Original subtitles

It's my pleasure to introduce to you

the newest Texas Ranger, Alex Rodriguez.

Hello, how's everyone doing?

I couldn't be happier to be in Texas.

I mean that very sincerely.

I never knew Texas was an option for me.

It's painful to watch this.

I mean, you see the stress in my face,

and also, I feel the weight of my entire family

and the friends, and it's like...

like, when we grew up in Dominican,

it's kind of like, one makes it,

the tribe makes it.

And so there's...

I would say it's, like, 80%, 90% happiness.

The other one, I can just feel the stress a little bit.

In many ways, I look back and it's like, I feel bad

for that guy in a weird way.

It's like watching a movie and watching

a different character, almost.

That's how I see it,

'cause I'm so much different

than that person that I watched as a kid.

Yeah.

People may laugh at this, but there's

clearly two personalities.

There's A-Rod, and there's Alex.

Alex is my brother, sensitive person.

And A-Rod is the killer, the motherfucker.

He's going to go down your throat.

He's going to snatch it out of you.

A-Rod is someone that ego doesn't fit inside this hotel

and would walk around very cocky,

you know, I'm the guy.

Getting thrust into an adult world at a very early age,

wanting to be the best player that ever

walked the face of this Earth,

I think that, at some point, affected him.

And he kind of changed... not a little, a lot.

You know, you get $1/4 billion,

never been seen in the history of sports.

That's where the real spotlight turned on.

Where's everybody from here today?

Seattle, Washington.

I watch you all the time.

Huge fan of you, Alex.

Alex was baseball's golden boy

until he signed that contract.

-His ego is going to drive... -Sold out.

That's what he did.

We live in a very cynical world,

and people get off on seeing people fail.

And Alex really wanted to prove people wrong.

A drive to right center field.

There it goes.

I think I had an incredible appetite to just be great.

Alex driving it to right center.

Could it be number 300?

I wanted to play 162 games.

I wanted to play every pitch and never

leave anything on the table.

He makes the play.

And I kind of would get off on it,

shutting people up.

I'm going to boo him tonight because I hate the guy.

No one likes to be disliked.

And I think he struggled with it to a point

that he was going a little bit overboard.

They thought I was greedy, obnoxious, cocky,

arrogant, overpaid.

There was a little bit of, like, well,

the world thinks I'm this way, so fuck it.

Why not be that guy?

Like everyone else, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life.

One thing I know is for sure,

baseball is a lot bigger than Alex Rodriguez.

Slowly hit near short.

And that's the season as the Rangers end

20 games under 500 this year.

It felt a little hollow.

You're playing great, but the team's not winning.

So there's no way to celebrate your individual performance

with your team struggling.

So that part was challenging, but I felt optimistic

that we can turn the corner.

And I was in it for the long haul.

I signed a 10-year commitment.

That's what it was.

But after the '03 season,

Tom Hicks asked to meet with me.

He said, we have some financial restrictions.

Would you be open for a trade?

And I was shocked.

And to his defense, he said, if you don't want to go,

we'll see if we can make this work,

but we're going to have restrictions on our payroll,

which made me think, boy, if we've been struggling

for three years and we're going to limit payroll,

it's going to be even harder to win.

So then that started a series of conversations

with the Boston Red Sox.

We had this meeting that I've never talked about

in New York at the Four Seasons in the wee hours of the night.

And it was myself, Theo Epstein, and Jed Hoyer,

and we were going through potential lineups.

They have Big Papi.

They have Manny, Kevin Millar, Johnny Damon,

the pitchers Schilling and Pedro.

And I said, oh man, this is a championship team.

Like, we can do some damage with this team.

We then took the next two months

and put together a deal for me to go from the Rangers

to the Red Sox,

and I was conceding well over $40 million.

And the head of the union, Don Fehr,

thought that if we have players

conceding so much money to play for a certain team,

that would set the wrong precedent.

In hindsight, I think Don Fehr was right,

even though I was really bummed out at the time.

Two weeks later is the MVP dinner.

I want to thank the Baseball Writers of America

for this award.

In my mind...

And out of all crazy things,

Brian Cashman sits right next to me.

I feel very honored for getting this award.

So Brian says, if you were ever willing to play third base,

maybe we'll get you in pinstripes.

About 30 minutes later, I'm in my second cocktail.

