Stand by your ex.
That’s the tune Alex Rodriguez’s former wife, Cynthia, is singing in New York magazine’s Monday issue. But even as she attempts to defend A-Rod against Major League Baseball’s allegation that he used banned substances, she suggests he lacks a moral compass and would just listen to the advice of whoever was with him at the time.
“I used to say to Alex, ‘Don’t you just know what to do? Don’t you just have that voice in your head that tells you?’ He said, ‘No. I don’t,’ ” Cynthia said.
“I think, looking back, he was probably uncomfortable with his place in the world.”
Amazingly, A-Rod referred the mag to his ex-wife as a “character witness” despite his string of embarrassing liaisons, including one with Madonna that led to their 2008 divorce.
“You’re going to love her,” he told New York. “She’s an amazing lady. I love her to pieces, and she’s one of my best friends.”
C-Rod, who had two daughters with A-Rod, lauded her ex for making amends after their breakup.
“He really made sure that everything was taken care of,” she said. “It was a very nurturing process . . . I saw something in him that I still see in him, and what I see is still very good.”
She believes many of his problems stem from growing up without a father and trying to please everyone.
“He’s trying to say the right thing, trying to fit in,” Cynthia said. “I would say immature, not insincere.”
Even toward the end, as their marriage hung by a thread, she said she tried to get to the bottom of why he is the way he is — even soliciting baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. for advice.
“Cynthia, let me tell you the problem,” he told her. “I might be wearing a suit, and Alex will see me and say, ‘Cal, I love your suit. Where did you get that suit?’ Then somebody else might walk in the locker room, and they have a completely different kind of suit on. And Alex might say, ‘Hey, I love your suit.’ Cynthia, he tries to please everyone. That’s the problem.”