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01x03 - Episode 3

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Alex vs ARod". Aired: November 6, 2025.*
Watch/Buy Amazon



Follows baseball player Alex Rodriguez's journey from talented player to polarizing sports figure.

01x03 - Episode 3

Post by bunniefuu »

[TV static drones]

[bright tone]

[snow crunching]

- A-Rod is

a Shakespearean figure.

[soft suspenseful music]

He's one of the greatest

players who ever played.

[cheering]

Big, strong, good-looking,

the whole thing.

This guy was

an immortal player,

but he also was an incredibly

flawed individual.

- You know,

I say this proudly.

I don't think there's ever

been a baseball player

that has loved the game

like Alex has.

You could say

whatever you want,

say he took this,

he took that.

At the end of the day,

he's gonna put up numbers.

He's gonna hit the baseball.

That's what he was born to do.

[cheering]

This wasn't about baseball.

I think this was about life.

One thing I've definitely

learned in life,

the truth is always

gonna come out.

It might take 30 years,

it might take 2 years,

it might take 40 years.

The truth is gonna come out,

and you're gonna have

to deal with it at some point.

- You know, Alex Rodriguez

is just a seminal player.

You know, it comes along

once in a generation,

maybe a lifetime.

[cheering]

You take away

all the extraneous nonsense,

he's one of the best players

who ever lived.

Again, it always begs

the question to me--

and I wonder if he's

lying alone at night,

looking up at the ceiling--

why did I ever do any of it?



- Why rich and powerful

people cheat, part one.

There is an arrogance that

often comes with power.

The aura of power

surrounding you

makes you feel immune

from consequences.

You feel you can do things

that mere mortals

are forbidden to do.

You see other wealthy people

living a façade in public

and a different life

in private.

The key to pulling this off

comes from keeping your

public and private life

as separate as possible

and creating an image

that shields you

from a closer scrutiny.

Yeah, this is a--

a train wreck ready to happen.

This whole idea that you're

one person

in front of the camera

and you're a completely

different person off-camera.

And that's exhausting,

'cause you're trying to keep up

with the sh*t

you're trying to get away with.

Not fun, and full of

anxiety and stress.

And there's a sense,

I won't get caught,

'cause you actually think you

are better than other people.

There's nothing more stupid

than that, right?

- You learned that the hard

way, though, didn't you?

- I did learn that

the hard way.



- And now a great

New York tradition,

time to hand out

one of New York's

most prestigious honors,

the keys to the city.

[cheering]

- I mean,

the thing when you win,

especially if you win

in a place like New York,

there is a celebration tour

that can last five months.

And then you're like,

okay, this is fun,

but I got a season that

I gotta get ready for in 2010.

We gotta--we gotta repeat.

- Alex, I know it's a cliché,

but what a difference

a year makes.

Last year,

I remember we sat here

and you were apologizing

to the fans and all that.

And I mean, how much different

is this season for you?

- Well, it's much different.

And, uh, you know, I'm in

a much better place right now.

I know that last year,

we sat here

- In the past, the pressure

for him cracked pipes.

In 2009, the pressure

created a diamond.

You know, you just

shut everybody up.

Everybody that doubted you,

everybody that said,

yeah, he's the creation

of pharmaceuticals--

he did it.

[pensive music]

Now, when spring training

was starting,

I said, well, he's gonna have

a monster year,

because, you know,

he's free of everything.

You know, he's won

his World Series.

What do you think?

- I hope so.

- Yeah?

- I hope so, yeah.

- Another MVP,

another world championship?

- The only goal is the

same goal we had last year,

was A, to have a lot of fun,

play as a team.

And I look forward

to defending a world title.

- You seem happy.

- I am happy. [chuckles]



- High drive,

center field deep.

Going back rows.

Looking up.

See ya!

There it is!

Number 600!

Alex Rodriguez,

the youngest man

ever to get to 600 home runs.

- I felt like the World Series

came and went.

- And that one is driven deep

to left center field.

Going back, Van Every.

On the track, at the wall!

- I was basically

at the pinnacle

of my baseball career.

But, I mean, there was just--

there was a lot going on

at the time.

- I think a lot

comes with success.

I mean, you check

on guys, you know.

How are you doing?

Everything okay?

- I think in 2010,

there was a big hangover

from winning the World Series.

[umpire shouts indistinctly]

- And Rodriguez

caught looking.

- I had never seen Alex start

losing the love of the game,

like not wanting

to train as much

or not wanting

to practice as much

or not wanting to be

around baseball as much,

and that's what

I saw happening.

- The Texas Rangers,

our American League champions!

- And I also think that

he was struggling

with where he was

at a personal level.

You know, now you're getting

older, the kids are older,

and you're on the road a lot.

And it was tough.

His divorce was tough.

- We functioned

very quickly co-parenting.

The girls, you know,

in order to see him,

they have to travel,

and they're so small,

so I would travel with them.

He would come back

and he would--you know,

if he had a day off,

he would come.

And he was amazing

when he was present.

It's just that those times

were just so select.

- Valverde deals,

and a swing and a miss!

Valverde strikes out

Alex Rodriguez,

and the Detroit Tigers

are headed to the American

League Championship Series

- Something was off

with my game,

but it was less about that

and more about

self-development.

From the time

I was drafted at 17,

six years later,

here comes the 252.

Six years later,

here comes 275, controversies,

the championship after that.

Everything was moving so fast.

[snaps fingers]

It was a blur.

I could have been really

mature on the field

but that doesn't mean that

my off-the-field development

was caught up to that.

And there was

a huge disconnect.

I had a lot of work to do.

As a person,

I had a lot of work to do.

[airplane engine roaring]

Around that time, in 2010,

I was on a flight

with a friend.

I expressed to him that I was

going through a tough time.

And he said, well, I have

someone you should meet,

but this guy is like nobody

you've ever met before.

[ethereal music]

My first appointment, I flew

out to Evergreen, Colorado,

this beautiful small town,

kind of in the middle

of nowhere.



It was cold, it was snowing.

I didn't know what to expect.

[breathing heavily]

[exhales]

Oh, man.

Oh.



You know, I never

came in this house.

We would always go

around to his office.

I mean, it's a bit shocking

being back here.

Dr. David has passed,

and that's a tough pill

to swallow.

Everything's pretty much

the same.

He had his desk,

two computers, third one here.