I go, hey, Cash, were you serious about that?

He goes, I could be.

Third drink, I said, how would that work?

Move over, Tiger Woods.

There's a new name dominating sports headlines

all across the country.

He is Alex Rodriguez.

Baseball's reigning American League MVP

is now playing for the New York Yankees.

♪ Start spreading the news ♪

It is the biggest press conference

in the 38-year history of the New Yankee Stadium.

Over 300 media members jammed into the Yankee club

in the bowels of Yankee Stadium

awaiting the arrival of Alex Rodriguez,

where he will don number 13 for the first time

and move over to third base

and play alongside Derek Jeter

in what Brian Cashman, the Yankee general manager,

says is the best left side of the infield

in baseball history.

I was just as surprised as the Yankee fans

and the Boston Red Sox fans

when I opened up my paper today.

Ladies and gentlemen, number 13, Alex Rodriguez

of the New York Yankees.

It was the right place for him to go.

When you're a great player, you want to be in New York.

They got the monuments.

They got all the world championships.

I just remember putting on that uniform

for the first time.

You just felt the aura of New York,

the pinstripes, the history.

Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson,

all the greats wore this uniform.

Being from New York and being born in Washington Heights,

it energizes me.

It gives me the goose bumps.

Life goes full circle at times.

It's eerie, right?

It's kind of weird that, you know,

some 20 years later, he becomes a Yankee.

It's like destiny.

And now... now we will have the newest Yankee.

Alex, how you doing?

-How are you? -Oh, boy. Oh, boy.

-Congratulations. -How you doing? Thank you.

Is this overwhelming to you right now?

Very much so.

I mean, you know, I still think that somebody

is going to step up to me, pinch me, and wake me up.

I mean, the first time I really spoke with him

was when he was with Texas.

I think he liked something that I once said on the air.

I said, Alex Rodriguez playing for the Texas Rangers

is like hanging a "Mona Lisa" in the garage.

And, like, he said, that's an interesting line.

That's an interesting line.

You look at the years he had in Texas,

should have been the most talked-about player ever.

I mean, he never missed an inning.

He hit 50 home runs every single year.

They couldn't put a good team around him.

So you've got this shining star amongst a team that can't win.

He just doesn't have the spotlight that he should have.

Now, Alex, obviously you've always

been the center of attention, whichever team you've been in.

Now you've got Giambi, you've got Jeter,

you've got so many stars around you.

Are you going to miss being the focal point,

or you think that this is actually going

to be a positive for you?

I think the trade-off is so good.

I mean, to be part of a team, to be 1/25 of something,

an organization like the New York Yankees,

where you know when you wake up in the morning, you have

a very good chance to win that night.

When he came to New York, they became a bigger show

with bigger stars because of A-Rod.

But let's be honest, for all his greatness as a player,

he didn't belong in New York.

The Yankees had just gone through an incredible run.

They had already won a lot of championships.

They'd won in '96. They won in '98, '99, 2000.

They were in the World Series in 2001, 2003.

They were already a great juggernaut.

And Derek Jeter didn't want him here.

And I understand why.

It was his team.

And the 3-2 pitch, swung on and drilled to right field.

Going back.

Sanders on the track at the wall.

See ya.

What a ball game.

A game-winning walk-off home run by Derek Jeter.

He is Mr. November!

I was never comfortable,

you know, in terms of, I never thought I had it made.

I always thought, you know, when I was playing in New York,

I was always playing to keep my job.

And I always knew when people were

coming to try to get my job.

I knew every time the Yankees drafted

a shortstop, paid paying attention

to what they were doing.

Can you actually believe that on a team of superstars,

you now have Alex Rodriguez to your right?

Because, you know, he's arguably

the best player in the game right now.

And now he's a New York Yankee.

He's your teammate.

There was a rivalry there between those two.

What do you expect?

A-Rod was a huge star and a better shortstop.

Everybody knew that in baseball.

He was a better shortstop.

We used to talk about these sort of things happening

when we were younger, getting an opportunity

to play together.

I've known Derek since I was 16 years old.

In 1992, he was a sixth pick of the draft by the Yankees.

I got drafted the next year, '93.

They built their relationship

through being the two hot young guys coming up.

Hey, D, I got you getting a cut, dog.

