Alex Rodriguez waited all year to put on a New York Yankees jersey, walk up to the plate and swing away. His controversial season debut, and a second inning at-bat, was the climax of an eventful Monday around Major League Baseball, one in which 13 players were suspended for their connection to Biogenesis of America, the defunct anti-aging clinic which allegedly supplied performance-enhancing drugs to MLB players. Rodriguez was the only player amongst the group to not accept their suspension, the others electing to swallow a 50-game ban while A-Rod was hit with a 211-game sentence, one that doesn't begin until Thursday.And so there was A-Rod,Buy Cheap Hollister Men's Polos-HO4015 wearing his number 13, greeted to the expected chorus of boos from the Chicago crowd, facing the White Sox left-handed pitcher, Jose Quinatna. Rodriguez responded with a hit. It was downhill from there. The Yankees were already losing 3-0 to the last place White Sox when A-Rod stepped in, and by the time he returned for another turn at-bat, New York were down 7-0. The Yanks lost 8-1.Rodriguez' worked his way back from a second major hip surgery which led to a lengthy and intensive rehabilitation program, a good deal of which took place under the shadows of an investigation into his dealings with Biogenesis. His appearance with the Yankees marks the end of the beginning for Rodriguez, who had been fighting to protect his due process as Major League Baseball and its commissioner, Bud Selig,Buy Cheap Franklin Marshall Women's Dress-FM4004 bid to punish him for his alleged wrongdoings.
Not much chance of that. So, what's next for A-Rod now that, "phase two" as he called it, is set to begin? Well at the very least, it seems that he will have most likely bought himself the rest of this season, should he file an appeal against the suspension as expected. So "phase two" for Rodriguez includes seeing a lot of pitches from opponents, and hearing a lot of boos, both on the road (he's used to it) and quite possibly at home (he's used to it).Then there is the appeal, which is no simple process according to Fordham University Professor Mark Conrad, who teaches Sports Law and Ethics,Buy Cheap Louis Vuitton Bags-LV0212 and spoke to the The Guardian:This is a mini-trial, this is not an informal thing where a couple of guys are getting in a small room with a table and saying, let's settle this. This is going to be high powered lawyers, from both sides, with a fair amount of evidence that has been determined by baseball based on reports we have seen.Rodriguez was asked several times in various ways before his season debut if he took performance-enhancing drugs, and did not admit to using, instead, focusing on his due process - that sort of deflection led to Professor Conrad to draw conclusions on A-Rod's goals.So the goal of Rodriguez and his lawyers will be at the very least to shrink the suspension games down to something closer to what first time offenders such as Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta got, 50 games, and what Ryan Braun received, 65 games. Meanwhile, MLB will be trying to argue that Rodriguez' alleged recruiting of other players and his alleged tampering into the investigation is worthy of an additional suspension. New baseball arbitrator Fredric Horowitz will make that call, which will have an enormous impact on A-Rod's career - at age 38, with Rodriguez' skills eroded due to age and injury, every game counts, and so that is where the bulk of the fight lies.
How much of that fight remains private remains to be seen. We never learned exactly what MLB had on Ryan Braun and the situation with A-Rod could be similar,Buy Cheap Christian Audigier Bikini-CA4029 although, having said that, both sides were pretty loose, with leaks flowing regularly to the press in the run up to the suspensions.What's the timetable? Well, we had heard earlier on Monday that there would be a hearing in 20 days and a ruling in 25 days, but that doesn't seem to be anywhere near the case, rather, it could last until November. That's according to MLB Players Association Executive Director Michael Weiner, who indicated that a more drawn out schedule would be likely, hence A-Rod's ability to finish what could be an eventful remainder of the season in the Bronx.Wholesale Sweaters cheap Sweaters
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