COOPERSTOWN — Alex Rodriguez’s once glorious career is turning into a Hall of Shame.
The fall of A-Rod and his potential suspension by MLB is not going unnoticed at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Just 34 of the 62 living Hall of Famers came here this weekend to celebrate one of the most wonderful weekends of the baseball summer.
No living players were elected this year. The PED stain has reached all levels of the game.
The Brewers’ Ryan Braun has been suspended for 65 games for his connection to the Biogenesis clinic and it looks like the hammer soon will be dropped on the Yankees third baseman.
“The guys who have cheated have created an uneven playing field, and I don’t have any sympathy for them,’’ said Brooks Robinson, the legendary Orioles third baseman.
”It’s going to be awful tough for [Rodriguez] to come back and have a productive season,” Robinson said. “It’s like a soap opera. He’s been nice to me and I’ve enjoyed talking to him over the years.’’
Robinson said he has lost “respect’’ for A-Rod.
“I’m kind of waiting to see when the hammer comes down like everyone else, but I get disappointed when I hear guys say, ‘Well, I only did it one time,’” Robinson said. “That upsets me, too. It’s like saying I only robbed a bank one time. It is what it is.’’
Noted Orlando Cepeda: “It’s very sad because [Rodriguez] is such a talented guy. The thing that really bothers me is that he has so much talent. I am a Buddhist. And there are three poisons: greed, stupidity and ignorance. How much money do you need that you will never be able to come here?’’
Bert Blyleven said of the entire PED situation: “I think baseball was very lenient on Ryan Braun. My personal feeling is that he shouldn’t play next year either. Baseball has to make a stand. The commissioner of baseball needs to make a stand, and whether it be Alex Rodriguez or Ryan Braun or whoever it is, they’ve been told. I mean, c’mon, the guys have been warned enough.
“If you want to clean it up, you have to be very, very aggressive and they have to put their foot down and say, ‘This is the way it is’ to scare the young kids that might have that opportunity to do the same thing that Braun was accused of and Rodriguez.
“As Hall of Famers and old-time players, yeah, you’re disappointed,’’ Blyleven continued. “It’s the current-day players that need to speak out and say enough is enough. We want to play on a level playing field. We don’t need these guys that are being juiced to make themselves better and sign these long-term contracts.’’
Blyleven said there should be a clause by which contracts can be voided because of PED use.
“Fans aren’t stupid,’’ Blyleven said. “Fans know that Hank Aaron is the all-time leading home run hitter. Barry Bonds passed him, but there were situations that allowed him to pass the greatest player in our era.’’
Roberto Alomar, who said he has been a fan of A-Rod since Rodriguez was 17, is disappointed in the drug saga.
“Baseball is trying to do the right thing,’’ Alomar said. “He’s made some mistakes, and I think he understands he made some mistakes. He’s trying to do the right thing now. Hopefully they give him an opportunity to play.’’
Then there are the likes of Bonds and Roger Clemens, drug-tainted retired starts who were not voted in by the BBWAA.
“I didn’t even think about those guys this year,’’ Robinson said. “I just think the guys in the Hall of Fame played the game the right way. Everyone here feels that the [PEDs] they’re taking makes them bigger, stronger, hit the ball further, and there is no doubt in my mind that it does, but there are going to be a few guys who pass under the radar and got away with it.”
“The weekend hasn’t changed for the Hall of Famers,’’ Robinson added. “We got like our own little club here. If you got players like Aaron and [Sandy] Koufax here, you got a show. We don’t need anybody else.’’