Alex vs ARod (2025) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[TV static drones]
[bright tone]
- It's my pleasure
to introduce to you
the newest Texas Ranger,
Alex Rodriguez.
- Hello, how's everyone doing?
[chuckles]
I couldn't be happier
to be in Texas.
I mean that very sincerely.
I never knew Texas
was an option for me.
It's painful to watch this.
[laughs]
I mean, you see
the stress in my face,
and also, I feel the weight
of my entire family
and the friends,
and it's like--
like, when we grew up
in Dominican,
it's kind of like,
one makes it,
the tribe makes it.
And so there's--
I would say it's, like,
80%, 90% happiness.
The other one, I can just
feel the stress a little bit.
In many ways, I look back
and it's like, I feel bad
for that guy in a weird way.
It's like watching a movie
and watching
a different character, almost.
That's how I see it,
'cause I'm so much different
than that person
that I watched as a kid.
Yeah.
[cheers and applause]
- People may laugh at this,
but there's
clearly two personalities.
There's A-Rod,
and there's Alex.
Alex is my brother,
sensitive person.
And A-Rod is the killer,
the motherfucker.
He's going to go
down your throat.
He's going to snatch
it out of you.
[somber music]
- A-Rod is someone that ego
doesn't fit inside this hotel
and would walk around
very cocky,
you know, I'm the guy.
♪
Getting thrust into an adult
world at a very early age,
wanting to be the best
player that ever
walked the face of this Earth,
I think that, at some point,
affected him.
And he kind of changed--
not a little, a lot.
You know, you get
$1/4 billion,
never been seen
in the history of sports.
That's where the real
spotlight turned on.
- Where's everybody from
here today?
- Seattle, Washington.
I watch you all the time.
Huge fan of you, Alex.
- Alex was
baseball's golden boy
until he signed that contract.
- His ego is going to drive--
- Sold out.
That's what he did.
- We live in a very
cynical world,
and people get off
on seeing people fail.
And Alex really wanted
to prove people wrong.
- A drive to right
center field.
There it goes.
- I think I had an incredible
appetite to just be great.
- Alex driving it
to right center.
Could it be number 300?
- I wanted to play 162 games.
I wanted to play
every pitch and never
leave anything on the table.
- He makes the play.
- And I kind of would
get off on it,
shutting people up.
- I'm going to boo him tonight
because I hate the guy.
- No one likes to be disliked.
And I think he struggled
with it to a point
that he was going
a little bit overboard.
- They thought I was greedy,
obnoxious, cocky,
arrogant, overpaid.
There was a little bit
of, like, well,
the world thinks
I'm this way, so fuck it.
Why not be that guy?
Like everyone else, I've made
a lot of mistakes in my life.
♪
One thing I know is for sure,
baseball is a lot bigger
than Alex Rodriguez.
♪
[crowd cheering]
- Slowly hit near short.
And that's the season
as the Rangers end
20 games under 500 this year.
- It felt a little hollow.
You're playing great,
but the team's not winning.
So there's no way to celebrate
your individual performance
with your team struggling.
So that part was challenging,
but I felt optimistic
that we can turn the corner.
And I was in it
for the long haul.
I signed a 10-year commitment.
That's what it was.
But after the '03 season,
Tom Hicks
asked to meet with me.
He said, we have some
financial restrictions.
Would you be open for a trade?
And I was shocked.
And to his defense, he said,
if you don't want to go,
we'll see if we
can make this work,
but we're going to have
restrictions on our payroll,
which made me think, boy,
if we've been struggling
for three years and we're going
to limit payroll,
it's going to be
even harder to win.
So then that started
a series of conversations
with the Boston Red Sox.
We had this meeting
that I've never talked about
in New York at the Four Seasons
in the wee hours of the night.
And it was myself,
Theo Epstein, and Jed Hoyer,
and we were going through
potential lineups.
They have Big Papi.
They have Manny, Kevin Millar,
Johnny Damon,
the pitchers
Schilling and Pedro.
And I said, oh man,
this is a championship team.
Like, we can do
some damage with this team.
We then took
the next two months
and put together a deal
for me to go from the Rangers
to the Red Sox,
and I was conceding
well over $40 million.
And the head of the union,
Don Fehr,
thought
that if we have players
conceding so much money
to play for a certain team,
that would set
the wrong precedent.
In hindsight,
I think Don Fehr was right,
even though I was
really bummed out at the time.
[siren wailing]
Two weeks later
is the MVP dinner.
[applause]
- I want to thank the
Baseball Writers of America
for this award.
In my mind
And out of all
crazy things,
Brian Cashman
sits right next to me.
I feel very honored
for getting this award.
So Brian says, if you were ever
willing to play third base,
maybe we'll get you
in pinstripes.
About 30 minutes later,
I'm in my second cocktail.
I go, hey, Cash,
were you serious about that?
He goes, I could be.
Third drink, I said,
how would that work?
[Frank Sinatra's "Theme
from New York, New York"]
♪
- Move over, Tiger Woods.
There's a new name
dominating sports headlines
all across the country.
He is Alex Rodriguez.
Baseball's reigning
American League MVP
is now playing
for the New York Yankees.
- Start spreading
the news ♪
- It is the biggest
press conference
in the 38-year history
of the New Yankee Stadium.
Over 300 media members
jammed into the Yankee club
in the bowels of Yankee Stadium
awaiting the arrival
of Alex Rodriguez,
where he will don number 13
for the first time
and move over to third base
and play alongside
Derek Jeter
in what Brian Cashman,
the Yankee general manager,
says is the best left side
of the infield
in baseball history.
- I was just as surprised
as the Yankee fans
and the Boston Red Sox fans
when I opened up
my paper today.
- Ladies and gentlemen,
number 13, Alex Rodriguez
of the New York Yankees.
- It was the right place
for him to go.
When you're a great player,
you want to be in New York.
They got the monuments.
They got all
the world championships.
♪
- I just remember
putting on that uniform
for the first time.
You just felt
the aura of New York,
the pinstripes, the history.
Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio,
Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson,
all the greats
wore this uniform.
Being from New York and being
born in Washington Heights,
it energizes me.
It gives me the goose bumps.
- Life goes full circle
at times.
It's eerie, right?
It's kind of weird that,
you know,
some 20 years later,
he becomes a Yankee.
It's like destiny.
- And now--now we will
have the newest Yankee.
Alex, how you doing?
- How are you?
- Oh, boy. Oh, boy.
Congratulations.
- How you doing? Thank you.
- Is this overwhelming
to you right now?
- Very much so.
I mean, you know, I still
think that somebody
is going to step up to me,
pinch me, and wake me up.
- I mean, the first time
I really spoke with him
was when he was with Texas.
I think he liked something
that I once said on the air.
I said, Alex Rodriguez
playing for the Texas Rangers
is like hanging a "Mona Lisa"
in the garage.
And, like, he said,
that's an interesting line.
That's an interesting line.
You look at the years
he had in Texas,
should have been the most
talked-about player ever.
I mean, he never
missed an inning.
He hit 50 home runs
every single year.
They couldn't put
a good team around him.
So you've got this shining star
amongst a team that can't win.
He just doesn't have the
spotlight that he should have.
Now, Alex, obviously
you've always
been the center of attention,
whichever team you've been in.
Now you've got Giambi,
you've got Jeter,
you've got so many
stars around you.