We had a lot of similarities in terms of just

playing the same position, you know what I mean?

And we were highly rated prospects

coming out of high school,

and then get a chance to meet him.

He was big. He was a lot bigger than I was.

People are going to start talking about you.

I could never, even from my first year,

sit down and compare statistics with Alex.

Ground ball back up the middle.

Rodriguez with a diving stop.

The throw to first.

Alex Rodriguez robbing his good buddy Derek Jeter.

For me to make that play against him was quite a thrill.

And then to see him look at me kind of all messed up.

I kind of knew who was going to pay for dinner that night.

We hung out with Derek a lot.

-Showtime, dude. -Oh.

Jete would visit us every off season

and we would go out in Miami.

But I think that they hit some bumps in the road

before Alex got to New York.

Many question whether the two are friends or rivals.

Some unflattering remarks A-Rod made about Jeter

in a magazine article three years ago still fuel the fire.

That "Esquire" article, I thought it was

actually pretty vanilla.

I complimented the whole team,

and they took that and ran with it.

That put a strain to our relationship for years.

I sometimes think if that story had never came out,

it might have been like a fairy tale.

I mean, those two were best buds.

But by the time Alex got there in 2004,

they were not best buds anymore.

One thing I learned about Derek,

he doesn't forget any slight.

Let's talk about the one thing

that people are talking about, you two not getting along.

Are you two as close as you used to be?

Because you used to be buddies, used to sleep

over each other's houses when you played

in Seattle, he played here.

Are you that close?

Well, he's married now, so I can't

really sleep over his house.

So...

People made such a big deal out of, oh,

how are they going to get along?

That was the story before even opening press conference.

My job was to limit distractions.

I knew stories could snowball, and I tried to cut it off.

I always wanted the focus to be on the field.

And for me, if you help us win, I don't care, right?

We don't have to hang out every day.

We don't have to go to dinner every night.

I just concerned myself with us winning.

The funny thing, when you join the Yankees,

you don't have to be anything but a winner.

You can be the worst person in the world,

but if you could play, then you're

fulfilling your obligation.

So he just had to be Alex.

He had to be A-Rod.

Leading off, the shortstop, number 2, Derek Jeter.

Obviously Alex in his mind, is still a shortstop.

So there was still that, you got to subjugate

your ego just a little bit.

The third baseman, Alex Rodriguez.

It was a little awkward, for sure,

because I love playing shortstop so much.

It's like, who doesn't want to play point guard?

Who doesn't want to play quarterback?

My mother, my brother, my friends

wanted to disown me.

How the fuck can you move over to third base?

Michael Jordan doesn't move to third base.

Well, that's a nice reception

walking into the room for the first time.

He got a standing ovation.

I think I'd throw him some change ups.

He's pretty pumped right now.

Once it was done, it was done.

That's just the way I've always thought about it.

Like, we're moving on.

But it wasn't easy.

That ball off.

The glove's off.

Rodriguez, and they can't get him.

Playing shortstop, it's the only thing I've known.

And as a shortstop, you have a vantage point

of seeing the entire game,

where at third base, you're now in a corner,

and the ball gets to you so quickly.

And I wasn't used to that.

Watch a delayed reaction to the left by Rodriguez.

The ball is already halfway to him.

Then he moves too late.

It was a completely new way of playing

the game of baseball, which I found it exciting

and a challenge.

A-Rod and Jeter.

And who's going to get it?

They drop it.

Oh, man.

Out of all the stories that are out there about

me and Alex, people made such a big deal

out of a dropped pop-up.

Everyone's like, see, they don't like each other.

He dropped a pop-up.

But one thing Alex always hated was pop-ups.

You give me any ground ball, I'm good.

Line drive, I'm good.

Pop-ups, kryptonite.

Off third.

A-Rod runs into the stands.

He can't make the catch, and hopefully he's not hurt.

When you're trying to learn a new position in real time

in the prime of your career,

there's not too much room to get comfy.

And you can never get comfortable in New York.

The weight of those pinstripes are real.

The spotlight is real.

You're basically playing on national TV every night.

We're playing in front of a full house.

56,000.

Every home game for the first time ever,

having guys like Mariano Rivera, Posada,

I mean, these guys are legends.

You get the resources, but you better perform.

And that was the trade.

And I'm like, OK, well, that's cool, and that's fair.

