The Education of Alex Rodriguez

[JackReacher]

Anyone read this yet? What a fantastic lede.

Alex Rodriguez's return to the New York Yankees

 

[Boom_70]

"He tells them his job, third baseman for the New York Yankees."

I guess that was before The Yankees resigned Chase Headley

 

[EddieM]

I thought Moehringer's approach to this piece was great, and humanizing --which honestly, was needed, as we've somehow turned A-Rod into an enemy of the state instead of what he is...a flawed human being. I feel like it does a good job of, on one hand, pointing out Rodriguez's delusions and shortcomings, while also taking the time to see what fueled those flaws and why the torch and pitchfork reaction to everything he does is unfair.

tl;dr: It's refreshing to see a less sanctimonious take on A-Rod, who receives baseball fans' ire while we write tributes to Bud Selig's legacy, as if he hasn't committed some similar sins (aka lying, misleading, stretching boundaries).

 

[JackReacher]

It really was a great approach to telling his story. I enjoyed every bit of it.

 

[Double Down]

My biases are clear to many, but I think this is one of the best sports profiles written in years.

 

[TyWebb]

I was actually getting ready to create a thread about this. Loved it, as I do with most of Moehringer's stuff.

While reading it, I couldn't help but wonder how he got some of the info and access he did. He writes as if he were there for some very intimate moments, like New Year's Eve with his kids. Is he basing this off of recollections from A-Rod? From others? Was he actually there?

Regardless, it is a great read.

 

[Double Down]

He was present for all the scenes. ARod even agreed to let JR accompany him to therapy.

 

[TyWebb]

He was present for all the scenes. ARod even agreed to let JR accompany him to therapy.

Wow. I can't think of another profile in which the writer was given such intimate access for such an extended amount of time. A lesser writer might have gotten bogged down in such detail. Moehringer handled it brilliantly. As much as I didn't want to, I did start to feel for A-Rod. Totally humanizes him.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Story reminded me of the book Richard Ben Cramer was trying to write on A-Rod. And his regret about not being able to crack him. Fascinating how Moehringer was able to get his way in.

S.L. Price: The writer and the puzzle: Richard Ben Cramer couldn't crack A-Rod - MLB - SI.com

 

[Double Down]

Access is huge, obviously, but the ability to write it well once you *get* access is absolutely huge. Seen a lot of writers, including one big time political writer this year who thought he was slumming in sports and going to write a nice revelatory profile, get great access and absolutely gag once they got in the door. Youvd got to get great scenes and use them well. It's all about the scenes, man.

Also, I love the decision to go w/o quotes because it makes the story hard to aggregate and steal from, in addition to not allowing anyone to take one of Alex's quotes and obsess over it and turn it into two days of TV or two lazy columns. You actually have to read the entire piece to understand the context of everything and that's a triumph.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Not that it impacted the story, but A-Rod is never actually quoted.

Amazing piece. He must have had crazy access.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Access is huge, obviously, but the ability to write it well once you *get* access is absolutely huge. Seen a lot of writers, including one big time political writer this year who thought he was slumming in sports and going to write a nice revelatory profile, get great access and absolutely gag once they got in the door. Youvd got to get great scenes and use them well. It's all about the scenes, man.

Also, I love the decision to go w/o quotes because it makes the story hard to aggregate and steal from, in addition to not allowing anyone to take one of Alex's quotes and obsess over it and turn it into two days of TV or two lazy columns. You actually have to read the entire piece to understand the context of everything and that's a triumph.

Agree completely. It works far better the way he did it. That's not easy to pull off though.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Piece wins because it almost always sucks to read about him.
Maybe no athlete other than Tiger Woods has had as much piffle written about him as Rodriguez.
It takes skill to frame someone so tacitly unlikeable as worthy of one's compassion.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Piece wins because it almost always sucks to read about him.
Maybe no athlete other than Tiger Woods has had as much piffle written about him as Rodriguez.
It takes skill to frame someone so tacitly unlikeable as worthy of one's compassion.

I don't know that it made me feel sorry for A-Rod. But that piece does something that I would argue is one of the hardest things in journalism to do, write a piece on someone who has been profiled countless times and be able to tell you all kinds of things that you never knew about him.

Wright Thompson did that with Jordan a couple years ago.

 

[Mr. Sunshine]

Don't care about Arod, but would like to know what happened to Uncle Charlie.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

I feel sorry that he didn't know the enduring love of a father. No boy deserves that, and his abandonment issues explain quite a bit.

 

[Double Down]

This is a crazy thing to type, but the scene with Katy Perry was heartbreaking, when he tried so hard to get them backstage, as if to make up for lost time and chances, only to see that she showed his kids more love and attention than he'd shown any fan ever.

 

[JackReacher]

Heartbreaking is a tad strong, but I agree. That scene was great and very telling. Story of the year, so far.

 

[Boom_70]

Heartbreaking is a tad strong, but I agree. That scene was great and very telling. Story of the year, so far.

Agreed. My father died when I was 9. I don't feel liked that sad event has defined the rest of my life. We've all been shot A Rod, just get in the truck and drive.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Agreed. My father died when I was 9. I don't feel liked that sad event has defined the rest of my life. We've all been shot A Rod, just get in the truck and drive.

I'm guessing there aren't too many people who haven't dealt with something pretty significant during their lives. Some, obviously are worse than others, I don't find the story heartbreaking and it doesn't make me feel sorry for A-Rod, but it makes me understand him a little more than before.