I have to admit, the overriding reason for my participation in discussing “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez,” is to help my colleague Monica get her blog off the ground. As a fellow blogger, I understand the importance of trying to get an audience right away and then grow it.
Truth be told, I would appear the wrong person for this project. I have lost a lot of interest in baseball over the years; the sport has become too slow and I have a difficult time focusing through an entire game. In addition, with limited discretionary time to read, I lean almost on a steady diet of fiction, mostly literate mysteries. Add in the fact that thanks to George Steinbrenner I am no longer a Yankees fan and, like many, get sick of the whole athlete-steroid debate, and one would have to wonder why Monica would want me involved and why I would accept.
But I also come in with a sense of curiosity and a clean slate. It has been awhile since I have read a sports book and want to see if this book actually sheds some new light on A-Rod, or instead is just riding his coattails to help make an author richer. Selena Roberts is a quality journalist and I admired her work for the New York Times.
A-Rod is also a compelling figure, an outstanding athlete full of contradictory foibles. He is also one of many baseball players now shrouded in the mystery of how many of his accomplishments are based on talent and how many are a product of illegal enhancements.
Now you know how I feel as I enter the door.
I’m interested to see my feelings once I close it.