Are you going to miss
being the focal point,
or you think that
this is actually going
to be a positive for you?
- I think the trade-off
is so good.
I mean, to be part of a team,
to be 1/25 of something,
an organization
like the New York Yankees,
where you know when you wake up
in the morning, you have
a very good chance
to win that night.
- When he came to New York,
they became a bigger show
with bigger stars
because of A-Rod.
But let's be honest, for all
his greatness as a player,
he didn't belong in New York.
The Yankees had just gone
through an incredible run.
They had already won
a lot of championships.
They'd won in '96.
They won in '98, '99, 2000.
They were in the World Series
in 2001, 2003.
They were already
a great juggernaut.
And Derek Jeter
didn't want him here.
And I understand why.
It was his team.
- And the 3-2 pitch, swung on
and drilled to right field.
Going back.
Sanders on the track
at the wall.
See ya.
What a ball game.
A game-winning walk-off
home run by Derek Jeter.
He is Mr. November!
- I was never comfortable,
you know, in terms of,
I never thought I had it made.
I always thought, you know,
when I was playing in New York,
I was always playing
to keep my job.
And I always knew
when people were
coming to try to get my job.
I knew every time
the Yankees drafted
a shortstop,
paid paying attention
to what they were doing.
- Can you actually believe
that on a team of superstars,
you now have Alex Rodriguez
to your right?
Because, you know,
he's arguably
the best player
in the game right now.
And now he's a New York Yankee.
He's your teammate.
- There was a rivalry there
between those two.
What do you expect?
A-Rod was a huge star
and a better shortstop.
Everybody knew that
in baseball.
He was a better shortstop.
- We used to talk about these
sort of things happening
when we were younger,
getting an opportunity
to play together.
- I've known Derek
since I was 16 years old.
In 1992, he was a sixth pick
of the draft by the Yankees.
I got drafted
the next year, '93.
- They built
their relationship
through being the two
hot young guys coming up.
- Hey, D, I got you
getting a cut, dog.
- We had a lot of similarities
in terms of just
playing the same position,
you know what I mean?
And we were
highly rated prospects
coming out of high school,
and then get a chance
to meet him.
He was big.
He was a lot bigger than I was.
People are going to start
talking about you.
[laughter, indistinct chatter]
I could never,
even from my first year,
sit down and compare
statistics with Alex.
- Ground ball
back up the middle.
Rodriguez with a diving stop.
The throw to first.
Alex Rodriguez robbing
his good buddy Derek Jeter.
- For me to make that play
against him was quite a thrill.
And then to see him look at me
kind of all messed up.
I kind of knew who was going
to pay for dinner that night.
- We hung out with Derek
a lot.
- Showtime, dude.
- Oh.
- Jete would visit us
every offseason
and we would go out in Miami.
But I think that they hit
some bumps in the road
before Alex got to New York.
- Many question whether
the two are friends or rivals.
Some unflattering remarks
A-Rod made about Jeter
in a magazine article three
years ago still fuel the fire.
- That "Esquire" article,
I thought it was
actually pretty vanilla.
I complimented
the whole team,
and they took that
and ran with it.
That put a strain
to our relationship for years.
- I sometimes think if that
story had never came out,
it might have been
like a fairy tale.
I mean, those two
were best buds.
But by the time Alex
got there in 2004,
they were not
best buds anymore.
One thing I learned
about Derek,
he doesn't forget any slight.
- Let's talk about
the one thing
that people are talking about,
you two not getting along.
Are you two as close
as you used to be?
Because you used to be
buddies, used to sleep
over each other's houses
when you played
in Seattle, he played here.
Are you that close?
- Well, he's married now,
so I can't
really sleep over his house.
So
[laughter]
People made
such a big deal out of, oh,
how are they going
to get along?
That was the story before
even opening press conference.
My job was to limit
distractions.
I knew stories could snowball,
and I tried to cut it off.
I always wanted the focus
to be on the field.
And for me, if you help
us win, I don't care, right?
We don't have
to hang out every day.
We don't have to go
to dinner every night.
I just concerned myself
with us winning.
- The funny thing,
when you join the Yankees,
you don't have to be
anything but a winner.
You can be the worst person
in the world,
but if you could play,
then you're
fulfilling your obligation.
So he just had to be Alex.
He had to be A-Rod.
[crowd cheering]
- Leading off, the shortstop,
number 2, Derek Jeter.
[crowd cheering]
- Obviously Alex in his mind,
is still a shortstop.
So there was still that,
you got to subjugate
your ego just a little bit.
- The third baseman,
Alex Rodriguez.
- It was a little awkward,
for sure,
because I love
playing shortstop so much.
It's like, who doesn't
want to play point guard?
Who doesn't want
to play quarterback?
My mother, my brother,
my friends
wanted to disown me.
How the fuck can you
move over to third base?
Michael Jordan doesn't
move to third base.
- Well, that's
a nice reception
walking into the room
for the first time.
He got a standing ovation.
[crowd cheering]
- I think I'd throw him
some changeups.
He's pretty pumped right now.
- Once it was done,
it was done.
That's just the way
I've always thought about it.
Like, we're moving on.
But it wasn't easy.
[crowd cheering]
[tense music]
- That ball off.
- The glove's off.
- Rodriguez,
and they can't get him.
- Playing shortstop, it's
the only thing I've known.
And as a shortstop,
you have a vantage point
of seeing the entire game,
where at third base,
you're now in a corner,
and the ball
gets to you so quickly.
And I wasn't used to that.
- Watch a delayed reaction
to the left by Rodriguez.
The ball is already
halfway to him.
Then he moves too late.
- It was a completely
new way of playing
the game of baseball,
which I found it exciting
and a challenge.
- A-Rod and Jeter.
And who's going to get it?
They drop it.
Oh, man.
- Out of all the stories
that are out there about
me and Alex,
people made such a big deal
out of a dropped pop-up.
Everyone's like, see,
they don't like each other.
He dropped a pop-up.
But one thing Alex
always hated was pop-ups.
- You give me
any ground ball, I'm good.
Line drive, I'm good.
Pop-ups, kryptonite.
[laughs]
- Off third.
A-Rod runs into the stands.
He can't make the catch,
and hopefully he's not hurt.
- When you're trying to learn
a new position in real time
in the prime of your career,
there's not too much room
to get comfy.
And you can never
get comfortable in New York.
The weight of those
pinstripes are real.
The spotlight is real.
You're basically playing
on national TV every night.
We're playing
in front of a full house.
56,000.
Every home game
for the first time ever,
having guys like
Mariano Rivera, Posada,
I mean,
these guys are legends.
You get the resources,
but you better perform.
And that was the trade.
And I'm like, OK, well,
that's cool, and that's fair.
That's what I signed up for.
- For him to fit in,
he had to show
that he cared
as much as they did,
and I think
he showed them that.
He's such a star, but he has
a lunch pail attitude.
He was there early,
stayed late,
taking ground balls at third.
And he became a very,
very good third baseman.
- Oh, a diving stop by A-Rod.
Throws long across.
Oh, what a play by A-Rod.
- Third base is a great
position for him to play.
He was agile,
and he had good feet,
had a good throwing arm
and good hands.
Zip the ball
across the infield,
and then he could hit
for power
like third basemen do.
- That pitch is hit
deep to center field.
See ya, a 2-run home run
for Alex
- It still came out to be
a pretty respectable year.