The couch was over here.

We would do our sessions.

And he had a chair right here,

and he has a little table.

He would always have,

like, water there,

but I never saw him

eat anything, drink anything,

or ever go to the bathroom.

So at one point,

I asked him, are you human

or are you just a robot

with no emotions?

Yeah, he would never laugh

at any of my jokes, so.

The minute

you're around Dr. David,

you just know he's different.

He just--very, very

serious person, an academic,

and has done retreats

all over the world.

I wish it was a retreat.

[chuckles] It wasn't a retreat.

There's so much significance

in this room for me.

I'm just picturing Dr. David.

I mean, I can feel him

all over the room.

Interesting.

[contemplative music]

I think in many ways,

it feels like a lab

or a batting cage

where I got so much work done.

He described it

as rewiring the brain.

And he said, if you start this

process, you have to finish.

You can't stop in the middle,

because it'll be even worse.

I was like, okay,

this sounds intense.

That first session

was really about

feeling each other out

a little bit.

There was a lot of, like,

volleying and back and forth.

Alex: I'm having

a hard time at work.

I'm trying to get all these

people to do this and do that,

and they're not doing it.

Dr. David:

have you ever thought

that you're a terrible leader?

Alex: what?

Maybe you don't know

how to lead people.

Do you think people

respect you and trust you?

Alex: all right,

I need a f*cking break.

I'm going to the bathroom.

That was my

favorite place to go,

'cause it was the only time

he would give me a break.

- [laughs]

- And then I would,

like, stall.

Oh, my God, it's so weird.

I mean, he was such

a truth-teller,

and I wasn't used to that.

He would just throw arrows

right between your eyes, right?

Like, when you talk you sound

like you're full of sh*t,

'cause you are.

And, like, in hindsight,

I was so f*cking slippery,

and I'd think

I can bullshit him.

I'd think I was

smarter than him,

and he just would

never let me slide.

And he said something

to me that was like,

you're so underwater that

you can't even see straight,

and you're

running out of time.

[clock ticking]

Like, the f*ck does that mean?

I felt like early on,

I didn't understand

what I was doing here.

And after the first week,

I was flying home.

And I thought to myself, what

a f*cking waste of my time.

[exhales]

What the hell

does Dr. David know?

What brought me back?

Well, I wasn't gonna quit.

That's what brought me back.

You know, I was

so damn stubborn

that I'm like, all right now.

It's like facing

a tough pitcher.

He's not gonna intimidate me,

no matter how much--

I know he's trying to drive--

[laughs] I know he's

trying to drive me here,

and he's hoping that

I never come back,

but I'm gonna come back

and make him miserable.

And it was just a battle,

then I made it a competition,

and that's really

what brought me back.

Like, I'm never gonna quit.

That tells you how

f*cking lost I was.

[crowd chanting]

- Jeter at second. One out.

3-2 to Rodriguez.

It hit him! Oh, my goodness.

[crowd booing]

- Looked like he hit him

with the changeup,

but Felix's changeup

is 88 to 90 miles an hour.

And that one, he's in a

lot of pain right there.

- Alex, you just talked about,

yesterday,

how well you were

swinging the bat.

How much more difficult

is this to take,

how you've been playing

offensively lately?

- Yeah, it's difficult.

[tense music]

Tough break.

- What have they told you

as far as the time frame?

- Haven't told me anything.

Just fractured.

Aging is never fun,

especially when you're going

through--through injuries.

For so many years, I mean,

I could go through a wall

and just get back up

and just keep playing.

- Alex Rodriguez is

going to have surgery Monday

to repair the torn meniscus

in his right knee.

- I was a workhorse,

and I loved to play every day,

and I think those injuries

started piling on

and contributing

to other injuries.

- 3-2.

Popped up.

- On the changeup.

And Alex, frustrated,

slams the bat.

Ooh, looks like something

might have happened

right there coming out

of the box.

Little wince.

- You think

after he slammed the bat,

or something

with his leg, John?

- As I got into my mid-30s,

all those surgeries

and rehabs,

they started definitely

getting to me.

I had knee surgery in '99,

I believe, my left side.

And it was a pretty

simple recovery,

so I'm hoping for the same.

Except I'm a little older now.

I wanted to be able to get

out of bed and not be in pain.

And I just wanted, in the worst

way, just to be able to play

and, you know, post up

every day for my team.

Post-World Series, my--

a person that was close to me

kept saying, hey, I know

you don't feel good.

You're not sleeping as good.

You should meet this guy that

I wanna introduce you to.

[waves lapping]

We're down in St. Pete

playing the Rays.

He says, hey, that guy's here.

He actually has a clinic

right down the street.

If you wanna see him, I can

bring him up to the room.

And that's when I met Tony

for the first time.

His hair wasn't brushed.

He looked like

he hadn't slept much.

I was like, who is this guy?

He said he was a doctor.

He's like, why don't

you take off your shirt?

So I take off my shirt.

He's like, oh, yeah.

Oh, you need a lot of help.

You need a lot of work.

You need a lot of work.

Where does it hurt?

He starts moving my leg

around a little bit.

And basically I said,

I'm not sleeping that great,

my metabolism is not that good,

um,

and I'm not recovering

well at all.

He's like,

I have something for you.

And he said, HGH.

And I said, okay, tell me more.

He goes, well, you just

put it in your stomach,

and you'll be able

to sleep better.

You're gonna recover better.

It's good for your skin.

Men and women use it.

Athletes

and non-athletes use it.

So there's--I'm getting

a little bit of an education.

And I was like, nah, you know,

I'm good, I'm good.

I don't need to do that.

And then probably

a few weeks later,

they were both asking me,

like, you know,

why not give it a try?

At that point, I knew

that if I did this,

I would be breaking

a Major League Baseball rule.

So I kept saying no.

[soft tense music]

But I wanted to get out there

so badly and play.

The Yankees are paying me

a shitload of money.

There's an embarrassment,

looking your teammates

in the eyes

and not being able

to play every day.

At the time, I knew it was

a very, very risky thing to do.

But if this is actually

gonna make me feel better

and help me get out of bed

and help me not be in pain,

then f*ck it.

I'll risk it.

I went into it

like, okay, I just do this

for the rest of

the year, for like,

a month or month and a half.

And hopefully, you know,

this offseason,

my hip can feel better, and I

can never look back, you know?

