Goodbye, A-Rod

Almost a decade ago I wrote why I liked A-Rod:

There’s a reason A-Rod is my favorite Yankee, and it has nothing to do with the homers, the inevitable Gold Glove etc. Over the years as I’ve been watching, I see things. I see that every time a Yankee, no matter whom, hits a home run who is right there to greet him, having some laughs in the dugout? A-Rod. He’s not in the video room obsessing over his swing or talking to Boras, he’s right there. And even more so throughout this year, when in the beginning the Yankees were bringing up a new 22-year old pitcher seemingly every day. Every day these kids (Clippard, DeSalvio etc) would get SHELLED and Torre comes out to get the ball, the last Yankee that would be on the mound giving them a pat on the ass was A-Rod. And to most fans that might not mean shit, but to me, I notice that stuff and it means a lot. To a 22-year old baseball player, A-Rod is a huge deal. A-Rod's definitely more Mickey than Joe D. To me, the greatest compliment of all: a great teammate. 

And the difference between him & Jeter:

I love Jeter.  We all do.  He's the Yankee of our lifetimes.  But I have no desire to read about him.  He is JFK to A-Rod's RFK: the more you read about Jeter the less interesting he is, while A-Rod has layer after layer of odd complexity that can be fascinating, whether you like him or not.  If it weren't for Jeter acting like a sniveling sixth-grade girl because of a comment A-Rod made (and then apologized profusely for), there would truly be nothing interesting about Jeter as a guy.

This about sums them up.