I think I hit over, I think,
36 home runs and over 100 RBIs.
- See ya.
The game is over.
Walk-off home run
for Alex Rodriguez.
- I just thought, wow,
this is another piece
to continue the dynasty.
They're going to just
reel off more World Series.
It looked like it was
going to be unstoppable,
but you were waiting to see
what he did in the playoffs.
[crowd cheering]
- Look, in New York,
you grow up quick.
My first year, you know,
we won a championship,
so every year, the expectation
level was the same.
- Championship or bust.
- Championship or bust, yeah.
- Game 1 of the American
League Championship Series
about ready to get underway.
The tension is palpable.
Everybody is standing.
- The archrivals
on center stage again.
The Yankees and Red Sox,
the first in a best of seven.
- When I went
to New York, I knew
that we had a formidable
opponent with the Red Sox.
That was not a surprise.
♪
- You have to understand
the level
with which the Yankees
owned the Red Sox.
- Raschi pitches.
Birdie swings
and pops it up in the air.
Henrich says he's got it.
Tommy has it.
The Yankees win the pennant.
- There was only one theme.
Eventually the Yankees were
going to break their heart.
- That might send the Yankees
to the World Series.
- And then once I got there,
between Boston, no,
then Yankees, yes,
it went to a level that was,
like, pretty explosive.
- Here we go.
Varitek and A-Rod going at it.
- I always laughed,
it wasn't a rivalry.
It was a complete domination
until it wasn't in 2004.
- Whatever he did
in the regular season,
Yankees don't really care.
The Yankees brought
Alex Rodriguez here
to help them beat
the Boston Red Sox
and get to the World Series
and win that.
- Jeter on
to start the inning.
Rodriguez plunks one
to the left side in the hole.
Cabrera throws across.
- Boy, we came out
of the gates on fire.
[crowd cheering]
- Here comes A-Rod.
Sheffield all the way around.
It's a 3-run double.
Yankees win Game 1 10-7.
- 1-0.
- Game over.
♪
- 2-0.
- And that's going
to tie this game.
A blast out onto
Lansdowne Street
off the bat of Rodriguez,
who's 2 for 2.
- If you look at what he did
up to Game 4 of the ALCS,
he was A-Rod.
- We're scoring 14 runs,
19 runs, just dominating.
- The Yankees
have pounded their way
to a three-games-to-none lead
in this ALCS.
- It was 3-0.
And we were three outs away
from going to the World Series.
And we have the greatest
closer on the mound.
- Rivera looking for his
33rd postseason save.
Here we go.
- And then everything
crashed to Earth.
- Up the middle, Roberts
will come to the plate.
The throw by Williams.
Bill Miller has tied it.
- Sure enough, this guy
named Big Papi shows up.
- Ortiz into deep right field.
It's Sheffield.
We'll see you later
- I think everybody
on that team
felt they had to put away
that series in Games 4 or 5.
- Here comes David.
He's in to score, and the
Red Sox win it in 14 innings.
- And then
when you start to think
about the possibility
of losing,
are we going to blow this?
Are we going to blow
a 3-0 lead?
It's never been done.
And Alex,
with his appreciation
of baseball history,
he knew what was happening
in real time.
- He struggled the rest of
the way the next three games.
[crowd cheering]
♪
- That little wave
became a bigger wave.
Then it became an avalanche.
We just couldn't stop it.
- I think the pressure became
too much for all of them
and it just all fell apart.
- Here it is.
Ground ball to second.
Reese, the Boston Red Sox
have won the pennant.
[crowd cheering]
[fingers snap]
- That was the series.
- The most stunning comeback
in baseball history.
The Boston Red Sox
become the first team
ever to win a series when,
down three games to none,
they whipped the New York
Yankees four straight.
- I mean, that was one
of the most painful four games
I've played my entire life,
going back to Little League,
high school, Summer League.
[indistinct chatter]
I don't think anything can
prepare you for being up 3
against your archrivals,
the Red Sox,
and then just getting
your butts kicked
for the next four games.
You open that window up
just a little bit,
and a team that good
can gain momentum.
A four-game winning streak
is really not that hard to do
when you're that good.
- Do we got to talk about this?
Can't you just--
can't you just
- Just a hair.
- Play it back?
Just play it back.
Go ahead.
- To have them collapse
on that stage
when they are three games up
and three outs away
and lose the series
is, without question,
the greatest
postseason collapse
in the history of sports.
- Any Yankee fan who lived
through that knows it was one
of the most painful things they
ever, ever had to live through.
- That's something that's
going to hurt all winter,
and I think it's going
to make us stronger
and make us hungrier
for next year.
You just go through
every scenario in your mind.
We played every play,
every pitch.
What could we have
done differently?
Like, first time
in the history this happens.
How could this happen?
How could it be us?
I mean, it felt like
a horrific dream.
I'm having a hard time
thinking about it right now.
- What do you do
to process loss like that?
- You have a child
on November 18th.
Thank goodness
Natasha was born.
And that's probably the only
medicine that could have,
you know, made it better.
[camera shutter snapping]
- He wanted to have kids,
like, right after
we got married,
and I was the one that
wasn't ready to have kids.
He wasn't going
to be able to contribute
much with his schedule.
So I knew
that the majority of it
was going to land
on my shoulders.
But he's very convincing.
When he wants something,
he's very convincing.
- On November 18, 2004,
Natasha came to this world.
It was definitely healing
and just
one of the greatest days
of my life.
Oh, nice 2.
[laughter]
What?
Oh, my God.
- [laughs]
- I've never seen
a miss like that.
Look at that.
Better recheck your eyesight.
I always wanted to provide
what my father couldn't do
for our family, a safe place.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
- Ooh!
- And it's been the most
rewarding part of my life,
watching them grow up
and being a part
of their life, by far.
[indistinct chatter]
Watch this.
- My dad and I are, like,
kind of twin flames
in work ethic, in passion,
in drive, ambition.
And we're social butterflies.
But we both also, like,
our circles are very small,
so, like, we're kind of
carbon copies of each other.
- All I ever wanted to do
was reach my potential,
whatever that was.
It was less about talent
and more about
emotional control
and, most importantly,
discipline.
The greatest gift that
any young person can have
is not to think
in a limited way because of
your surroundings,
because of the limitations
that you have from your parents
and grandparents.
That's a real gift.
And she has that gift,
and so does Ella.
And I'm proud of that.
- Would you rather be a star
in college basketball
or an average player
in the NBA?
- But those are my--
- Probably NBA,
because I don't really know
much about college basketball.
But NBA is super cool.
I don't like calling myself
A-Rod's daughter.
I actually hate that.
Growing up, people have always
been like, your dad's A-Rod?
A-Rod's going to be here?
And I'm just like, I hear that,
and I just, like, guys, like,
that's--like, he has a name.
Like, it's Alex.
Like, he's a real human, like--
so I don't know,
it's always just been
a little bit weird for me.
What about you?
- College, for sure, of course.
You always want
what you don't have.
- I think I'm very, like,
ambitious because of him.
Like, he sets
his mind to something,
there's no telling him
otherwise.
Like, me--all three of us
are like that.
- Saturday morning, we get up.
We have a great
family workout, optional.
We go to the hardware store
to have lunch.
- A lot of the discipline
that I have is from him.
Anytime I would meet someone--
eye contact, firm handshake.
