Alex Rodriguez didn’t make any friends in baseball when he was banned for the season because of his ties to Biogenesis. He has done even more damage to his reputation with his fight with the MLB Players Association.
“He does steroids or whatever, it [stinks],” Jonny Gomes told the Boston Herald on Thursday. “He’s always in the news, it [stinks]. But this is the players’ union he’s going against. It’s all of us. Not a real good idea.”
Following arbitrator Fredric Horowitz’s decision to force Rodriguez out for the 2014 season, the Yankees third baseman has continued to fight, angering the league and the Players Association, which also was named in the lawsuit Rodriguez’s legal team brought to federal court.
“He did it. It was his decision, his suspension,” Gomes said. “Him and the Yankees were butting heads last year, whatever, don’t care. But he’s truly going against every single major league player and every single major league player that has played this game before. It brings a whole different light on things.”
Gomes isn’t the only one to side against Rodriguez in his battle.
Fay Vincent banned Pete Rose from baseball for life and said he believes Rodriguez might suffer a similar fate of winding up exiled from the sport.
“It’s not going to end well,” the former baseball commissioner said Friday on Joe Piscopo’s radio show on WNYM. “The guy made some horrible mistakes, and what he should do is what Pete Rose told him to do.”
Vincent also said Rodriguez’s lone shot at redemption is to own up to his transgressions — something Vincent doesn’t think will happen.
“He’s made a mess of his life,” Vincent said. “He’s made a mess of the situation and baseball. The only way out, is to say you’re really sorry and tell the truth. But the odds on his doing that are about as great as an elephant flying. It’s just not going to happen.
“Pete made the same mistake: They lied, they were corrupt and they were doing bad things,” Vincent said. “The only way out of that box is to tell the American people, ‘I’m really sorry.’ Now, Rose never did it and Rose is sitting out in a casino signing his name for money. A-Rod has a chance, but it’s a very slim chance.”