LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Is The Bronx Alex Rodriguez’s home turf?
One of A-Rod’s attorneys suspects that is why Yankees team physician Christopher Ahmad desires to move the locale of the medical malpractice lawsuit that has been filed against him by the beleaguered third baseman.
Alan Ripka, a personal injury lawyer, is filing his paperwork in response to a motion by both Ahmad and his hospital, New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, to move the hearing from Bronx County to New York County. Ripka asserts the case should be heard in The Bronx because it’s the home of the Yankees, and where Ahmad conducted a good amount of his daily work with the team.
“I believe that the paramount reason for the defense is they don’t want the people in The Bronx making a determination regarding this beloved baseball player, who as a result of medical malpractice may never be the same,” Ripka told The Post.
Peter Crean, Ahmad’s attorney, responded, “I don’t want to get into a discussion of legal strategy. They filed in the wrong county. The court will decide that.”
Rodriguez alleges in his lawsuit Dr. Ahmad missed a “superior labral tear at the left hip” after giving A-Rod an MRI exam when he was suffering from hip pain during the 2012 American League Division Series. The botched exam “allowed [Rodriguez] to further injure himself” and subjected him to additional surgeries, the suit says.
Bronx Judge Douglas McKeon, who was born in the borough, is scheduled to address the motion to change the venue on Dec. 20.
Rodriguez also has filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball and commissioner Bud Selig, and he is of course waiting for a ruling after he appealed the 211-game suspension issued to him by Selig. Independent arbitrator Fredric Horowitz is expected to issue that in early-to-mid January.