Little things like that
that was, like,
so annoying as a kid,
like, now have, like,
made me and my sister
a big part of who we are.
- He'd have a night game
and he'd leave the house,
you know, like, midmorning.
Always the first one there,
same parking spot.
You know, after the game,
shower, in a suit.
And then when you get home,
watch the game over again
with Michael Kay
commentating in the back,
you know, and he wouldn't
go to bed
until he watched
the whole game again.
- There's only 10 tops now.
- Anybody who knows my dad
knows he loves me
and my sister
more than anything.
He's so affectionate.
But looking back, because
of how hard he was working,
he wasn't always around.
Most of the time, he wasn't
around in my childhood.
Love him.
But that was just
the reality of it.
- Listen, I live
by the concept of,
plan for the worst,
hope for the best.
If you do that,
you'll never be in trouble.
- Yes.
- I wish I would have
thought about that
earlier in my life, but--
- Alex is the best.
But, like, your ego thrives
off of your achievements
and, like, all the things
you can list that you do,
which is something
that I do all the time.
And I'm like, I'm doing this,
I'm doing this, I'm doing this,
I'm doing this.
I'm so accomplished.
And A-Rod has a lot of those.
But he wouldn't have
the career that he's had
if he didn't exist.
It's like yin and yang vibes.
Like, they have to coexist.
- Back when I was
much younger,
I was really narrow and deep in
one thing, and that's baseball.
I did not want to compromise
any part of the game.
[indistinct chatter]
I had this incredible
work ethic,
kind of blended
with insecurity.
We would start our days at,
you know, 5:00 in the morning,
you know, go do our running,
our lifting, our fielding,
get back in the gym,
go run mountains at night.
I was just like a machine.
I felt like Rocky
getting ready for Russia.
[upbeat music]
♪
Removed from results, I just
loved to get there early,
put the work in like
a glutton for punishment.
- When we got the batting
cage, I remember him
asking me to buy five heaters,
so we would
turn on the heat,
put the machine at 100,
put the music loud,
and let's get to work.
Down one, man on first
and third, two outs.
Second and third, no outs.
Blowout, what do you do?
- Home run.
And that's something
I'm really proud of.
No matter what happens
on the field,
I'm always doing my work.
So I felt so confident.
- Deep to left and gone.
Alex Rodriguez on a little
mini hot streak here.
His third home run
of the year and gives
the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
- When you get a chance
to watch a player every game,
sometimes you're disappointed.
And although he came in
with otherworldly numbers
and a great reputation,
you realize
why this guy is as good
as he is.
He's one of the hardest
workers I've ever seen
in almost 40 years
covering baseball.
Obviously he cared
about stardom too.
I mean, that was important.
It's his brand.
- There's no easy way out ♪
- Probably say,
in year two, I started
feeling, like,
the urge to flex up
and just enjoy life
a little bit.
Early 2000s in New York,
I mean, there's so much
going on.
You had hip-hop.
You had fashion.
You had music.
You had the Knicks.
You had the Rangers,
the Mets, the Giants.
There's so much going on.
- You're 23, 24 years old,
and you can do whatever
you want and you can't
do wrong.
- 2-2.
Swung on, hit high in the air
to deep left center.
It is gone.
3-run home run
into the Yankee bullpen.
That one's hit deep to left.
There it goes.
See ya!
- It was exciting,
but it was also really hard.
Like every baseball
wife in America,
like, you're on
a baseball schedule.
And I'm not going to pretend
that it was wonderful.
It was not wonderful.
- Everyone wants to know
what A-Rod's really like,
and so did we.
And the last we saw,
A-Rod and his wife
were going into
a downtown luxury building.
- It was a different level
of notoriety,
different amount
of people watching.
Like, it was just different.
It was just--it was New York.
- When you hear,
Cynthia, people say,
A-Rod, he's so handsome.
A-Rod, one of the best-looking
players in baseball.
- You know what?
I'm flattered by that.
I mean, he's my husband.
And if people find him
attractive and sexy, great.
I mean, you know, it's sexy.
- Sexy.
- It's a different type
of world and arena.
And he didn't understand
the rules of New York City
and what it was to be in that
world, in that limelight.
- Did you pull up
his Central Park pictures,
laying out on a rock?
I never did that.
- We're sitting there
at Central Park
and it is smoking hot.
I said, what better time
to get some rays?
[mimics camera shutter
snapping]
Next page
in the "New York Post,"
pow, you know, Sun-Rod.
I didn't think
about the consequences.
I didn't think about paparazzi.
I was thinking about
who was pitching that day.
[crowd cheering]
- A-Rod launches one
deep to left.
Everyone turns and watches.
See ya!
A monster home run
by Alex Rodriguez.
- I think the pressure that
you have in the regular season
as a Yankee is probably
equal to the pressure
that you have in the postseason
with other teams.
So he was able to deal
with that in a great way
by winning an MVP
and putting together,
you know, unbelievable numbers.
- It's my distinct pleasure
in honoring
Alex Rodriguez
with the two awards tonight,
MVP
and the Player of the Year.
Thank you.
[applause]
- But then there's
a different level.
When you're a Yankee,
I mean, you have an owner
that was quoted
as saying anything less
than a World Series is failure.
You have a shortstop
that constantly said that.
- No surprise to anybody
who's seen this Yankee team
play one October
after another.
The Derek Jeter in Game 5
has been on base three times,
knocked home two runs,
and has a home run.
Now it's Alex Rodriguez,
who has only two hits
in 14 at bats
in this series
and has not driven in a run.
- What you do
for 162 games
really doesn't make
a difference.
It all comes down
to what you do in October.
And if you go through
a slump or you struggle
during that time,
it looks like
the complete season
is a failure.
Fair or not, that's just
what we've built in New York.
- To the left side,
might be two.
Figgins out, out.
[crowd cheering]
- He played terribly
in the postseason,
despite winning an MVP.
And it really stuck, oh, he's
a great regular season player,
but he's not a great
postseason player.
He chokes in the postseason.
It was tough.
It was a very tough transition.
It was a rough--
rough going for a while.
- '06 was probably
my toughest year in New York.
I struggled mightily.
- Grounded to third.
Let's see if they turn two.
There's one, and there's two.
An around-the-horn
double play.
The bluebirds raining down
on Alex Rodriguez
after that DP ground ball.
- And what I noticed is,
they hated to lose
even more
than the enjoyment of winning.
- He's obviously not only
an all-star but an MVP,
yet considered by his own fans
not a "true Yankee,"
whatever that means.
- It all comes down
to postseason play.
He's never going to be
a true Yankee until he
has an outstanding postseason.
Not just a normal one,
not just one where he's
a part of the team that wins.
He has to be the star.
- Alex Rodriguez, a miserable
series, will take strike one.
- If you break up Alex's
postseason performance
from Seattle
to Game 4 of the ALCS
against the Red Sox,
he was a really good
postseason performer.
I think the Yankees' failure
in the last four games
against the Red Sox
destroyed his confidence
when it came to big games.
- Liftoff toward center.
That ball carries,
Granderson on the move.
But Alex Rodriguez
hits the ball 410 feet.
But it's just not
enough, is it?
- You know, one thing I've
always noticed about Alex,
he thinks too much,
overthinks things.
And then there are players
that do a great job
because they
don't think that much.
- Listen to them roar.
Tigers in four.
