guys out there and I’m a little further away from the dugout.
NYY – You’re getting paid $114M. You play where we tell you to. Or you could retire.

Flash forward 5 years later….

A Craig Post: “Anyone who doesn’t think A-Rod is a first ballot HoF’er is Insane!”

http://www.nydailynewspix.com/sales/largeview.php?name=8he01dzx.jpg&id=149838&lbx=4_396965&return_page=searchResults.php&page=2

And that was from New York’s Hometown Paper.

As for whether or not I saw him play last year. The answer is yes. I saw the ’12 playoffs. And I have to wonder how successful this surgery was. He is not going to be a 28 year old recovering from hip surgery. He is going to be a 38 year old (at least) recovering from hip surgery. And he will miss at least 3 months of baseball action. (Not counting the off-season) But I still have to defer to Cashman. Although I grant you he did not say “likely”. I would expect more of a vote of confidence from the GM. We are talking about a potential trade chip here, aren’t we?

cur68, I have not smeared and I have not vicimized ANYONE. Nor did I make any reference to the HoF or anyone’s “Children”. I am commenting on a report. I am just one juror in this court of public opinion. And THAT’s what this is. Nothing more. We all make judgements here. I don’t owe Alex Rodriguez ANYTHING! Much less the benefit of the doubt.

So spare me this Land of the Free and Home of the Brave crap!

New Yorkers forgive (or in this case, tolerate) if you perform.,

Seriously, since when? The guy came over in ’04, and in his first he put up OPS+ of 131, 173 (MVP), 134, and 176 (MVP). The last one, in ’07, people like Mike Lupica were still writing columns talking about how he “wasn’t a true Yankee” and “if he didn’t perform in the playoffs, they should let him go” and “the Yanks would be a better team with Scott Brosius than Alex Rodriguez”. Where’s the tolerance? Where’s the acceptance? Arod has taken almost all the blame for the playoff loses every year even though many people had similar if not worse production including St. Jeter.

His own GM said he will likely miss the entire season

No, he didn’t. Cashman said it was a possibility.
This isn’t all that surprising, but during a recent radio interview Brian Cashman said it’s possible Alex Rodriguez won’t play at all this coming season due to his left hip surgery. “Yeah, I think because (of) the serious nature of the surgery and the condition that he’s trying to recover from, you know, there is that chance,” said the GM.

A-Rod is, IMHO, done

Have you looked at what he did last year? This isn’t the height of the steroid era when no names were putting up 30-35 HR. Depending on your metric of choice, he was either 12% better than average against the league (OPS+) or 14% (wRC+). The latter was just behind Jeter at 116.

On top of a pile of money with many beautiful ladies.

Church, I was born and raised in Brooklyn. New Yorkers forgive (or in this case, tolerate) if you perform. (Not that I agree with that philosophy. I beleive forgiveness starts with contrition.) I’ve seen it with how Knick fans treated Latrell Spreewell when they were making a run in the late 90′s. And its NOT just NY fans. Look at the love the fans showed Bonds while he was chasing Aaron. The big difference is that Bonds was still a force. A-Rod is, IMHO, done. His own GM said he will likely miss the entire season. Which means if he decides to come back at all he will be 38/39 with a degenerative hip, etc. If he comes back, he won’t be the force he once was. Not even close. He will be persona non grata. If you thought he was treated like crap before, wait until the first time he strikes out in a big spot when (if) he returns. That’s why I beleive we’ve seen the last of A-Rod in pinstripes. There will be a mutual parting of the ways. Neither side will need the poison atmosphere. Whether or not these allegations are true or not. It will be more about performance, or lack thereof. These allegations will just add fuel to the fire.

He was for the most part tolerated because he was an MVP caliber player

Really, he was tolerated? When’s the last time any other media of a team wrote an article stating that even though said player was the MVP, that he wouldn’t be worth keeping? And that’s just the media! I grew up in CT, went to college in the Bronx and have plenty of family members, both mine and my wife’s side, that live in NY/Long Island. Trust me, people weren’t giving him the benefit of the doubt/tolerating him.

NO MORE! They will need to increase security at the gate and in the stands around 3rd base if any of this IS corroborated

Hyperbole is the greatest thing ever!

I, for one, commend the Nyorcan spawetsrighters for weeweeing on the flawd, mimetic-desire-driven logic of late capitalism and pointing A-roid in the direction of redemption. Bravo, say I!

How is it people can get on here and scream (well, e-scream: the all caps kind of e-screaming) about the “sanctity of sports”, the “meaningful traditions of The Hall Of Fame”, arbitrary “First Ballot” rules and “Its For The Children” but they are all fine with screwing over a person based on the handwritten notes of a drug dealer? Precisely what are we teaching “The Children”? Screw over someone just “because”? Witch hunts are “Ok, because we don’t like this guy”?

There will be investigations. Both federal and MLB. Until this evidence is authenticated, and there is more evidence or a confession, Alex Rodriguez deserves the benefit of the doubt just like anyone.

He was for the most part tolerated because he was an MVP caliber player. NO MORE! They will need to increase security at the gate and in the stands around 3rd base if any of this IS corroborated. It is unfortunate and I don’t condone it, but this is the world we live in now.

As for the possibility of innocence? I think it is more likely that he is NOT innocent. I have no basis for this other than my gut. Go ahead you may jump ugly on me for that last sentence but I no longer give this guy the benefit of the doubt, nor do I have to in this kind of forum. But ever since his mea culpa in ’09 I chose to not beleive a thing this guy says. Because if anyone thinks this guy only did PEDs from ’01 thru ’03 they are naive.