Alex Rodriguez has made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame — for somebody else, that is.
While the New York Yankees legend was part of a bitter rivalry with David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox during their playing days, the two are close friends in retirement.
So close, in fact, that for the first time in A-Rod’s life he made the trip to Cooperstown to the Baseball Hall of Fame in order to be present for Ortiz’s induction ceremony on Sunday, according to Audacy MLB insider Bob Nightengale.
A-Rod did not attend the ceremonies of his former teammates Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter, although his relationship with the latter was not the rosiest, so it is rather noteworthy he is on hand for Ortiz.
It is also interesting because Rodriguez has quite a polarizing Hall of Fame case himself.
The Yankees legend received just 34.3% of the vote this past year, likely due to his multiple transgressions tied to performance-enhancing drug use.
Ortiz has PED ties as well, reportedly being one of the 104 players who tested positive in 2003 when MLB was figuring out how to go forward with a drug-testing program.
It had never been specified what Ortiz tested positive for, but only a handful of players from that list have been publicly exposed, including A-Rod.
Yet Ortiz received 77% of the vote and is the only player on the 2022 ballot to get inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.
And A-Rod will be right there taking it all in — while the rest of us wonder if he will ever get the chance to do the same.
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