[crowd cheering]
- I used to say, A-Rod,
you got to be
mentally tough enough
to take it.
That's all there is to it.
You know,
they pay you a lot of money.
You're a big player.
You can't fold
under the pressure.
- Baseball's a game
of failure,
so you have
to have a short memory.
And when our games were over,
you know, I'd drive home.
By the time I was home,
I didn't want
to talk about it anymore.
He was shocked,
coming to my house
when we were younger, that I
didn't have the MLB package
and I wasn't at home watching
baseball after our own game.
- He didn't have,
like, the MLB Network,
and he didn't have
the baseball package.
And I'm like, what are we
going to do after the game
if we can't watch four games,
all the West Coast games?
He's like, we're not watching
the West Coast games.
We're going to go
get a bite to eat.
Where we going to eat?
Do they have TVs for the games?
He'd be like,
there is no baseball.
It's the no-baseball rule.
We don't watch baseball.
We don't talk baseball.
I go, but how do you do that?
I don't understand.
I mean, I would get home
at night,
turn on the YES Network
to watch our replay,
turn on all the West Coast
games--the Dodgers,
the Angels,
the A's, the Giants.
And that's what I watch.
I didn't want
to watch "Seinfeld."
- I mean, we used to get home
and watch games twice.
- Every TV in the office
was Major League Baseball.
Every TV in his house
was Major League Baseball.
That's the intensity he has,
right?
In a very affectionate way,
I tell him he's fucking crazy.
Like, he's cuckoo.
- The guy truly was
obsessed with the game,
like, every part of the game.
That's all he talked about.
- It's the gift
and the curse, right?
I mean, it's the maniacal way
of going about it,
where you're going to go
and win at all costs
and push the envelope.
But I was wound pretty tight.
- Last year, Alex,
in a "down year,"
hit .290 with 35 homers,
121 RBIs,
and he's 36 home runs
away from the magical 500.
- I did feel the pressure
and some
of the resentment all around.
But if you look
at all the great players,
you draw reaction from people.
And like Reggie Jackson
told me,
you know, big fella,
you control that pen
every night with that bat.
And I always
took that to heart.
[crowd cheering]
- Right center field.
That one is way back there.
That one is on its way.
Goodbye.
A grand slam.
[crowd cheering]
- '07 was kind of
a respect year for me.
- 3-1 pitch is hit high
and deep to center field,
and this one is gone.
- And that whole year,
from the get-go,
I mean, it was a party.
[dramatic opera music]
♪
- I think I hit 14 home runs
in April,
and the MVP was a wrap.
- From the New York Yankees,
Alex Rodriguez.
- Third baseman,
Alex Rodriguez.
- A-Rod!
- The funny thing
about Alex is,
unlike the players of today
that are home run hitters,
he wasn't just
a home run hitter.
He hit for average.
He drove in runs
with doubles and singles.
- And it's into left field.
Has been on base
five times today.
- He just has an unnatural
ability to play the game.
He understands the game.
He has incredible
hand-eye coordination.
I mean, he's one of few.
- Deep to left field.
You can forget about this one.
Another home run for A-Rod.
- There was days driving to
the Bronx, I would be like,
OK, would I rather go
2 for 5 with two home runs
- Deep to left.
Fair ball is gone.
- Or would I rather go
5 for 5 with two doubles?
And when I would put
my cleats on the ground
and that metal hit that clay,
I felt like a tree
that's been there
for 200 years.
And literally
I would say, OK,
do I want to hit this
in the fucking
right center field seats or
the left center field seats?
♪
[crowd cheering]
- He's done it.
Alex Rodriguez has made
Major League Baseball
history--
the youngest player ever
to hit 500 home runs.
An A-bomb from A-Rod.
- If you look at my career--
'03, MVP; '05, MVP; '07, MVP--
when it was an odd year,
I felt something really good
was going to happen.
- Well, what about even years?
Did you think, this is not
going to be my year?
- No, they were still good.
- Driven deep to center field.
Going back.
Sizemore still there.
See ya.
Another walk-off home run
for Alex Rodriguez.
A 3-run shot,
and the Yankees win 8-6.
Pandemonium in the Bronx.
Can you be hotter
than Alex Rodriguez?
[crowd cheering]
- If there's one guy that
works hard, this is the man.
He's out in that field
every day early.
He even beats me to the park.
[applause]
- All those numbers are great,
but they don't mean much,
right?
The only thing
that matters is winning.
Yogi, I am very proud
and impressed
with your three MVP awards.
The 10 championships,
I'm very jealous about.
I felt I had a responsibility
to play well as an individual,
but my biggest responsibility
was to help
bring a winning attitude.
And we couldn't get it done.
- I know that A-Rod wasn't
very good in the postseason,
and it was very disappointing
for Yankees fans.
So here you have this guy
kind of on top of the world,
getting paid the biggest
salary in baseball,
and not delivering.
You do not want to be
that person in New York.
Anyway, do you want to hear
how I first met him,
kind of how our paths
first crossed?
I went to a Yankees game
with some friends of mine
when I was anchoring
the CBS Evening News.
And I remember him looking
up towards me in the stands.
I knew he saw me,
and I felt like Glenn Close
in "The Natural" or something.
I remember I think I was
even wearing something white.
And the next thing I knew,
his security guard came up
and gave me an autographed bat
and three or four baseballs
that had been tied in knots
in an athletic sock
that he had autographed for me.
And everyone around me
was like, what is going on?
And I was like, I have no idea.
And then we just kind of
became friendly-ish.
He would call me
once in a while.
There was an infuriating story
last night on the CBS
I'll never forget
getting ready to do the news,
gosh, around 2007, and I got
this call and my assistant
said that Alex Rodriguez
was on the phone.
And he said he didn't
know whether he
should stay with the Yankees.
- Tonight's question
is put to you.
Will Alex Rodriguez be a member
of the Yankees next year?
- I think he's going
to opt out on this deal
and he's going to go elsewhere.
- He has until 10 days
after the World Series
to decide whether
he's going to opt out
or stay with the Yankees.
- It was sort of sweet
and also a little sad
that he was turning to me,
somebody who really knew
very little about baseball,
for advice,
which seemed indicative
of the fact that he didn't
really have anyone
who really had
his best interests at heart.
Isn't that crazy?
- Scott Boras, his agent,
said the team
needed to present a deal
worth $350 million
before opting out.
- When you think
about an extension,
it's not as polarizing as,
you know,
leaving one team, Seattle,
to go to a new team, Rangers.
I had unfinished business
and I wanted to stay
in New York,
but I was also open to attain
the best deal
for me and my family.
- This place is ready to go
as the Red Sox try
and finish off
the World Series.
- We're sitting at my house--
family, friends, my brother,
my sister--and we're
watching the Red Sox
about to sweep the Rockies.
Scott called and said, hey,
I think we should opt out,
but we should opt out
today during the game.
I said, that doesn't
make any sense, Scott.
What's the rush?
Oh, no, we have to do it,
because if not,
we're going to miss our window.
And this is the kind of
pressure we need to put on him.
- Left side and off the glove
of Atkins into left.
- And then by the seventh
inning, he's like, tell me,
I mean, are we
going to do this?
Just press the button.
Granted, we're probably
a couple drinks in,
and, like,
they're like,
fuck it, press the button.
- There is big news brewing.
And for that, we go down
to Ken Rosenthal.