And then once I tried it

you're in the wrong side,

and you broke

a Major League Baseball rule.

So I knew I did it,

and I knew that

I was breaking a rule.

And it was like that moment

where you go too far,

and you're just like, oh,

can't take it back now.

- A report published

in the "Miami New Times"

says this clinic,

called Biogenesis,

was a pipeline to PEDs

for several players.

- The first time

I hear of Biogenesis

is when someone calls my phone.

They told me that, you know,

some guy was owed money

and he was gonna

whistleblow the people

that were involved

in Biogenesis.

- I'm around Alex a lot,

and I had never seen

that guy ever around Alex.

I think Alex was

probably embarrassed

that the guy was around

and he'd keep him hidden.

I don't think Alex ever

went to the clinic.

I think that guy Tony

went to see Alex.

- At the time, I'd never even

heard of this publication.

It wasn't like "The New York

Times" or anything.

So I was like, maybe it's a

24-hour story, or 48 hours.

But it certainly wasn't that.

- Alex Rodriguez

among 20 players

believed to be connected to a

now-closed Miami-area clinic.

- The highest-paid player

in the history of baseball

might be one step away

from losing it all.

- And then that's when

all hell broke loose.

- A-Rod.

- A-Rod.

- A-Rod.

- What in the world

is A-Rod thinking?

- It took off like a wildfire.

- A-Rod insisted he stopped

doping back in 2004,

and that he's always

been clean as a Yankee.

- I was stunned.

I was shocked.

I was kind of

ticked off at him.

You know, why would

you do this again?

I was his biggest supporter.

I like him personally.

After what happened in '09,

the test and everything,

why would you go there again?

- Could this

theoretically be the end

of A-Rod in Yankee pinstripes?

- It was just an avalanche

of, like, bad news,

worse news, awful news.

- The penalties

are the penalties.

50 games, a hundred games,

three strikes and you're out.

- I was like, oh, man,

I did it this time.

- A-Rod became, especially

the second time around,

the poster boy

for steroid abuse.

He really did.

- Is baseball gonna

get serious or not?

This is a major watershed

for Major League Baseball.

And I think A-Rod deserves

the brunt of all of this.

- This has been

a shadow that has been

over Major League Baseball

for a couple of decades.

They didn't handle this thing

right from the beginning.

If you go back,

they were sitting here

with a bunch of star players

who had cheated.

You don't have to be

Sherlock Holmes

to find these guys, okay?

Everybody knew

what those guys were doing,

and they couldn't ever get

the genie back in the bottle.

- Do you solemnly swear that

the testimony you'll give

before this committee will be

the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth?

- Finally, there comes

a point where Congress

gets involved

and smacks baseball around,

and smacks Selig around.

And then you got these guys

like Palmeiro and McGwire

and Sosa

embarrassing themselves,

and Selig says, you know what?

I've had enough of this.

We're gonna get tough.

- I decided to do

this investigation

so that no one could ever say

that baseball had something

to hide.

Because I certainly did not.

- Baseball now was gonna

be really hard on everybody

after being so lax.

- I tried reaching out

to Bud Selig

and just get

in front of him one-on-one

and talk this thing through

before lawyers got involved

and all this other stuff.

I asked for two meetings,

and he said no twice.

- I was scared

'cause I knew this time around,

they were gonna come after us

like there's no tomorrow.

- Commissioner Selig

told Rob Manfred

to do what he had to do to get

to the bottom of the scandal.

- Biogenesis then became,

I would say, a circus act.

MLB had investigators

down here knocking on doors,

trying to get documents.

People were paying people off.

- I have private investigators

all over the office,

people following

our receptionist in the car,

a helicopter over our building.

- I mean,

there's just nowhere to hide,

and it just kept getting

bigger and bigger.

- They did things

that you're saying,

baseball can't be

doing this stuff.

I mean, they bought stolen

evidence to try and get him.

- A gentleman had

the Biogenesis documents,

and we bought them.

- How much?

- $100,000.

- I'm not saying A-Rod

didn't make his bed.

He did.

But it was a good way

to show the public

that they were gonna

cleanse the sport.

And it was an easy mark.

He made himself an easy mark.

He really did.

- Some breaking news tonight

within Major League Baseball.

We are learning that baseball

is about to announce

its most sweeping set

of suspensions

for use of

performance-enhancing drugs.

- At some point, they finished

their investigation,

and now we were

just on wait mode

to see what the penalties

were gonna be.

And you heard anything

from 50 games to lifetime ban.

So I remember the day

and the call.

The phone rang,

and it was Tony Clark,

the head of the union.

He goes,

just wanna let you know

we got the suspension number.

And he said, it's 211 games.

[tense music]

And I said, 211 games?

I said, Tony,

how can that be possible?

Like, I'm 40.

That means that I'm done.

They've--I'm retired.

And then I said,

did everyone get the same, 211?

And he said, no,

everyone else got 50 games.

And, uh--and I said, so how--

we're all in the same union.

We all made the same mistake.

How does one get 50

and somebody else

gets more than 4X?

- What they have said is that

they have what they believe is

a convincing case

against A-Rod

that includes not only his use

of performance-enhancing drugs,

but that he tried to subvert

their investigation into it,

and maybe even tried

to recruit some other players.

And that,

for all those reasons,

his penalty will be

more severe than the others.

- It was confusing,

because on one end I made--

I made the mistake,

and I should be penalized.

But I kept hearing

his voice, 211, 211.

I'm like, I couldn't

even comprehend, at 39,

40 years old,

how you can be suspended

for a year and a half.

- Now a Yankees official

tells me

they do expect him to appeal

any suspension,

which means that

his case will be heard,

then determined,

by an arbitrator.

It could take

over a month to settle.

- Of course,

I have to fight back.

I almost felt like

I had no choice.

In one big scoop, it was like,

okay, no Hall of Fame,

lifetime suspension,

and the Yankees

were still on the hook

for over $100 million.

I will say this--

there's more than one party

that benefits from me

not ever stepping

back on the field,

and that's not my teammates,

and it's not the Yankee fans.

So the fight was no longer

about, did I do it?

The fight is like,

this is an overreach, and why?

And what's the agenda?

- Just look at the scenario.

A-Rod stays on the field.

He plays during

an appeals process.

But what happens every time

he takes the field?

