On Baseball
By TYLER KEPNER
TAMPA, Fla. — If you never knew about the lies and the lawsuits, never knew all the ways Alex Rodriguez turned himself into one of baseball’s greatest con men, Thursday would have seemed normal.
At 9:15 in the morning, Rodriguez strode through the clubhouse to his corner locker at Steinbrenner Field. A couple of hours later, he stretched and jogged and played catch in the outfield as the Yankees began their first full-squad workout. He took grounders and flipped baseballs to kids and signed autographs and took batting practice.
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The story is clearly compelling: One of the game’s statistical leaders is making a comeback after serving a record suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. And Rodriguez has such a long rap sheet that he is, in some ways, the new George Steinbrenner — an unpredictable newsmaker you cannot ignore.
It may be asking too much for Rodriguez to avoid the decisions that make us all cringe. A routine day like this was a good start, but you wonder how long it can last. Rodriguez has always craved the spotlight, and he never stays boring for long.
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