From the very start, Alex Rodriguez has been an achiever. He was the first overall draft pick at 17 years old and a batting champion at 21. He was the richest player in baseball at 25 and a three-time most valuable player at 32.

And that was all before his life got really interesting.

Rodriguez’s later achievements will always shadow him. Not just one steroids scandal, but two! Lies, lies and more lies! A caustic and unseemly legal fight against Major League Baseball and the players’ union! A yearlong suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs!

To his credit, Rodriguez has refused to retreat in disgrace. He has used his star power, charm, and genuine love of baseball to forge a remarkable renaissance in recent years as a lead analyst on M.L.B.’s most visible television platforms. With his fiancée, Jennifer Lopez, Rodriguez seems to be everywhere.

But there are two places he may never be, two achievements that seem destined to elude him: the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the owners’ suite at a major league ballpark.

Source: New York Times

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