Word: rodriguez
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...Rodriguez had always dreamed of someday returning to New York, the city where he was born, and playing in the stadium he has always considered his favorite. "I've given you a few political answers today," he says, admitting that he has Ari Fleischered some of his responses. "But Yankee Stadium has the history, the fans, the ghosts, the Bronx." The road back has been a long one. He moved to the Dominican Republic when he was 4. When he was 9, his father left the family, and Rodriguez settled with his mother and two siblings near Miami...
...There are some people who say he seems syrupy. But that's who he is," says New York Yankees adviser Reggie Jackson, who has known Rodriguez since the young player was a 17-year-old Miami phenom who was already an expert networker. "A lot of that comes from the fact that he's so good-looking. He's almost pretty. He's got good health, a beautiful wife and $252 million. If they gave you $252 million, you'd be a pretty good guy. Life is a box of chocolates for him, except he knows what kind...
...will need all the political skill he can muster because he's the symbol of everything people love to hate about those rich Yankees. The Boston Red Sox, after their devastating play-off loss last fall, thought they had secured Rodriguez's services this winter. But negotiations stalled, and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner stole A-Rod as if he were a tire on a Volvo with Massachusetts plates sitting in the wrong part of the South Bronx. And while he's assured of being hated in every other stadium, success in the Bronx isn't a given. "New York...
...favorites because "I don't like contemporary art"), can't dance, lists Frank Sinatra as his favorite musician and takes a break every night with friends and family for Breyers Cookies & Cream in the living room. Clay Aiken would get bored of this guy. Teammate Jason Giambi describes Rodriguez in a way that makes him seem programmed. "I've worked out with Tiger Woods in rehab for my knee this winter, and he and ARod are very similar," says Giambi. "These guys have been planning what they want from their lives since they were young kids. They're single-minded...
Major League Baseball needs A-Rod's greatness to be a distraction from the steroid scandal that is making people want their money back from the home-run explosion of the past few years. The scandal didn't land within fungo distance of him, but Rodriguez, a company guy all the way, claims competing against cheaters doesn't bother him--only partly because he has led the American League in homers the past three years anyway. "I'm a strong believer in innocent until proven guilty," he says. "I've never assumed any other players were on steroids...