That's what I signed up for.

For him to fit in, he had to show

that he cared as much as they did,

and I think he showed them that.

He's such a star, but he has a lunch pail attitude.

He was there early, stayed late,

taking ground balls at third.

And he became a very, very good third baseman.

Oh, a diving stop by A-Rod.

Throws long across.

Oh, what a play by A-Rod.

Third base is a great position for him to play.

He was agile, and he had good feet,

had a good throwing arm and good hands.

Zip the ball across the infield,

and then he could hit for power

like third basemen do.

That pitch is hit deep to center field.

See ya, a 2-run home run for Alex...

It still came out to be a pretty respectable year.

I think I hit over, I think, 36 home runs and over 100 RBIs.

See ya.

The game is over.

Walk-off home run for Alex Rodriguez.

I just thought, wow, this is another piece

to continue the dynasty.

They're going to just reel off more World Series.

It looked like it was going to be unstoppable,

but you were waiting to see what he did in the playoffs.

Look, in New York, you grow up quick.

My first year, you know, we won a championship,

so every year, the expectation level was the same.

Championship or bust.

Championship or bust, yeah.

Game 1 of the American League Championship Series

about ready to get underway.

The tension is palpable.

Everybody is standing.

The archrivals on center stage again.

The Yankees and Red Sox, the first in a best of seven.

When I went to New York, I knew

that we had a formidable opponent with the Red Sox.

That was not a surprise.

You have to understand the level

with which the Yankees owned the Red Sox.

Raschi pitches.

Birdie swings and pops it up in the air.

Henrich says he's got it.

Tommy has it.

The Yankees win the pennant.

There was only one theme.

Eventually the Yankees were going to break their heart.

That might send the Yankees to the World Series.

And then once I got there, between Boston, no,

then Yankees, yes,

it went to a level that was, like, pretty explosive.

Here we go.

Varitek and A-Rod going at it.

I always laughed, it wasn't a rivalry.

It was a complete domination until it wasn't in 2004.

Whatever he did in the regular season,

Yankees don't really care.

The Yankees brought Alex Rodriguez here

to help them beat the Boston Red Sox

and get to the World Series and win that.

Jeter on to start the inning.

Rodriguez plunks one to the left side in the hole.

Cabrera throws across.

Boy, we came out of the gates on fire.

Here comes A-Rod.

Sheffield all the way around.

It's a 3-run double.

Yankees win Game 110-7.

1-0.

Game over.

2-0.

And that's going to tie this game.

A blast out onto Lansdowne Street

off the bat of Rodriguez, who's 2 for 2.

If you look at what he did up to Game 4 of the ALCS,

he was A-Rod.

We're scoring 14 runs, 19 runs, just dominating.

The Yankees have pounded their way

to a three-games-to-none lead in this ALCS.

It was 3-0.

And we were three outs away from going to the World Series.

And we have the greatest closer on the mound.

Rivera looking for his 33rd postseason save.

Here we go.

And then everything crashed to Earth.

Up the middle, Roberts will come to the plate.

The throw by Williams.

Bill Miller has tied it.

Sure enough, this guy named Big Papi shows up.

Ortiz into deep right field.

It's Sheffield.

We'll see you later...

I think everybody on that team

felt they had to put away that series in Games 4 or 5.

Here comes David.

He's in to score, and the Red Sox win it in 14 innings.

And then when you start to think

about the possibility of losing,

are we going to blow this?

Are we going to blow a 3-0 lead?

It's never been done.

And Alex, with his appreciation

of baseball history,

he knew what was happening in real time.

He struggled the rest of the way the next three games.

That little wave became a bigger wave.

Then it became an avalanche.

We just couldn't stop it.

I think the pressure became too much for all of them

and it just all fell apart.

-Here it is. -Ground ball to second.

Reese, the Boston Red Sox have won the pennant.

That was the series.

The most stunning comeback in baseball history.

The Boston Red Sox become the first team

ever to win a series when, down three games to none,

they whipped the New York Yankees four straight.

I mean, that was one of the most painful four games

I've played my entire life, going back to Little League,

high school, Summer League.

I don't think anything can prepare you for being up 3

against your archrivals, the Red Sox,

and then just getting your butts kicked

for the next four games.

You open that window up just a little bit,

and a team that good can gain momentum.

