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A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez Hardcover – May 4, 2009
Purchase options and add-ons
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Print length272 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherHarper
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Publication dateMay 4, 2009
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Dimensions6 x 1.51 x 9 inches
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ISBN-100061791644
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ISBN-13978-0061791642
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Her reporting is diligent, detailed, and overpowering. This is not a book of conjecture: It’s one of bootstrap journalism. — New York magazine
Important ... devastating ... merciless. — New York Times
We learn many of Rodriguez’s secrets in Roberts’s meticulously reported psychological profile… — New York Times
From the Back Cover
Alex Rodriguez is the highest-paid player in the history of baseball, a once-in-a-generation talent poised to break many of the sport's most hallowed records. In 2007 he became the youngest player, at 32, ever to hit 500 home runs, solidifying his status as the greatest player in the modern game, and months later he signed a contract that would keep him with the Yankees through the end of his career.
His reputation changed drastically in February 2009 when Selena Roberts broke the news in Sports Illustrated that A-Rod had used performance-enhancing drugs during his 2003 MVP season with the Texas Rangers. Her report prompted a contrite Rodriguez to admit illegal drug use during his 2001–2003 seasons with the Rangers, who had signed him to the most expensive contract in Major League Baseball history.
Although he admitted to three seasons of steroid use, the man teammates call "A-Fraud" was still hiding the truth. In the first definitive biography of Alex Rodriguez, Roberts assembles the strands of a bizarre and extraordinary life: from his boyhood in New York and the Dominican Republic through his near-mythic high school career and fast track to the big leagues, the whole of A-Rod's career mirrors the rise and fall of the steroid generation.
Roberts goes beyond the sensational headlines, probing A-Rod's childhood to reveal a man torn by obligation to his family and the pull of his insatiable hedonism, a conflict—epitomized by his relationship with Madonna and devotion to Kabbalah—that led to the end of his six-year marriage. Roberts sheds new light on A-Rod's abuse of performance-enhancing drugs, a practice he appears to have begun as early as high school and that extended into his Yankee years. She chronicles his secretive real estate deals, gets inside the negotiations for his latest record-breaking contract with the Yankees, and examines the insecurities that compel him to seek support from a motivational guru before every game.
In A-Rod, Roberts captures baseball's greatest player as a tragic figure in pinstripes: the man once considered the clean exception of the steroid generation revealed as an unmistakable product of its greed and dissolution.
About the Author
Selena Roberts, formerly a columnist for the New York Times, is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. She lives in Connecticut.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper; First Edition (May 4, 2009)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 272 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0061791644
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061791642
- Item Weight : 15.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.51 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,704,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #413 in Baseball Coaching (Books)
- #571 in Sports Humor
- #1,530 in Baseball Biographies (Books)
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There are some other people who seem to have an ax to grind here because of other issues (Duke lacrosse case, impact of steroids on baseball in general), but their comments should be taken with the grain of salt they deserve. This is an excellent hard-hitting journalistic expose of a man and a sportsman who went further than he had ever imagined (in good and bad ways).
I do feel badly that his character is so "shady" and someday his kids will read this book. They will be very disappointed at not only how their dad was perceived but also how he chose to conduct himself personally and how greed/money may have caused him to make choices which prevented him from having true happiness and fulfillment within his career.
My biggest grievance with this book is the high number of factual errors. The author justifiably criticizes Alex Rodriguez for claiming to use a wooden bat in high school when simple research shows he used a metal bat like everyone else. Why is her own writing not able to withstand basic fact-checking? I found the following blatant factual errors:
"He [Texas Rangers general manager John Hart] signed Carl Everett despite the hotheaded outfielder's feuds with management in Boston; he signed the closer John Rocker..." (p. 134 of Kindle edition)
Actually, the Rangers did not "sign" either of these players; the two players were acquired in trades. Carl Everett was traded by the Red Sox to the Rangers on December 12, 2001. John Rocker was not signed by the Rangers, but traded by the Indians to the Rangers on December 18, 2001. Baseball-Reference.com is a very useful tool.
"On September 3, 2002 as the Rangers were getting ready to play the equally horrific Kansas City Royals..." (p. 151 of Kindle edition)
The '03 Rangers finished 71-91 (.438) whereas that year's Royals team was 83-79 (.512). That's hardly "equally horrific." Going into that September 3 game, Kansas City's record was 70-66 while Texas's was 64-75. It's easy for a casual fan to just assume the Royals are a bad team on most any given year since the days of George Brett, but the Royals had a winning season in 2003. Either Selena Roberts screwed up or her fact-checkers did.
"He [Alex Rodriguez] was even lauded for his flawless return to shortstop for three games when Derek Jeter was injured." (p. 193 of Kindle edition)
This statement by Selena Roberts might not be incorrect, but it certainly is misleading. A-Rod moved over from third to short for a total of six innings at shortstop in three games in 2005 (May 22, June 4, June 5). He did not start a single game there and had only three fielding chances while there.
I'm just an amateur, and if I can check facts, surely a supposedly professional author/journalist employed by a professional publishing house can check facts as well.
I do appreciate that the author defends herself against some of the bogus statements Alex Rodriguez made about her in the media, such as "stalking" him and getting a police citation.
This book could have been so much better.
I have a feeling that many of those reviewers who gave one star didn't even read the book. Read it. It's very good.