Isn't all the talk

gonna be about steroids,

scandal, and A-Rod?

- Alex, do you have anything

to say about what happened?

- Oh, there's no question

about that.

It's gonna be

a circus tonight.

But if A-Rod

is smart about this,

his comments are gonna be

as conciliatory as possible,

and he's gonna keep saying,

we'll just let

the appeal play itself out.

- Guys, do we have

any water anywhere?

- We can get--get you some.

- Okay.

[camera shutters snapping]

- Hey, could you grab a water?

Could you grab a water?

Thank you.

- Go ahead.

- Steve and Dave.

- Alex, in 2009, 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 then?

- Well, I--I would tell them

that, you know,

please have some patience.

Let this process play out.

- You didn't deny the charges.

Do you deny that you use PEDs?

- Like I said,

I think we'll have a forum

to discuss all of that.

- If you didn't use PEDs,

why don't you just say it?

- I--there's a lot of things

that have been thrown

to the wall, and at some point,

we'll sit in front

of an arbiter and give it our--

give our case.

And that's as much

as I feel comfortable

telling you right now.

Like anything else, you gotta

just put your blinders on and--

and do your job.

- On the outside,

it appears that Alex Rodriguez

is dealing with it,

managing, playing baseball.

But so much swirling

around him right now.

- The only place he can't

get asked the question--

unless it's by an umpire--

about something

is on the field.

Everywhere else he goes,

he goes home and watches TV,

any sports channel

is talking about Alex.

- Now batting for New York,

the third baseman,

number 13, Alex Rodriguez.

[crowd booing]

- I was somewhat prepared

for that type of reaction,

because at that point,

I'd been going

to opponents' ballpark

and getting booed everywhere.

That's just par

for the course.

[cheering]

[tense music]



But this was different.

This wasn't about, like, hey,

you're gonna beat my team.

This was like, hey,

I don't like you.

So it was different.

[crowd chanting]

[cheering]

- Well, this is the first time

we've seen something like this

since Alex Rodriguez returned,

and I think we can say

with some certainty what

the intent was after Dempster

hit him on the 3-0 pitch.

I mean, this is

a little bit unusual.

- It's uncomfortable.

You knew this was gonna

happen at some point.

- And it affected you.

- Yeah, but on the field--

I'm okay on the field.

It's kind of a strange thing.

Like, on the field,

I can roll with anything.

- Now he hits a deep drive.

Straightaway center field,

and gone!

[cheering]

He's hit a lot of them

in his career,

but I bet you he enjoyed

that one more than most.

- It was a hard day today,

that's for sure.

A long day.

- How angry were you

when you got hit?

- Yeah, I was pissed off.

- Another hit for Rodriguez.

- Considering how many

players have spoken out

about you playing

through your suspension,

are you concerned

about this moving forward?

- My hardest time

was off the field.

You know, dealing with

all the distractions.

It's been crazy.

I'm gonna do my very best

to focus on baseball.

Every day there was, like,

20 different stories.

Calling you all these names,

calling you Pablo Escobar,

calling you Whitey Bulger.

Somebody else said

there's a RICO case open,

like, all these kind of

very aggressive allegations.

I mean, we live in a world

where people believe

everything they read.

And I'm like, dude,

I just crossed the line.

But like,

I'm not Whitey Bulger.

Like, I've never committed

a crime in my life.

- Alex Rodriguez here

has created a stir

as he made his way

to the batter's box.

- That was tough for us.

My job, I said before, was to

try to limit distraction,

and in this particular case,

I mean, how do you stop it?

I feel bad, like I said.

I mean, I'd much rather

not be sitting here

talking about suspensions.

I'd rather be sitting here

talking about a baseball game.

- It's official--

Alex Rodriguez is no longer

on speaking terms

with the Yankees front office

because of the possibility

of a looming lawsuit.

- Alex Rodriguez taking aim

at Major League Baseball,

accusing them

of a smear campaign

to destroy his reputation.

- He's suing people.

He's suing

Major League Baseball,

and threatened

to sue the Yankees.

He's going down

with g*ns blazing.

- It was a w*r against the

union, the owners, the league.

And I was right

in the middle of it.

- It's a little like watching

an accident in slow motion

over the last couple of weeks.

You know when

the event is over,

somebody's gonna be hurt.

You don't know

whether it's just A-Rod,

the Yankees, Major League

Baseball, or all of the above.

- Yeah, it was

a soap opera, man.

I mean, it was a complete mess.

- 'Cause it was long

and nasty and expensive

and, without a question,

the worst time of my life.

- Strike three.

- And then we went

to arbitration

and fought that 211.

- Yankees third baseman

Alex Rodriguez

goes before a Major League

Baseball arbitrator today

to argue that

his 211-game suspension

should be called off.

- They lay out their case,

we lay out our case,

but we didn't get anywhere.

I mean, they--they

kicked our a*s publicly

and in--and in the courtroom.

- It was revealed

during arbitration

the Rodriguez team admitted

paying $305,000 for evidence.

- You know, obviously,

when it first happens,

you're gonna do whatever you

gotta do

to try to make things

what's supposedly right.

- We had hired an attorney

who hired, I guess

an investigative company.

And that investigative

company said

that there was a hard drive

that was available

that had a series

of information on it,

and if we wanted to--to buy it.

And we said yes.

- Was there any valuable

information on that?

- It was blank.

- I mean, at the end of

the day, I'm a ballplayer,

and I didn't know

how to handle it.

It was--it was difficult.

- Rodriguez wanted MLB's

commissioner, Bud Selig,

to testify during

this arbitration.

Well, today,

the arbitrator decided

Selig does not

have to testify.

- How do you force the issue?

- We don't.

I mean, you know,

we can't, you know,

go kidnap him in Milwaukee

and bring him here.

- I remember feeling

angry and frustrated.

You know, if you're gonna

give me a lifetime ban

or give me a 211 ban, I mean,

we deserve to hear from you.

But when he didn't show up,

I knew we were cooked.

- Sports Radio 66

and 101.9 FM, WFAN ♪

- A-Rod, welcome. How are you?

- I've been better.

- Tell me what happened today.

- Well, we got a

ruling that, uh,

the commissioner does not have

to come in from Milwaukee.

And I lost my mind.

I banged a table and kicked

a briefcase

and slammed out of the room

and--and just

felt like the system--

I knew it was restricted,

and I knew it wasn't fair.

