A-Rod offered apartment to displaced broadcaster John Sterling
While Alex Rodriguez’s attempts to mend fences with MLB and the New York Yankees draw the headlines, the embattled slugger quietly showed his compassionate side in a recent attempt to help displaced Yankees broadcaster John Sterling.
According to Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, A-Rod immediately reached out and offered up use of his upscale Manhattan apartment after Sterling lost his home and all of his belongings in the massive Avalon apartment fire in Edgewater, N.J. This information comes directly from Sterling, who says his relationship with A-Rod has remained strong throughout the controversies and suspensions that have kept Rodriguez off the field for the better part of two years.
“We talked right after the fire. Alex felt terrible about it,” Sterling told me over the telephone. “He offered me his place in Manhattan to stay in when this happened. I guess he was in Florida.”
“I’m rooting for Alex,” Sterling said emphatically. “He’s a friend.”
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According to the Daily News story, Sterling started out in a hotel before a generous Yankees fan offered a temporary home in Upper Saddle River, N.J. Sterling also reportedly received an invitation from Orioles manager Buck Showalter to stay at his apartment in Baltimore, but preferred staying close to New York.
Sterling is back at the hotel now, but hopes to be settled into a brand new apartment complex that’s under construction before leaving for spring training later this month.
Sterling also says that regardless of his living arrangement or A-Rod’s kind gesture, once he’s in Florida it’s back to business, which means he’s back to covering A-Rod objectively because that’s what his duty calls for.
“I’m going to report on exactly what happens. The question mark surrounding Alex is legitimate. What does he have left?” Sterling asked. “How will he do? I know he was working very hard when I spoke with him. We’re all waiting to see if he has any of the old A-Rod left. I can’t answer that. How would I know? How would anyone know? You can’t predict baseball. You can’t predict Alex.”
In separate reports, we’ve also heard that the Yankees plan on fighting A-Rod on milestone bonuses, which they reportedly argued were attained through illegal performance-enhancing measures and are therefore null-and-void. Where that situation stands is not exactly clear, but the “open arms” welcome we’re hearing about certainly casts doubt on that as well.
As is always the case when A-Rod’s world turns, just when we think we have the answers, the questions change.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