- Joe, I just spoke
with Scott Boras,
and he confirmed
that Alex Rodriguez
has decided to opt out of his
contract with the Yankees.
- And I remember, like,
my phone started blowing up.
- Brian Cashman
has been very clear
that if Alex Rodriguez
opts out,
they will not negotiate.
- Everyone's like,
why the fuck would you
opt out in the middle
of the World Series?
- What this means
is that Boras and A-Rod
feel that they can do better
than that on the open market.
- I don't know.
We had to.
You know, it's, like,
one of those things
that your instincts
tell you better.
And I'm sure Scott
had good intentions.
They just did not
work out well for me.
That's when I said,
Scott, I hear you.
I'm sorry.
I'm staying with the Yankees,
and let's sign the contract.
[clock ticking]
- You got hammered
by the press.
They called you,
among other things,
a gold-plated phony,
Pay-Rod in Pinstripes.
They said you upstaged
more World Series games
than you actually played in.
I think everything
about Alex Rodriguez
is about image, in a way.
Image building, image repair.
Were you surprised at the level
of vitriol that came your way?
- No.
If I was a writer, I would
have done the same thing
because it was unacceptable.
- He was under
so much pressure,
and the spotlight
was so white-hot on him.
I think he was still
finding his sea legs.
- These are the two
MVP awards,
but I would like to yank
all three of them
and put
a world championship there.
- I think he's someone
who is fixated
on how he comes across
to the world and didn't quite--
quite know how to behave.
- You know, I spent
a lot more time thinking
about what the world
thought about me
back when I was much younger.
I was so uptight.
I would have, like,
Pepe and Jose
and my brother
come up to the games,
and I told them the rules.
Like, we're not allowed
to drink alcohol.
I'm so big,
it's hard to find anything
off the rack that fits.
- Alex would ask us
to wear suits during the game
because he said we were
a representative of him.
- Knots are moody.
Some days, it looks pretty.
Some days,
it looks like a hot mess.
- He wanted us always
to be on point,
for everyone to see
that his team was perfect.
- You know, in the summer,
it's 100 degrees.
And we would tell him--
you're like,
hey, dude,
you're crazy, man.
It's hot as shit out here.
- I just couldn't
take it anymore.
And we had a couple drinks
during the game.
- And I think they thought that
I wouldn't be looking at them.
But for whatever reason,
I looked up,
and all three of them
are taking sips.
- The next morning,
he sits Guy and I down,
and he goes, what is it
that I hear that you guys
were drinking at the game?
And Pepe was drunk,
and you guys were yelling,
so on and so forth.
- I mean, I can't think
of a good reason now,
but I think, back then,
I would say,
yeah, we're part of a team.
We're here to work.
And you guys
drinking in the stands
is not helping the cause.
[dramatic music]
- I just think
that a lot of pressure
came from thinking
that at the time,
you had to dress a certain way
or act a certain way
or say certain things,
but it almost came out,
like, way too fake
and us trying to be
something we were not.
- Cool.
- That expression
"fake it till you make it"
- Mm-hmm.
- Do you relate to that?
- Oh, yeah.
Of course, I mean,
fake it till you make it,
I mean, that's been
my whole life, right,
and everyone I grew up with.
I mean, we didn't
have anything.
If we didn't fake it,
we weren't going to survive.
[laughs]
- There's something
a little almost Gatsbyesque
about this guy,
because he always
seems to be striving.
So you have to admire
his constant desire
for self-improvement,
but you also have to wonder
at what cost.
[reporters clamoring]
- Guys, hold back, please.
- Mrs. Rodriguez.
- Call it naivety.
I have always believed
that you trust people
until they do something to,
I don't know,
create distrust.
♪
- Well, I mean,
at first, I would say,
you can't believe
everything you read.
Some things are
underplayed in the media.
Some things are overplayed.
And this is probably
somewhere in the middle.
♪
It was not like
we were unhappy.
But we were growing
apart romantically.
I don't know.
I mean, you know,
marriage is challenging.
♪
- He seemed to be, you know,
extremely apologetic
and, you know,
not proud of his actions.
And we were together
about a year,
and then I got pregnant
with Ella.
And then when Ella
was first born,
a very similar scenario.
And at that point,
we got divorced.
- In hindsight, I could
have been a better husband.
I could have been more present.
I could have been more loyal.
I could have been more
sympathetic, empathetic,
all of it, you name it.
- I knew that he had
his own demons,
and I was hoping
he would get help.
And I hoping that it could
end differently than it did.
♪
He was really upset,
so that affected me.
But at the same time,
I think I felt, like, a sense
of, like, maybe freedom.
[crowd cheering]
- Well, we go to the bottom
of the second.
A-Rod leads off.
- I hope he gets it.
- The day that we filed
for divorce,
I think we were playing
the Red Sox.
- The 0-1.
Line to deep left.
Fair, it's gone.
It is gone.
A bullet home run by A-Rod
in the lower deck in left.
- And on that day,
I hit a home run.
- And for Alex Rodriguez,
home run number 536.
And he just tied Mickey Mantle
for 13th place
on baseball's all-time list.
- Personally I think he just
fell in love with the idea
of marriage,
not understanding the grind
of marriage every day.
He wasn't ready.
He was so committed
to the game.
He was always great
on the baseball field.
But off the field,
he had a lot of problems.
You have this, you know,
exceptional talent.
And he's just
disconnected with me.
He's disconnected
with his mother.
Now he's A-Rod to the world.
The best baseball player
in the game,
the highest-paid
baseball player.
And the A-Rod persona becomes
more overwhelming than Alex.
♪
- I don't know.
I mean, maybe baseball's--
the field is where I escape
and I get to be,
you know, the best version
of myself,
at least at that time.
♪
- A-Rod is once again a
lightning rod for controversy.
"Sports Illustrated"
says A-Rod's name
appears on a list
of 104 players
who tested positive for
performance-enhancing drugs
in 2003.
At the time, baseball
did not have penalties
for steroid use,
and the results were supposed
to be anonymous
and remain sealed.
But in 2004, federal agents
- I detested the steroid era.
Everyone who is in the media
or did what I did
hates the subject of steroids,
because they almost destroyed
the sport with their greed--
both the players
and the owners.
- Those that treated this with
great surprise, I'm surprised.
I'm surprised that anybody
would treat anybody
anymore with great surprise.
I mean, I think the great
surprise left us long ago.
- For more than a decade, there
has been widespread illegal use
of anabolic steroids
and other performance-enhancing
substances by players
in Major League Baseball.
- I just remember
there was this
massive investigation
about performance-enhancing
drugs in baseball.
And George Mitchell,
who was one
of the most respected
public figures in America,
was overseeing it.
- The evidence we uncovered
indicates that this has not
been an isolated problem
involving just
a few players or a few clubs.
Many players were involved.
- He wasn't named
in the report,
but I still don't think
that necessarily absolved him.
And I think people
were very suspicious.
Clearly that became a focal
point of our interview.
For the record, have you ever
used steroids,
human growth hormone,
or any other
performance-enhancing
substance?
- No.
- Have you ever been tempted
to use any of those things?
- No.
- You never felt like,
this guy's doing it;
maybe I should look
into this too?
He's getting better numbers,
playing better ball.
- I've never felt overmatched
on the baseball field.
I've always been in a very
strong, dominant position.