But what we saw today

- A-Rod is

his own worst enemy.

He always has been.

[sighs] He's got a flaw.

PEDs--they said you did

mountains of PEDs.

Did you do any?

- No.

- Did you obstruct a witness?

- There was no obstruction.

There was no intimidating.

There was none of that.

- None of this?

- None of that.

- So they don't--there's

not one thing you did?

- No.

- Hey, I'd be fighting, too,

if that's the case.

He didn't say no quietly.

He came to my show and swore

up and down, on the air,

off the air,

that he was telling the truth.

It's outrageous

if you're lying,

and it's outrageous if

they're wrong and they didn't--

you didn't do anything.

That's even more outrageous.

So somebody's

really badly wrong here.

I said, you realize

that if you're lying,

you're never gonna

climb out of this.

And he was in such a,

you know, belligerent mood.

That day, all he wanted to do

was tear Selig's head off.

- The man from Milwaukee that

put this suspension on me

with--with not one bit

of evidence,

something I didn't do,

he doesn't have the courage

to come look at me

in the eye and tell me,

this is why I did 211?

I shouldn't serve one inning.

And I felt like in many ways,

while I was guilty,

I thought I was

backed into a corner.

Think about what

I've been through.

If you are any other player

of the 13 players,

with what I've been through,

do you think anybody's

gonna fight

Major League Baseball?

- I don't think anybody has the

money to do it, first of all.

I don't think he's vindictive.

I don't think he's hateful.

I think he just

doesn't get it sometimes.

I didn't know if you

were innocent or guilty,

because let's be honest,

we know hundreds

of baseball players

did steroids.

And you did steroids once,

so I don't know if you

did steroids again or not.

That's your business.

- I knew what I was doing,

and I thought

I can thread the needle.

And, you know,

Bud Selig said, no way.

You are gonna get suspended

for 211 games.

This has been a disgusting

process for everyone,

and I'm more embarrassed

than anyone

to be on the front pages

in the news.

This is the game that

I love more than anything,

and I feel like, this is what

I have my PhD in, is baseball.

- Even in his darkest day,

I felt bad for him.

I probably shouldn't have,

but I did,

because I saw

a vulnerability there.

Hey, I appreciate

you coming in.

And I guess we'll find out

what's gonna happen.

This is obviously not the end

of this by any stretch.

He didn't see, I don't think,

any other way out

at that point.

It's like he had gone

too far with the story

to change the story,

until he had no choice

but to change the story.

[clock ticking]

- Yesterday, one of the best

baseball players of all time

was hit with the longest

doping suspension in history.

After a contentious

private hearing,

Major League Baseball's

arbitration judge

took the Yankee third baseman

out of the game

all of next season.

- In my judgment, his actions

were beyond comprehension.

You put all the drug things

on one side,

and then all the things that

he did to, in my--

impede our investigation.

I think 211 games

was a very fair penalty.

[tense music]

- I was so pissed when I saw

Bud Selig not show up

for the arbitration,

not show up when I called

for a man-to-man meeting alone,

but he shows up

on "60 Minutes."

And I was just like,

okay, this is--

it is what it is.

You know, thank God

the arbiter dropped it to 162.

- His attorney tells ABC News

he will file a new lawsuit

to overturn A-Rod's historic

162-game suspension,

handed down by an arbitrator

this weekend.

- You know when you keep

running from a problem,

and you want the thing

to go away,

the only way

it's gonna go away

is when you face the music

and it's over.

That's basically

where we were at.

Four- or five-hour phone calls

with lawyers

for eight, nine months,

it takes a toll on you.

You start asking yourself,

with everything

you have gone through,

where you've come from,

what you've been

able to accomplish,

and everything we're doing,

where are we?

You put yourself

into this mess.

You gotta take ownership

for yourself.

[pensive music]

- Good people in

my life that--

that were trying to help me.

But the one that

stands out is--

is Jim Sharp.

- I like him.

He has been a good friend

to me, and I have to him.

He's been tested.

And this steroid problem,

I think, was the depth for him.

- Jim has a very good

relationship with--

with Rob Manfred.

He called me, and at this time,

he wasn't representing me yet.

And he said, Alex,

I'm concerned because

not only are you ruining

your baseball career,

but you're starting

to screw up your life.

- You can find yourself,

as they say, in a hole,

and if you do, quit digging.

It looked to me

like by lawyering up

and filing a bunch of lawsuits,

what we were doing

was nurturing it.

I told him, you know,

you've got to understand,

this is serious, of course,

but it's not a crime

or anything.

This is a rule in baseball,

and you don't have to treat it

so seriously

that you're trying

to impress the client

by being assertive and--

and aggressive.

In fact, from the beginning,

I thought the best way

to do this was to back away

and let it get some hair on it.

- I called him back and

I said, hey, I need your help.

I'm certain I'm done

with my baseball career,

but can you help me

get my life back together?

And he said, yeah.

If it's okay with you,

let me call

Rob Manfred in the morning.

- The next morning, I had a

meeting with the commissioner.

He said,

what can I do for you?

I said, I understand you've

finished your investigation.

Yeah, he said.

Lord, I'm so glad

that it's done.

I said, I'll tell you

what you can do.

You can let me see it.

He asked me, he said,

what are you up to?

I said, let me see it,

and I think within 48 hours,

I'm going to start

dismissing all these cases,

if I can get the authority

to do it.

I looked at it

about five minutes.

That was all I needed.

I left and I called Alex.

- And he said, I think

I have a plan together.

We should put all

these lawsuits

and just put them down.

And then that's exactly when

I threw up the white flag.

- It's been revealed that

the Yankees third baseman has

withdrawn his lawsuit against

Major League Baseball,

the commissioner Bud Selig,

and the Players Association,

which for all intents and

purposes signals his surrender

and acceptance of

the 162-game suspension

that was handed down

- I said, that's it.

It's over.

This is a f*cked-up way

to end a pretty good career.

For the first time

in 20-plus years,

I wasn't in spring training.

And then I started

seeing the games start,

and I'm watching every night

on YES Network.

I was like,

this is really strange.

[somber music]

I remember waking up

one night, and I'm like,

I'm the only dumbass

in the world

that has pocket aces

and figures out a way

how to lose the hand.

I mean, you have

hundreds of millions

of dollars guaranteed to you.