A four-game winning streak is really not that hard to do

when you're that good.

Do we got to talk about this?

Can't you just... can't you just...

-Just a hair. -Play it back?

Just play it back. Go ahead.

To have them collapse on that stage

when they are three games up and three outs away

and lose the series is, without question,

the greatest postseason collapse

in the history of sports.

Any Yankee fan who lived through that knows it was one

of the most painful things they ever, ever had to live through.

That's something that's going to hurt all winter,

and I think it's going to make us stronger

and make us hungrier for next year.

You just go through every scenario in your mind.

We played every play, every pitch.

What could we have done differently?

Like, first time in the history this happens.

How could this happen? How could it be us?

I mean, it felt like a horrific dream.

I'm having a hard time thinking about it right now.

What do you do to process loss like that?

You have a child on November 18th.

Thank goodness Natasha was born.

And that's probably the only medicine that could have,

you know, made it better.

He wanted to have kids,

like, right after we got married,

and I was the one that wasn't ready to have kids.

He wasn't going to be able to contribute

much with his schedule.

So I knew that the majority of it

was going to land on my shoulders.

But he's very convincing.

When he wants something, he's very convincing.

On November 18, 2004, Natasha came to this world.

It was definitely healing and just

one of the greatest days of my life.

Oh, nice 2.

What?

Oh, my God.

I've never seen a miss like that.

Look at that.

Better recheck your eyesight.

I always wanted to provide what my father couldn't do

for our family, a safe place.

Ooh, ooh, ooh.

Ooh!

And it's been the most rewarding part of my life,

watching them grow up

and being a part of their life, by far.

Watch this.

My dad and I are, like, kind of twin flames

in work ethic, in passion, in drive, ambition.

And we're social butterflies.

But we both also, like, our circles are very small,

so, like, we're kind of carbon copies of each other.

All I ever wanted to do was reach my potential,

whatever that was.

It was less about talent

and more about emotional control

and, most importantly, discipline.

The greatest gift that any young person can have

is not to think in a limited way because of

your surroundings, because of the limitations

that you have from your parents and grandparents.

That's a real gift.

And she has that gift, and so does Ella.

And I'm proud of that.

Would you rather be a star in college basketball

or an average player in the NBA?

But those are my...

Probably NBA, because I don't really know

much about college basketball.

But NBA is super cool.

I don't like calling myself A-Rod's daughter.

I actually hate that.

Growing up, people have always been like, your dad's A-Rod?

A-Rod's going to be here?

And I'm just like, I hear that, and I just, like, guys, like,

that's... like, he has a name.

Like, it's Alex.

Like, he's a real human, like...

so I don't know, it's always just been

a little bit weird for me.

What about you?

College, for sure, of course.

You always want what you don't have.

I think I'm very, like, ambitious because of him.

Like, he sets his mind to something,

there's no telling him otherwise.

Like, me... all three of us are like that.

Saturday morning, we get up.

We have a great family workout, optional.

We go to the hardware store to have lunch.

A lot of the discipline that I have is from him.

Anytime I would meet someone... eye contact, firm handshake.

Little things like that

that was, like, so annoying as a kid,

like, now have, like, made me and my sister

a big part of who we are.

He'd have a night game and he'd leave the house,

you know, like, mid morning.

Always the first one there, same parking spot.

You know, after the game, shower, in a suit.

And then when you get home, watch the game over again

with Michael Kay commentating in the back,

you know, and he wouldn't go to bed

until he watched the whole game again.

There's only 10 tops now.

Anybody who knows my dad knows he loves me

and my sister more than anything.

He's so affectionate.

But looking back, because of how hard he was working,

he wasn't always around.

Most of the time, he wasn't around in my childhood.

Love him.

But that was just the reality of it.

Listen, I live by the concept of,

plan for the worst, hope for the best.

If you do that, you'll never be in trouble.

Yes.

I wish I would have thought about that

earlier in my life, but...

Alex is the best.

But, like, your ego thrives off of your achievements

and, like, all the things you can list that you do,

which is something that I do all the time.

And I'm like, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm doing this,

I'm doing this.

I'm so accomplished.

And A-Rod has a lot of those.

But he wouldn't have the career that he's had

if he didn't exist.

It's like yin and yang vibes.

Like, they have to coexist.

