During a scene where Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne initially connect in 2008’s The Dark Knight, Dent is particularly poignant about the Batman’s role in protecting Gotham. “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” It is a statement that holds true for so many of sport’s greatest figures. It is happening currently with New England quarterback Tom Brady, a Cinderella story of a career getting tarred and feathered over a couple of pounds per square inch. Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett was a role model to every kid told he wasn’t big or good enough, but he too fell under the weight of controversy before his untimely passing. Alex Rodriguez has made that transformation as well. The wonderkid destined to break every record in the books emblazoned himself with the biggest scarlet letter that baseball has to offer: steroid user. With all that conflict in the rear view mirror, A-Rod is doing now what not many villains have had the chance to do. He’s getting a chance to flip the script.
Orioles starter Chris Tillman is no stranger to the Yankee history books. He was the man who delivered the pitch that propelled Derek Jeter past Lou Gehrig as the all-time Yankee hit king. It was fitting then that Tillman be the one to uncork the pitch that pushed Rodriguez by the revered Willie Mays on Major League Baseball’s all-time home run list.
As home run #661 traveled over the center field wall in Yankee Stadium, it was interesting to see what reaction the maligned Yankees slugger would get from even the home crowd. It wasn’t far off that the Yankees, and their fans, were trying to rid themselves of this scourge by any means necessary. Instead, as Rodriguez briskly trotted around the bases, there was a slowly building roar echoing throughout the Bronx. It stayed steady as he crossed home plate and A-Rod headed to the dugout. There was no immediate ceremony. There was no grandstanding moment, not from Rodriguez’s part at least. It seemed strange that even as Mark Teixeira approached the plate the roar would not die down. The nation that wanted him exiled now demanded a curtain call.
Every blurb that has come out this season from the Yankee clubhouse thus far in 2015 will lead you to believe that Rodriguez is a changed man. It shows that the most polarizing figure in the biggest city in the sports landscape can actually “get it.” By all accounts, his year sidelined by the Biogenesis suspension has humbled the superstar. Humbling is not something that comes easy to someone whose earnings have surpassed the GDP of several island nations over the course of his career. It seemed impossible as late as Spring Training that this cancer would go into remission. Even as the Yankees’ front office steadfastly denies that they’ll come good on any of the milestone payments written into his contract, Rodriguez just continues to be happy to be donning the pinstripes again. Nothing that the brass has done, from treating him like a Single-A player in Spring Training to this latest milestone squabble, has been a deterrent from reaching his goals in 2015.
In the end, it may all be a facade. He could be the villain that duped us and lulled us into a false sense of the security by saying all the right things. He may be the criminal mastermind that had us all fooled and revels in the looks on our collective faces when he drops that heel turn on us. For now, the Yankees are in first place and Alex Rodriguez looks to be enjoying something that has all but destroyed his reputation. He’s hitting home runs and instead of being reviled he’s being cheered. The hero A-Rod from our youth died and A-Roid took over the head of the bad guys club from Barry Bonds. In The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent said that was the end of the narrative. Time will tell if Alex Rodriguez has somehow added a happy ending to that story.