You have three MVPs,

you have a world championship.

Your legacy is cemented.

You're going straight

to the Hall of Fame.

And then I crossed the line,

and I caused myself

all of that,

plus the embarrassment

and the shame

and my reputation.

I cringe when I think about

how much I've hurt myself,

and I have no one

to blame but myself.

And



Yeah, I mean, looking back at

it now, it was like

why?

Yeah.



I'll never forget, I was

looking at those mountains,

and it felt like, you're never

gonna be able to climb it.

And to a degree,

I was like, why am I here?

I've already ruined everything.

It was a blessing that

I had started with Dr. David

prior to the Miami

news article breaking.

It was good to have him

by my side at that time.

We spent hours

and hours and hours

on the Yankees,

the suspension, Bud Selig.

There was so much hate there.

I was really angry inside.

Still, I wasn't,

like, at that place

where I was

accepting everything.

Dr. David would, like, put

a quick stop to that and just--

he would always turn it back

to me and says,

what was your--what was

your part in this?

And at first, I just really

rejected that way of thinking.

I wasn't thinking clearly.

I was, um

I was the victim.

And just missing things.

Just, like, not seeing things.

Well, Major League Baseball

had something against me,

versus, like, I screwed up,

and they were doing their jobs.

And if I didn't screw up,

even if they wanted to hurt me,

they--they couldn't hurt me.

And how there's a cause and

effect of my actions, you know?

And then, you know, months,

months, and years later,

I started feeling like, okay.

I understand exactly what

happened here, and it's on me.

But that was a long bridge

to walk,

a lot of work, a lot of time.

[ethereal music]

I mean, we went all

the way back to--to birth,

early days in New York.

He said, tell me about Victor.

Oh, well, Victor, man, he was--

I was on that couch

right there.

Oh, Victor, he was

really smart, good-looking,

really good with numbers,

loved baseball.

We used to love

playing baseball together.

He said, man,

you're so full of sh*t.

Which I was, 'cause I was

dancing around it.

I was still

kind of bullshitting,

like, protecting my dad.

The first time that

it hit me, like, hard

was when I would have to go

and do my writing assignments.

He would give me

homework assignments,

and I would have to

come up with vignettes

where I would have these mock

conversations with my father.

And I would tell him,

I'm a terrible writer, so.

And he says, it's not the point

about how good of a writer

you are, it's about

your emotions.

So I said, okay.

Now, I'm, like,

eight years old here, okay?

[chuckles] How are you, my son?

I say, I'm not doing well, Dad.

Why not, son?

Because you abandoned us--

Mom, Joe, Suzy, me.

When we needed you most,

you left us.

I was only ten.

My father--that's not

the case at all, son.

I love you.

You're my prince,

my number one.

I say, really?

You're full of sh*t, Dad.

My dad says, but son,

I've always loved you.

We were attached at the hip

when we lived in New York

and DR from age one to ten.

Then your mom, Miami,

it was tough, you know?

Look, I don't expect you

to understand this.

These are the things

that occurred back then.

I say, Victor--

not Dad, Victor--

stop.

You're bullshitting me.

You're full of sh*t.

You've done it for 43 years.

Enough is enough.

You've lied to me from day one.

That's why

I'm so full of sh*t myself.

I grew up around it.

I thought I can get away

with everything like you,

bullshit myself through life.

My dad says,

what are you talking about?

How about 2014, my full-year

suspension for using PEDs,

then acting like

a f*cking as*h*le,

doubling down,

blaming everyone?

Sounds familiar yet?

Does it remind you

of anyone, Dad?

Dads says, I'm gonna go now.

Hmm.

Of course you are.

That's par for the course.

Except for one big difference.

This time, I'm ready. Goodbye.

Don't f*cking come back.

Let's hit it.

- I always bring up the guys

who have it really together--

Jeter, Peyton Manning,

Tom Brady.

Very strong families,

very strong parenting.

A-Rod didn't have that.

[pensive music]



- I think when you don't

have a sense of self,

and you're a young person

trying to fit in,

you could take the path of

adjusting your personality,

your likes and dislikes

and your behavior,

according to the company

that you keep.

- I think he was

kind of an immature guy.

He missed a lot

of developmental steps,

when you're in your 20s,

and suddenly

you're making so much money

and you're a big deal,

and that's hard.

That's really hard

for people, I think.

And if they don't have this

solid foundation of people

in their lives--

maybe a father figure,

for Alex, who was missing--

it is very destabilizing

to have that level

of fame and attention.

So I think all these things

contribute to--

to maybe not feeling completely

secure in who you are.

- From the age of 19,

for 162 nights,

he was on TV

for three and a half hours,

and you were watching him.

And then you followed him

into the locker room

for another 45 minutes,

and you were watching him.

- We didn't know

how to handle his fame,

'cause there's

not a playbook to it.

And so it was--it was trying

for all of us in that respect.

- You know, the difference

between Alex and I is,

I learned a lot

playing with my dad,

watching him.

You know, how to

set up pitchers,

how to be a pro,

how to do all these things.

I'm looking at someone

that I look like

and who loves me for me--

not for what I do, just for me.

- When I was in Little League,

I used to always look

for my parents in the stands,

and it just

made me comfortable.

It was the same thing when

I was in the Major Leagues.

I looked for my parents.

It made me comfortable.

- I think it comes back to the

kid whose dad wasn't there.

He chases acceptance.

He wants to be accepted,

and he wants to be loved.

And you keep score with

success, homers and RBIs

and batting average,

maybe money.

- He wanted so much

to be respected and loved.

And he wanted everything,

and he seeks it

in the worst ways,

the worst ways,

that backfired terribly.

I mean, it's just part of him,

and I think that's--

in a lot of ways,

it's been his curse.

- I just don't think

he had that perspective

or that parent to, like,

pull him aside

and say, what are you doing?

That's where

the self-confidence comes in

and the groundedness and the

rootedness of somebody's,

like, moral fiber.

And he was lacking

in those areas.

He just was.

I don't know, they might

have still gone that way.

Maybe his father

didn't have skills

that he would have needed.

Maybe he didn't.

Maybe he wouldn't have

suffered the loss of his dad

but maybe he wouldn't have

been aggressively trying

to become the best he could.

Otherwise, I mean,

who knows, right?

