The news that Alex Rodriguez was starting baseball workouts in Tampa Monday may be the most welcome headline he's made in more than a year. Cody Ransom has spent the first week making it clear that he'll replace none of Rodriguez's production so the sooner A-Rod returns the better it is for the Yankees. He spoke with reporters after his workout and pledged to "cut some of the fat" out of his life so he could focus on baseball.
"I'm going to put most of my focus on 7:05, not what happens before that," Rodriguez said.
When you're talking about a steroid taking, Madonna-dating, mirror-kissing attention magnet like Rodriguez that would also seem to be a welcome bit of news. Alas, the amount Rodriguez is able to focus on baseball and baseball only will not be up to him alone. Most of the reporters and fans who get anywhere near Rodriguez are going to ask questions or lob insults that have very little to do with the games and everything to do with the fat he's trying to eliminate.
That doesn't mean he can't push out all the other nonsense, it just means that he's got a mixed record when it comes to being able to do so in the past. He's also never had quite so full a plate as he has now, since all of the steroid stuff has been in suspended animation since he took off for Vail and hip surgery.
And that's just on top of the usual nonsense that spurts out of the one-man news machine. Like, for example, a story in today's Daily News linking him to Bethenny Frankel, one of the "Real Housewives of New York City." Not for this discussion, but how is an unmarried woman a real housewife, and, also on a somewhat unrelated topic, does A-Rod really need to add reality television to a life he's trying to simplify?
Anyway, he was spotted taking her out to dinner in Miami and is said to be making plans for another meal with the nutritionally minded chef. And that's just the way it goes for Rodriguez. He goes out to dinner with a woman and it's a story, he goes out for frozen yogurt with a man and it's a story and if he doesn't tip the people in either case, it's a story.
Hold on a second, he's dating a nutritionally minded chef and wants to cut out some fat from his life? Maybe he wasn't even talking about baseball and just plans on eating dinner at 7:05 every night.
Sports
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