And I felt that if I did
my work,
since I've done since I was,
you know, a rookie
back in Seattle,
I didn't have a problem
competing at any level.
So no.
- I thought, gosh, he's
so adamant with his answers
that he must be
telling the truth.
- The initial reaction
from most players was,
how is this even possible?
You know, because it was
supposed to be
these anonymous tests.
The way I looked at it,
it was just going
to be a huge distraction.
I mean, this is going to be a
story that probably never ends.
- If he admits it,
he's probably not going
to get in the Hall of Fame.
I mean, and this is a guy
- I told him
I wouldn't admit to it.
If they had it on paper,
why do you have
to say anything?
Just look at the report,
and that's it.
But he was truthful.
[indistinct chatter]
- Cash, you're over here.
I got Alex here.
- First, bear with me.
I'm a little nervous--
or a lot nervous,
so bear with me a little bit.
[clears throat]
Going back to 2001,
my cousin started telling me
about a substance that you
could purchase over the counter
in DR known as--
in the streets
is known as boley or bole.
It was his understanding
it would give me
a dramatic energy boost
and otherwise harmless.
I had a strong desire to win,
and I had a strong desire
to justify my contract because
it just had taken over my life.
And I thought it was important
to produce and play
at a really high level.
- And they weren't banned
before 2003?
- I mean, technically.
After our voluntary test,
all the players voted
for a Major League
drug policy.
At that time it became evident
to me how serious this all was,
and I decided to stop then.
It was just different
back then.
I was consumed by baseball.
I wanted just to play
every single day,
and that's where I put all my
focus, attention, discipline,
fears, self-esteem.
Everything was tied
to my game
and winning and playing
every day and being
the best at all costs.
If there's a way that you can
say that I almost loved it
too much, I loved it too much.
Like everyone else, I've made
a lot of mistakes in my life.
The only way I know
how to handle them
is to learn from them
and move forward.
One thing I know is for sure,
that baseball
is a lot bigger
than Alex Rodriguez.
And to my teammates
♪
Thank you.
♪
- For the Yankees,
this was a very, very bad day.
The Yankees have hitched
their wagon to A-Rod,
understanding that that
would mean enormous ratings,
that it would mean full houses,
and now that's gone.
- They have a performance
anxiety that is so dramatic.
You got to understand,
the good ones,
the great ones are so driven
to be the best.
You know, the most honest
answer I ever got
was Mickey Mantle.
He said, you know what?
If they had put that stuff
in front of me,
I would have done it
in a second.
- I was always just enthralled
by his level of talent.
And that bothered me
that he did that.
- Baseball fans here
and all across the country
may be getting fed up
with players on steroids
now that the sport's biggest
star, Alex Rodriguez,
has admitted using
performance-enhancing drugs.
I remember he dropped off
a note to my apartment
that said, "Dear Katie,
I'm sorry that I didn't
tell you the truth, Alex."
And I thought, well,
that was kind of nice.
On the other hand,
I was pissed that he lied.
♪
- I screwed up big-time.
The only thing I ask
from the American people
is to judge me
from this day forward.
That's all I can ask for.
- I think, with that, folks,
obviously we could stand here
for another three hours,
but I think
that we will end with that.
As I mentioned before--
by the way,
I personally appreciate
all the media members
being patient at the beginning
of this program.
I know that we ran late,
and I do recognize that,
and I appreciate
your patience personally.
- 31 days
till opening day.
April 16th, the Yankees will
take on the Cleveland Indians
at their new home
right here across the street
at the new
Yankee Stadium.
Crews putting
the finishing touches
- We're his team.
We're going
to stand behind him.
I mean, he made a mistake.
First and foremost, I don't
condone anything he did.
He doesn't condone
anything he did.
He understands
that it is a mistake.
He's trying to get
past that mistake.
And, you know, as teammates,
we're going to help him out.
You know, realize it's
going to be difficult.
Every day is a new opportunity.
That's what makes
baseball great.
The game is played--
162 games every single day.
It sort of emulates life.
You know,
there's ups, there's downs,
but no matter how you look
at it, you play the next day.
- There was no penalty.
There was no law broken.
It didn't mess with MLB rules.
There was no suspension.
But then when I got
to spring training,
two or three days in, I knew
there was something off.
You know,
wasn't running as fast,
wasn't hitting the ball as far.
I wasn't as explosive
when I threw.
It was almost like pressing
the accelerator in your car
and the car not moving.
And then finally,
I went to get an MRI,
and they're like, oh yeah, you
have a huge tear on your hip.
It was supposed to be about
eight weeks to recover.
So I was supposed to miss
all of spring training
and probably the first
month of the season.
And I remember that we got off
to a really, really bad start.
- And an awful, awful
homestand
ends for the Yankees.
- We're in last place.
Building's empty.
Boys are getting booed
every day.
We're three or four games
into 500,
and Hal Steinbrenner calls
and says,
OK, what do you think,
big boy?
Are we getting close?
I'm, like,
five or six days away,
and I think we lost,
like, the third in a row.
And he was like, hey,
I'm sending the plane.
We need to get you
up to New York.
- What's up?
Good to be back?
- Hi, guys.
- There's still some doubt.
What kind of player
is he going to be?
With this hip injury, and then
everything's out in the open,
he's not doing PEDs anymore.
[crowd cheering]
- I arrived in Baltimore
about a week early.
Come up in the first inning,
first pitch I see
[crowd cheering]
♪
- Can you believe this?
Baseball theater,
his first at bat, first pitch,
A-Rod delivers
a 3-RBI homer.
♪
- 3-run homer.
And I'm rounding the bases,
and I'm like,
oh, man, I'm back.
[crowd cheering]
- First at bat,
he hits a home run.
It's just unbelievable.
Kind of like storybook.
And his season
took off from there.
[crowd cheering]
- I came into that year kind of
feeling free and liberated.
[crowd cheering]
And from that moment on,
we went from last place
to play almost 700 baseball.
[crowd cheering]
- There it goes.
See ya.
A walk-off 2-run home run
for Alex Rodriguez.
And the Yankees win 6-4.
♪
- He had a record where he hit
30 home runs and 100 RBIs
however X many years in a row.
They're playing their final
game before the playoffs,
and he's at 28 home runs
and 93 runs batted in.
And it's the seventh
inning of the game.
He hits two home runs in the
inning and drives in seven.
- A long fly ball into
deep right center field,
and this one is gone,
a grand slam home run.
- So Alex will finish with
100 RBIs and 30 home runs.
- I've never seen anything
like it in my life.
It was like it was
written by the gods.
- And this is the spot
for Alex Rodriguez,
where he truly
has struggled with New York.
Second-longest run
in a tie with Barry Bonds
for the longest
postseason hitless streak
with a runner on base.
- In a postseason game,
since Game 4 of 2004,
and you see
that Alex is coming up.
You go, ugh.
- Line drive,
left center field.
The streak is over.
Here comes Jeter.
He will score.
And the Yankees up 4-2.
- He completely
flipped the narrative.
- Fly ball, center field.
Well hit, at the track.
He's done it again!
There's bedlam
in the Bronx
as Alex Rodriguez,
a new man in 2009,
has tied this game
in the ninth.
- He played like
a man possessed.
Big home runs, big hits,
clutch hits.
He did everything
he had to do.
That was the Alex Rodriguez
that he was
with Seattle and Texas
and the MVP years
all into one postseason.