- I'm not sure if I would

have accomplished what I did

on the field

with a present father,

but I certainly think that

having a present father

would have helped me avoid

some of the dumbass decisions

that I've made.

Being here, like, at ground

zero, just keeps you honest.

And I would say that my entire

mission, post-Dr. David,

basically comes down

to two things,

and I think about these

two things every single day.

One is decreasing,

diminishing your ego,

and the other one is

increasing self-awareness.

Before Dr. David,

it was opposite.

And Dr. David, we would

always tell each other,

watch me here

and don't let me get slippery.

Making sure you're saying what

you mean and mean what you say,

like, all these things are--

they sound, like, so basic.

But the truth of the matter

was, they weren't basic to me.

Thank God that

I finally learned,

'cause if I didn't,

I wouldn't be here.

I thought you were

so much better

once we got on the real road,

after the reps.

- I thought you were

gonna say than Tashi.

- [laughs]

- I--I am though, right?

- Actually, I think

at this point,

you're more advanced

than Tashi.

When I served my suspension,

one of the most

pivotal moments

was when I sat Natasha

and Ella down in my office,

and I'm telling them

what happened

and why I'm serving

a suspension.

[gentle music]

It was really important for me

to be as honest as I can be

for an 11 and 7-year-old.

And not bullshit them,

because I never wanted them

to feel like

they have to bullshit Dad.

And I remember

they both gave me a hug.

And they said, uh,

don't worry, Dad,

you can do this.

And Ella, who was five, said,

Dad, you don't need

anybody's help.

You can still hit home runs.

- He's always said to me,

he's like,

you can tell me anything.

Whatever you're going through,

I've done worse.

And so he's like,

I don't care what you try,

what experience

you have with people.

He's like, I've done worse.

And so that's always kind of

been like a safety blanket.

[indistinct chatter]

- All phones, everything's

disconnected here, right?

Like, no

- Yes, Dad.

- Snap, WhatsApp,

none of the messages.

- Okay, here we go.

- You need your full attention.

You're gonna go straight.

- I do think he's become

so much more aware.

From what I've heard about him

back in those years

was that, like, he just, like,

could not put his pride aside,

was just a mess, kind of.

Like, I--he's even

showed me, like,

old clips and stuff

of him speaking,

and it's just not

the same person.

Like, he's truly, like,

evolved in that sense.

- That's good.

That was a little jerky beef.

- [laughing] What?

- I think when

for a big part of your life,

you're a narcissist--

and I say

I'm a recovering narcissist.

That was foreign for me,

to, uh

lean into being a father.

Quite honestly, I don't know

if I could be a good parent

without Dr. David.

I didn't have a dad

that I can copy and paste.

I was, like, sh**ting darts

in the--in the dark,

hoping for the best.

And he helped

every facet of my life.

He made me a better baseball

player, a better teammate,

more humble, full of gratitude.

And we thought about

quitting baseball.

It was like, maybe I just try

to piece my life back together

but maybe just disappear

and not--

and not play again.

I thought it was obvious

the Yankees

didn't want me to come back.

You never have to

face the music again.

You don't have to

face your demons.

You don't have to go back

to stadiums and get booed,

and I would've disappeared.

[exhales]

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- I didn't wanna be remembered

for my darkest moment.

I thought, after being

body-slammed at 40 years old,

broken down, when nobody

thinks I can do it

That the comeback matters too.

[Jefferson Starship's

"Find Your Way Back"]

That season was probably

the single most

important season in my life.

And I'll never forget this.

As I drove to the stadium,

I made a promise to myself--

whether I go 4 for 4

or 0 for 4,

I'm gonna enjoy it,

because I do not know

when they're gonna

take the uniform away again.

- You know it's been

a long, long road ♪

- This is his first appearance

in a big league game

since the end of 2013.

- I never thought

we'd see him again, ever.

I thought

he'd never play again.

I thought he'd never be

in the public eye again.

- That one is driven out to

right center, and A-Rod gets

his first hit of the season.

[cheering]

- But, you know,

Alex does have--

he's got cubes.

- High drive, left field.

There it goes!

- I'm 40 years old.

I'm out of jail.

I'm a f*cking New York Yankee.

- Here's the throw.

Here's the play.

- Nice!

- He's in there!

- And I went out and had one

of the best years of my career.

- This one is off the top

of the wall, and gone!

- He tried to make

amends with people,

and he also accepted blame.

If he tried to, like,

A-Rod himself through it,

I don't think

it would have worked,

but I think he was

pretty genuine.

- 1-1.

Lined into right center field.

That's a base hit.

It'll go to the wall!

That'll tie the score.



Number 660.

Home run number 661 breaks

the tie with Willie Mays,

and it breaks the tie

- You come back from

a year's suspension

and have 33 home runs.

It shows how great the guy is.

- Pop fly ball.

Deep down the center.

There it goes!

Yeah!

A grand slam.

[cheering]

- I said, you're Lazarod.

You just rose from the dead.

People don't

come back from this.

- He's only the second man

in history to get 2,000 RBIs.

- Not only does he come back,

but he's come back

more popular than ever before.

He was dead!

There's no coming back

from that, and somehow he did.

- Find your way back ♪

- It's carrying.

It's back near the wall,

and just like Derek Jeter,

his 3,000th hit is a home run.

[cheering]

- Find your way back ♪

[muffled chatter]

- I'm on a journey of being

a man with integrity and

character, and someone that--

that you can bet on

and you can trust.

You can go a whole lifetime

without changing a f*cking 5%.

And the fact that

I've changed so much,

I can only credit Dr. David

for putting up with me.

So even though Dr. David

is not around anymore,

he still lives in me.

If Dr. David was here,

I'd be ragging on him,

and I'd give him a big hug,

and try to make him feel really

uncomfortable around you guys.

And then I would give him

a bunch of compliments,

and he would tell me to stop.

He hates that.

He doesn't want it.

He's a very, very

private person.

That's why you gotta--

like, we're in the middle

of nowhere here in Evergreen,

and this--

where the sessions are.

But I--[clears throat]

[exhales]

He was so tough on me.

He was really hard on me.

I thought too hard, at times.

But in the end,

I know why he was doing it.

He saved my life.

[gentle music]



- The last two seasons,

and as Jack alluded to, 2015,

a Renaissance season.

33 home runs

and drove in 86 runs.