Back when I was much younger,

I was really narrow and deep in one thing, and that's baseball.

I did not want to compromise any part of the game.

I had this incredible work ethic,

kind of blended with insecurity.

We would start our days at, you know, 5:00 in the morning,

you know, go do our running, our lifting, our fielding,

get back in the gym, go run mountains at night.

I was just like a machine.

I felt like Rocky getting ready for Russia.

Removed from results, I just loved to get there early,

put the work in like a glutton for punishment.

When we got the batting cage, I remember him

asking me to buy five heaters, so we would

turn on the heat, put the machine at 100,

put the music loud, and let's get to work.

Down one, man on first and third, two outs.

Second and third, no outs.

Blowout, what do you do?

Home run.

And that's something I'm really proud of.

No matter what happens on the field,

I'm always doing my work.

So I felt so confident.

Deep to left and gone.

Alex Rodriguez on a little mini hot streak here.

His third home run of the year and gives

the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

When you get a chance to watch a player every game,

sometimes you're disappointed.

And although he came in with otherworldly numbers

and a great reputation, you realize

why this guy is as good as he is.

He's one of the hardest workers I've ever seen

in almost 40 years covering baseball.

Obviously he cared about stardom too.

I mean, that was important. It's his brand.

♪ There's no easy way out ♪

Probably say, in year two, I started

feeling, like, the urge to flex up

and just enjoy life a little bit.

Early 2000s in New York,

I mean, there's so much going on.

You had hip-hop. You had fashion.

You had music.

You had the Knicks.

You had the Rangers, the Mets, the Giants.

There's so much going on.

You're 23, 24 years old, and you can do whatever

you want and you can't do wrong.

2-2.

Swung on, hit high in the air to deep left center.

It is gone.

3-run home run into the Yankee bullpen.

That one's hit deep to left.

There it goes.

See ya!

It was exciting, but it was also really hard.

Like every baseball wife in America,

like, you're on a baseball schedule.

And I'm not going to pretend that it was wonderful.

It was not wonderful.

Everyone wants to know what A-Rod's really like,

and so did we.

And the last we saw, A-Rod and his wife

were going into a downtown luxury building.

It was a different level of notoriety,

different amount of people watching.

Like, it was just different.

It was just... it was New York.

When you hear, Cynthia, people say,

A-Rod, he's so handsome.

A-Rod, one of the best-looking players in baseball.

-You know what? -I'm flattered by that.

I mean, he's my husband.

And if people find him attractive and sexy, great.

-I mean, you know, it's sexy. -Sexy.

It's a different type of world and arena.

And he didn't understand the rules of New York City

and what it was to be in that world, in that limelight.

Did you pull up his Central Park pictures,

laying out on a rock?

I never did that.

We're sitting there at Central Park

and it is smoking hot.

I said, what better time to get some rays?

Next page in the "New York Post,"

pow, you know, Sun-Rod.

I didn't think about the consequences.

I didn't think about paparazzi.

I was thinking about who was pitching that day.

A-Rod launches one deep to left.

Everyone turns and watches.

See ya!

A monster home run by Alex Rodriguez.

I think the pressure that you have in the regular season

as a Yankee is probably equal to the pressure

that you have in the postseason with other teams.

So he was able to deal with that in a great way

by winning an MVP and putting together,

you know, unbelievable numbers.

It's my distinct pleasure in honoring

Alex Rodriguez with the two awards tonight,

MVP and the Player of the Year.

Thank you.

But then there's a different level.

When you're a Yankee, I mean, you have an owner

that was quoted as saying anything less

than a World Series is failure.

You have a shortstop that constantly said that.

No surprise to anybody who's seen this Yankee team

play one October after another.

The Derek Jeter in Game 5 has been on base three times,

knocked home two runs, and has a home run.

Now it's Alex Rodriguez, who has only two hits

in 14 at bats in this series

and has not driven in a run.

What you do for 162 games

really doesn't make a difference.

It all comes down to what you do in October.

And if you go through a slump or you struggle

during that time, it looks like

the complete season is a failure.

Fair or not, that's just what we've built in New York.

To the left side, might be two.

Figgins out, out.

He played terribly in the postseason,

despite winning an MVP.

And it really stuck, oh, he's a great regular season player,

but he's not a great postseason player.

He chokes in the postseason.