- That is a rocket,
just blasted into left field.
It's 2-0.
- The hero of the playoffs
was A-Rod in a very big way.
He had 18 RBIs
in the postseason that year.
At the time, it was a record.
- To be picking
at the ball really well
as he hits one into left.
Back at the wall,
Rodriguez goes deep.
Number five
of this postseason.
What a year it's been
for Alex Rodriguez,
admitting
that he used steroids
and undergoing
serious hip surgery.
I guess the hip's OK, huh?
- I think that meant a lot
to him as well,
to prove that,
I could do it clean.
- Yankees win the pennant.
- Alex Rodriguez, who,
through this team on his back
at times this postseason,
is going to the World Series.
- I probably played
the best baseball
of my career
that entire month of October,
including the World Series.
- These are two veteran teams.
These are two teams that can
score in the blink of an eye
because of all their power.
And let's not forget
who the defending champs are.
It's the Philadelphia
Phillies.
They're back
to try and repeat.
- I came here
in the middle of my career.
I gave up my position.
'04 happened.
I'm in year 15.
The only way this works is,
we have to win the title.
- First World Series at bat
in a 16-year career
for Alex Rodriguez.
That's a ball.
Ball 1.
He went 0 for 20.
- I remember saying, like,
if I don't pitch to me,
pass the baton.
Trust your teammates.
Trust your teammates.
- Leading it off.
And he gets drilled
by Cole Hamels.
- And I think, one game,
I walked four or five times.
- Alex Rodriguez is on base
for the fourth time tonight
as he draws a two-out
- Matsui ended up having,
like, seven RBIs.
And the lesson for me
was, like,
you don't have to be the MVP.
If they don't want to pitch
to you, pass the baton
and let Matsui be the MVP.
And that was a shift that I
made from my early struggles
in the playoffs with New York,
where I wanted to do it myself.
- Tonight the Yankees enter
with a 2-games-to-1
series lead
after an 8-5 win
over the Phillies last night.
- We thought that
the winner of Game 4
would probably go on
to win the World Series,
because it was a swing game.
We can either go up 3-1
or go 2-2.
- With two out,
nobody on, Johnny Damon
steps in here in the ninth.
- I remember
Johnny Damon being up
with two outs, nobody on base.
We were dead in the water,
and he grinds at bat.
- Line drive into left field's
a base hit.
- Steals second and then
just keeps going to third.
- Now headed to third base
as he got around Feliz.
- It was inspiring
for our whole dugout.
I mean, it was the life
that we needed.
- On Teixeira.
And that hits Teixeira to put
runners at the corners
with two out.
- And sure enough, once Tex got
hit, I said, OK, here we go.
This is my moment, my time.
♪
Brad Lidge,
who's a hell of a closer.
And because of the tie game
with Johnny at third,
Lidge would not want
to bounce a ball
and give us a cheap run
with a wild pitch,
because if he bounces,
we take the lead.
So the probability
was that he had
to attack me with fastballs.
- Alex Rodriguez
takes a strike.
- Throws me
a first-pitch fastball in,
94, black, great pitch.
And I thought to myself,
OK, stay with your game plan.
If he does it again, I'm going
to beat him to the spot.
- Try to put the Yankees
back on top.
- And sure enough, he threw me
exactly the same pitch.
I said, all right,
that's my pitch.
♪
And I beat him to the spot.
- Ripped to left field.
Alex Rodriguez
has delivered for New York.
In to score is Damon,
and the Yankees lead 5-4
in the ninth.
- That was definitely
the biggest hit of my career.
♪
- That not only
puts them ahead,
but it puts Mariano Rivera
in the game.
- As I'm approaching
second base,
I see Mariano Rivera
warming up,
and I'm thinking,
we're going to be world champs.
- The 0-2 pitch.
That is a fair ball.
And that's the end
of the night.
Game 4 belongs to the Yankees.
A final of 7-4.
♪
And with two out and a runner
at first, here's Rodriguez.
- Maybe all the pressure
was off because people
didn't expect anything
out of him,
where he wasn't on PEDs
anymore,
gone through
the serious surgery.
- Fastball, base hit
into the right-field corner.
- But the fact that he took
the pressure off himself,
that he didn't have to be
the man,
ironically enough,
made him the man.
- 1-0 New York
in the first inning of Game 5.
- And if there was an MVP
for the entire postseason,
he was definitely
going to be the guy.
And he probably would have won
it in the World Series, too,
but Matsui had that great last
game and he rightfully won it.
- Here is a 1-2.
Rodriguez grounds it left side
and through for a base hit.
- All I can remember is,
the entire ninth inning,
I'm sitting at third base
and I'm just, like,
flowing with emotions.
I mean,
you're basically flying.
You do not feel
your feet on the ground.
You're in the 1-inch line
to win this title
that you've been pursuing
for, you know, over 30 years.
And as I look to my right,
I have literally, like,
40 people.
I think everyone
in my family and everyone
I grew up with was there
waiting for the moment.
[crowd cheering]
- To the second baseman, Canó.
The Yankees are back on top,
world champions
for the 27th time.
[crowd cheering]
- That was one of the greatest
feelings in the world,
to be celebrating
in Yankee Stadium.
- Man, you talk about
a great feeling.
You'd almost forgotten
what it felt like
to win a championship.
So that was a special moment.
[crowd cheering]
- Whoo!
I mean, once you're a champion,
you're a champion forever.
You go down in history
as a champion,
and no one
can take that away.
So yes, I was happy,
but it was more of a relief
and, like, a giant gorilla
got off my back.
[crowd cheering]
- I know it was a huge load
on his shoulders,
what happened in '04
and subsequent postseasons.
Beautiful thing about sports:
you can erase failures
by unbelievable success.
And he did erase all of that.
- Every time this Yankee
came up in the postseason,
it seemed like
he got the biggest hit
you could possibly get.
He said he was at rock bottom
at the beginning of the year.
Well, from rock bottom
to the top of the world,
Alex Rodriguez!
- Of their 27
world championships,
I'd say that was close
to the most important one.
- The Yankees,
if they hadn't won in '09,
wouldn't have won
since 2000.
That's the only championship
they have in the last 24 years.
And that was A-Rod.
- We had fun for about
three weeks after that.
I don't think we slept much.
It was a big party after that.
All I can think about
is how sweet it is
and how all the
[laughs]
Sleepless nights, headlines,
headaches,
it was all worth it
right there.
[crowd cheering]
Through all my ups
and downs,
felt like there's been
lessons along the way,
and that's why
I'm where I am today.
I don't know if "regret"
is the right word,
but, like, things
that I'd like to do over,
I would say the 252.
But I'll keep that one.
I'll keep that one.
Would not have done
interview with Katie.
And I probably would have
just retired then,
and I would have avoided
a lot of nightmares.
[indistinct chatter]
♪
- Do we have
any water anywhere?
- Do you have a water?
- Yeah, grab the waters.
- Thanks.
[camera shutters snapping]
- You asked fans to judge you
from that point forward
in your press conference
at spring training.
What would you say
to them now,
the people who took you
on your word?
- Well, I would tell them that,
you know,
please have some patience.
Let this process play out.
[crowd chanting indistinctly]
You know, in due time,
we'll have
an opportunity to sit
in front of an arbiter
and give our case.
[crowd chanting indistinctly]
[crowd cheering]
[bright tone]