But this season,

limited to 62 games,

just 9 home runs,

3 for 30 since

- He was getting beat a

little bit with the fastball.

Once that happens

and you're an older player

- The Yankees said

he was overmatched,

and when you put that

classification on a player,

you're not gonna use

that player very often.

[cameras shutters snapping]

- I love this game,

and I love this team.

And today, I'm saying

goodbye to both.

- Talking with

Hal Steinbrenner here

on "The Michael Kay Show."

Every account

in the media, Hal,

is that this was very cordial,

and it was

not confrontational.

- Just wanted to have an

honest conversation with him

and convey to him

kind of where we're going,

that we're gonna start

to bring up young players.

With that happening,

in all likelihood,

it's not gonna mean that he's

gonna be getting more at-bats.

And he understood that.

He understood that.

- I wanna thank my mom,

who's watching at home,

and my daughters, my family,

my friends,

former managers,

coaches, teammates.

Thank you for your support.

You've been through

so much with me.

- I cried when he said

he was gonna retire.

I was so sad for him.

I didn't want him to retire.

It was, like, sad for me

to see him finish.

But on the flip side of that,

I respected him

for walking away

when he was still, you know,

agile and able to play.

[thunder rumbling]

- Please welcome

to the field number 13.

[cheers and applause]

[somber music]

- He's grown a lot, man.

We've all grown.

We've just been able to figure

out that it was all necessary

for us to be where we are today

with our kids,

with our family.

Yeah.

[chuckles]

Yeah, Alex is a good person.

He's good.

[cheering]

- He probably wishes he

could do things over again,

because I tell you,

he'd be a Hall-of-Famer

on the first ballot.

- The 2-2.

Line drive, base hit!

[cheering]

Souza cannot cut it off.

It'll go to the wall!

Gardner will score.

He has an RBI double,

and the Yankees

have tied the game at 1.



- He probably should

get in now.

I know a lot of people

feel different,

but I'm not a baseball purist.

[cheering]

- Swing and a miss.

Betances strikes out the side,

and the Yankees win 6 to 3,

and Alex Rodriguez

goes out with a victory.

One of the greatest careers

in baseball history,

and it concludes

in pinstripes tonight.

- The first time that

I knew Dr. David's work

was really working,

I was, like,

4 home runs shy of 700.

And my instinct said,

come on, Hal.

Let me just get four more,

man.

Four more, and I can do it.

Give me--give me a month.

I've worked so hard for this.

And I thought about it

for, like, five minutes.

And I said, you know what?

696 with the Yankees

was greater than 700

with another uniform on.

I think the way I handled that

made me really, really proud,

because A-Rod would still

be playing right now.

- So the curtain comes down on

the complicated but brilliant

career of Alex Rodriguez.

- I think that

after the suspension,

he retired in peace.

And while he may never,

you know,

step foot in the Hall of Fame,

I just think he was

a Hall-of-Famer day one,

you know?

- Only a fool would say

A-Rod wasn't a great player.

He won three MVPs.

He's in the top 10 or top 20

in most statistics.

He had 3,000 hits.

He had 2,000 RBIs.

He had 2,000 runs scored.

He had 696 home runs.

He won Gold Gloves

at shortstop.

Even with those numbers,

as outstanding and amazing

as they are, not gonna happen.

Not gonna happen.

And that's the blessings

and the curse,

and that's what makes him

that Shakespearean figure.

[cheering]



- What was going through your

mind as you made that walk?

- Well, it was exciting.

That's--that's where I played,

you know,

a lot of my baseball over here.

That's where we won

the World Championship in 2009.

And, uh--

[cheering]



This is my favorite moment,

when my girls come out.

I mean, through it all, to be

able to have that opportunity

to close my career like this,

I felt an incredible amount

of gratitude.

I'll cherish that

for the rest of my life,

to walk out of that stadium

with a full house,

with a standing ovation,

with my head high.

And in the middle

of that suspension,

I felt that was

an impossibility.

I can't say enough

about these fans.

Um--

[cheering]

I've given these fans a lot

of headaches over the years,

and I've disappointed

a lot of people.

But like I've always said,

you don't have to be

defined by your mistakes.

How you come back matters too.

[cheering]



- I believe you are

defined by your mistakes,

but you are also

further defined

by how you mend your mistakes.

You can never get rid of it.

There's not a full erasure.

I don't think you ever

get out from under them,

but you could write

another chapter.

- Like, we have to

always mitigate risk.

But also, I don't see any risk

whatsoever on that, because

- You know, it's funny.

In some regards,

he's really landed a lot better

than I ever thought possible.

If I had told you then that

he'd be doing network baseball

as a broadcaster,

I mean, that's a very

visible, coveted position.

- Would you ever think this

is a guy who would go out

with Warren Buffett and own

a professional sports team

and be an incredible success

business-wise?

[indistinct chatter]

He's got two adoring

daughters that he loves.

If he's looking

for more than this,

I'm gonna have to

slap him around.

He's doing okay.

- Send those next.

Send those.

- I guess the question

I'd ask him is,

have you finally

found yourself?

Are you finally comfortable

with who you are?

- In a weird way,

that suspension,

you know, thinking about it

ten years later,

while I cringed

and I'm embarrassed

and I burned bridges,

someday--not quite yet--

I'll be able to say

that's the best thing

that happened in my life.

Because I took that opportunity

to pause,

turn the lens inward

And I've come out

on the other side.

Not a Hall-of-Famer,

which sucks,

but a happier person.

[dramatic music]



[laughter]

I was in there for a really,

really long time,

and I thought

it was everything.

But

it's the Hall of Fame.

It's not heaven.

[crowd shouting]

I know the haters are saying--

they're saying,

like, yeah, BS,

I don't believe it.

I'm sure there's people

watching here that are like,

what do you call it?

Like, hate-watch.

And no matter what I say,

they're gonna spin it

to why they're gonna

hate me more, right?

They're gonna think

I'm slippery,

and they're gonna find

something in this documentary

to say, see, I told you so.

That's why

that guy's an as*h*le.

I don't trust him.

I don't like him.

And that's fine.

But I'm done saying I'm sorry.

I'm done.

Like, new day.

Moving on.

A f*cking new decade.

I'm in a great place,

and I sit in my gratitude

and my humility

to move forward,

and I choose to ignore those

who will always be haters.

God bless you.



[dramatic orchestral music]



[bright tone]