It was happy hour at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, but the normally raucous bar sounded more like a library.
Dozens of rapt baseball fans sat glumly glued to their barstools to watch Alex Rodriguez’s televised mea culpa with a mixture of disgust, disappointment and resignation.
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Bronx native and Yankee fan Jose Santos, 31, almost choked on his beer listening to Rodriguez’s whines.
“Bring back the team from ’96 with Scott Brosius and Chuck Knoblauch,” said Santos, referring to the World Series champion Yankee team.
“These guys played with passion. There’s no steroid for passion and fire.”
Jaime Stella, 33, a “die-hard Yankee fan” who was having an after-work drink in the bar, said he’s now going to think twice about everything Rodriguez has done in his career.
“I’m disappointed in A-Rod. I was hoping he was just a natural talent, but now you have to questions his records,” said the Bristol, Conn., man.
Juan Marrero, 52, said the Yankee star – who seemed destined for the Hall of Fame – will no longer be mentioned alongside the greats of the game.
“You have people like Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Derek Jeter. Then you have A-Rod, who might break records but will always be attached to an asterisk,” said the tourist from Puerto Rico.
Many fans said Rodriguez – who ‘fessed up to using steroids in a TV interview aired after he was outed in a Sports Illustrated article – deserves credit for telling the truth.
“It’s really not at all surprising, but at least he admitted it, unlike people like Barry Bonds who drag it out,” said Craig Davis, an Army specialist from Windsor, NJ.
But many worried about the message Rodriguez’s apology sends to younger fans.
“I have a 15-year-old who plays baseball and let me tell you this just completely discounts A-Rod from his life,” said Randy Mitchell, a financial consultant from Dallas. “A-Rod is no role model.”