Twelve Years After His Fall, A-Rod Is Still Baseball’s Great Irony

Once the poster child for baseball’s PED era, Alex Rodriguez is now a clean-cut, pastel-suited spokesman for MLB on Fox, sitting comfortably between David Ortiz and Derek Jeter like he wasn’t once the villain in a real-life baseball soap opera.

But 12 years ago, the former Yankee legend was the villain.

It was August 5, 2013, just twelve years ago today, when the current MLB on Fox analyst was handed a jaw-dropping 211-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis scandal, a Florida-based anti-aging clinic that was really just a glorified PED buffet. He was the headliner in what became the biggest mass suspension since the Black Sox scandal almost a century earlier.

Twelve others joined him in the shame parade that day, including All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, and Everth Cabrera, each receiving 50-game suspensions. Ryan Braun had already been hit with a 65-game suspension the month before, finally fessing up after his infamous “I would bet my life” speech turned into a punchline.

In total, 18 players were disciplined in connection with Biogenesis—proof that while baseball had moved past the steroid-fueled home run chases of the '90s, the temptation to cheat was still very much alive.

A-Rod, of course, fought his suspension tooth and nail, sued MLB, sued the players' union, and went on WFAN and swore to  Mike Francesa that he was innocent. And then backed off just in time to sit out the entire 2014 season. By the time he returned, it was all contrition and cleaned-up PR. 

And now, he’s reinvented himself as baseball’s tuxedoed truth-teller on national TV an irony that seemingly still ticks off Jose Canseco. 

Twelve years later, we remember the scandal that confirmed the whispers about A-Rod and the game of baseball. 

A-Rod did his time; he will likely never see his Hall-of-Fame-worthy career recognized alongside the greats of the game, but he’s clearly not suffering. He and Manfred have long ago made up, baseball has welcomed him back and now he’s a part-owner in an NBA team. 

Only in America, kids. Only in America.