Mini-series - 3 episodes
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Directed by: Gotham Chopra, Erik LeDrew
Starring: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mike Francesa, Katie Couric, Ken Griffey Jr., Lou Piniella
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
Baseball player Alex Rodriguez started as a talented young player but over his career became a polarizing sports figure.
Verdict
Rodriguez has always seemed like someone overly concerned with image, and he's tried to rehabilitate his name after his baseball career. This seems like part of it. While this doesn't skip any part of his life, it certainly glosses over aspects. This posits that his faults are due to his father leaving the family. The rest is due to his over the top alter ego "A-Rod." If you want reasons and details about the why or when on steroids or why he retired four home runs short of seven hundred, you won't find it. Overall it's quite friendly, pushing the message that whatever faults he's had, he's working on it. There are very few player interviews which seems telling. It's easy to watch this and see a tragic figure. That's not quite accurate. I wouldn't be surprised if Rodriguez had a say on what was released.
Skip it.
Review
There's Alex and A-Rod, and A-Rod is his excuse for his actions.
Rodriguez was a first round pick that quickly made it to the major leagues. He rises to prominence, a standout shortstop on a good Seattle Mariners team, but his absentee father has a lasting effect on him. His ex-wife Cynthia states it stunted him. Later, Rodriguez sets a record with the largest contract ever, a 252 million dollar deal with the Texas Rangers.
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| Alex Rodriguez |
Rodriguez is traded to the New York Yankees, joining Derek Jeter's team and even moving to third base. They were friends that become rivals after A-Rod's comments putting Jeter down. The second episode introduces his daughter as a way to humanize him. He opts out of his Yankee's contract during the World Series and is rightfully ridiculed. He blames his agent Scott Boras. This series just seems like an extension of his redemption tour. This wants to play this as the bigger the star, the more eyes watching, but there are so many miscues that are downplayed or ignored. He was great and he loves the spotlight, but this chalks up the spotlight hogging to A-Rod his alter ego. Many if not most celebrities have a public persona. This just feels like image rehabilitation, a sanitized version that tries to portray Rodriguez in the best light. He had to do steroids due to the pressure of living up to his enormous contract.
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| Bronson Arroyo, Alex Rodriguez |
Rodriguez did steroid again because he was so eager to get back on the field. It could be ego, his image, or wanting to prove himself. This series touches on everything, but it quickly glosses over several of the trickier issues. This focuses more on the baseball and less on the personal. The most personal this gets is exploring his relationship with his therapist, how his personal and professional life intersected. If his father was present he would have avoided the big mistakes. That's quite a deflection. If he's no longer a narcissist, why does he need a documentary that explores his life and focuses attention on him? The people that claim he's grown seem to be his family. The only players interviewed are Ken Griffey Jr. and Derek Jeter, players more likely to be neutral. I'd love for this to interview Bronson Arroyo, Jason Varitek, or Dallas Braden.
It's difficult not to look at this skeptically with what it purports and the push to present Alex Rodriguez as likable. What about the A-Rod centaur painting, retiring four home runs short of 700, the rumors he worked out with Canseco and took steroid in high school, slapping the ball out of Arroyo's hand in the 2004 ALCS, Jennifer Lopez, or his gingivitis press tour and branding deal? This leaves out a lot of elements that all would make Rodriguez look worse.
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