By Mofida Abdelmageed (Brooklyn, NY)
On August 3, 2013, crowds gathered at Arm and Hammer Park to watch Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees' former third baseman, play for the Trenton Thunder. Over the years, Rodriguez lied about using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), leading to a possible suspension.
Deemed one of the “busiest games of the year” by a park ice-cream vender, different fans expressed mixed emotions towards Rodriguez’s latest scandal. While many in the crowd greeted Rodriguez with cheers, the chants of “P-E-D” were also loud and clear.
Many in the crowd were deeply disappointed. Though John and Eric are father and son, their opinions on Rodriguez’s sentence are very different. Despite his son’s love for the baseball player, John believed that Rodriguez deserved his sentence. “He is guilty as hell,” John mentioned, also adding that he believed that this might cause problems for other baseball players. Another audience member, Pradeep, agreed with John, saying he had hoped Rodriguez would be "banned for life.”
While many former fans such as John and Pradeep were disappointed in their baseball hero, many others were still die-hard fans. Ruben, who is a Yankees fan said, “Whatever he does is fine with me.” Duke, also a fan of Rodriguez, believed that many players were abusing steroid use and that Rodriguez was just a scapegoat. Since Rodriguez was one of the highest paid baseball players, Duke believed that the sentence was related to his contract. Duke plans to continue supporting Rodriguez because he thought the situation was unfair.
Alex Rodriguez will always have fans, but he stilled have lost many based on his scandal. As the game played out tonight some fans were yelling, “We love you Alex.”
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