Sports

Alex Rodriguez Ready to Challenge MLB in Appeal

By ABS Contributor | Published on September 29, 2013 | Updated on March 25, 2016 8:00 PM EDT

The New York Yankees failed to make the playoffs, so their season will end on Sunday. Since there are no more games for the Yanks, Alex Rodriguez’s 211-game suspension appeal will start Monday. After being penalized for so many games, the third baseman has been telling reporters he is looking forward to going through due process and will fight the Major League Baseball decision.

“Let’s get it on,” said Rodriguez as he talked to reports Saturday. “It starts on Monday. We’ve got to face it head on … I’ll be there every day. I’m fighting for my whole life, my whole legacy. I hope everyone is there.”

The appeal process is expected to go on for months, and a decision may not be made until November or December. Frederic Horowitz, who will be a mutual arbitrator, will have the power to uphold, overturn or reduce Rodriguez’s suspension.

The league suspended A-Rod for his alleged ties to Biogenesis and an alleged attempt to interfere with its investigation. Biogenesis of America, is a debunked Florida anti-aging clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs to several MLB players. The company was reportedly responsible for giving 13 MLB players, including Rodriguez, PEDs and masking them to prevent the athletes from failing their drug tests.

Subscribe To The ABS Newsletter — Get our stories in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way