It's probably not much of an overstatement to say that Tuesday will be the biggest day in the long history of Yankees Spring Training. Counless members of the media will hit Legends Field at 1:30 p.m. for Alex Rodriguez's press conference, which would likely go on for days if everyone got to ask every question they've come up with over the last 10 days.
That won't happen, but you can be sure that each of the following questions, in some manner or another, will be asked:
1. You claimed you felt pressure in 2001 in Texas which led you to start taking steroids, but the pressure in New York is exponentially greater. You lied in the past about using steroids; why should we believe that you haven't used steroids since joining the Yankees?
2. Will you agree to take regular drug tests and make the results public to ensure that you are, in fact, clean?
3. Where did you get the "substances," as you refer to them, that caused you to fail a drug test in 2003 and what were those "substances?"
4. You blamed your drug use on being "young, stupid and naive" and said you never thought about using steroids before 2001. You were 25 in 2001, however, and had more than five years experience in the major leagues, how is it possible that steroids had never crossed your mind before?
5. In your interview with Peter Gammons, you professed ignorance about whether you failed a drug test, why now do you accept that claim on its face?
6. Will you pursue any legal action as a result of your name and test results being leaked?
And that's just for starters. Every moment of Rodriguez's interview with Gammons has been parsed since the moment it aired, which will create more questions than anyone could possibly forecast. His answers have to be more substantive than the ones he gave Gammons, or the questioning will only intensify.
In addition, Derek Jeter, who is expected to attend along with Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, will be asked to make a strong statement of support of Rodriguez. That statement will then be looked at for hints and clues about their relationship and launch a hundred more opinions.
All that, and it's just the first day of spring training.
