Instead of trying to explain my reaction to the A-Rod story and Pat’s response, I’m just going to link to the article by Joe Posnanski which sums up pretty much all of my feelings way better than I ever could. 

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/02/10/a-something-part-ii/#more-1606

I don’t blame A-Rod more than anyone else for using steroids, and I don’t think it takes away from him being the best or second-best player in the game (Pujols), just like I think Barry Bonds deserves to be remembered as one of the three greatest hitters ever. The one thing I would disagree with Pat about is what he said about A-Rod genuinely wanting to be liked. I think that his image is so micromanaged by all of his handlers that he he does try to be liked, but it really does come across as false to me – it’s self-motivated, for his own legacy’s sake. But of course, this has nothing to do with his performance on the field. I’ll also relay one story I heard yesterday from the 2005 WBC back when he was playing for America. Apparently he was just chewing out some poor clubhouse kid really badly until Jeff Francouer (hilarious looking back that he was on the team) had to get in A-Rod’s face about crossing the line. Not that the story’s worth anything, just throwing it out there.