It was tough. It was a very tough transition.

It was a rough... rough going for a while.

'06 was probably my toughest year in New York.

I struggled mightily.

Grounded to third.

Let's see if they turn two.

There's one, and there's two.

An around-the-horn double play.

The bluebirds raining down on Alex Rodriguez

after that DP ground ball.

And what I noticed is, they hated to lose

even more than the enjoyment of winning.

He's obviously not only an all-star but an MVP,

yet considered by his own fans not a "true Yankee,"

whatever that means.

It all comes down to postseason play.

He's never going to be a true Yankee until he

has an outstanding postseason.

Not just a normal one, not just one where he's

a part of the team that wins.

He has to be the star.

Alex Rodriguez, a miserable series, will take strike one.

If you break up Alex's postseason performance

from Seattle to Game 4 of the ALCS

against the Red Sox,

he was a really good postseason performer.

I think the Yankees' failure in the last four games

against the Red Sox destroyed his confidence

when it came to big games.

Liftoff toward center.

That ball carries, Granderson on the move.

But Alex Rodriguez hits the ball 410 feet.

But it's just not enough, is it?

You know, one thing I've always noticed about Alex,

he thinks too much, over thinks things.

And then there are players that do a great job

because they don't think that much.

Listen to them roar.

Tigers in four.

I used to say, A-Rod, you got to be

mentally tough enough to take it.

That's all there is to it.

You know, they pay you a lot of money.

You're a big player.

You can't fold under the pressure.

Baseball's a game of failure,

so you have to have a short memory.

And when our games were over, you know, I'd drive home.

By the time I was home, I didn't want

to talk about it anymore.

He was shocked, coming to my house

when we were younger, that I didn't have the MLB package

and I wasn't at home watching baseball after our own game.

He didn't have, like, the MLB Network,

and he didn't have the baseball package.

And I'm like, what are we going to do after the game

if we can't watch four games, all the West Coast games?

He's like, we're not watching the West Coast games.

We're going to go get a bite to eat.

Where we going to eat? Do they have TVs for the games?

He'd be like, there is no baseball.

It's the no-baseball rule.

We don't watch baseball.

We don't talk baseball.

I go, but how do you do that?

I don't understand.

I mean, I would get home at night,

turn on the YES Network to watch our replay,

turn on all the West Coast games... the Dodgers,

the Angels, the A's, the Giants.

And that's what I watch.

I didn't want to watch "Seinfeld."

I mean, we used to get home and watch games twice.

Every TV in the office was Major League Baseball.

Every TV in his house was Major League Baseball.

That's the intensity he has, right?

In a very affectionate way, I tell him he's fucking crazy.

Like, he's cuckoo.

The guy truly was obsessed with the game,

like, every part of the game.

That's all he talked about.

It's the gift and the curse, right?

I mean, it's the maniacal way of going about it,

where you're going to go and win at all costs

and push the envelope.

But I was wound pretty tight.

Last year, Alex, in a "down year,"

hit .290 with 35 homers, 121 RBIs,

and he's 36 home runs away from the magical 500.

I did feel the pressure and some

of the resentment all around.

But if you look at all the great players,

you draw reaction from people.

And like Reggie Jackson told me,

you know, big fella, you control that pen

every night with that bat.

And I always took that to heart.

Right center field.

That one is way back there.

That one is on its way.

Goodbye.

A grand slam.

'07 was kind of a respect year for me.

3-1 pitch is hit high and deep to center field,

and this one is gone.

And that whole year, from the get-go,

I mean, it was a party.

I think I hit 14 home runs in April,

and the MVP was a wrap.

From the New York Yankees, Alex Rodriguez.

Third baseman, Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod!

The funny thing about Alex is,

unlike the players of today that are home run hitters,

he wasn't just a home run hitter.

He hit for average.

He drove in runs with doubles and singles.

And it's into left field.

Has been on base five times today.

He just has an unnatural ability to play the game.

He understands the game.

He has incredible hand-eye coordination.

I mean, he's one of few.

Deep to left field.

You can forget about this one.

Another home run for A-Rod.

There was days driving to the Bronx, I would be like,

OK, would I rather go 2 for 5 with two home runs...

Deep to left.

Fair ball is gone.

Or would I rather go 5 for 5 with two doubles?

And when I would put my cleats on the ground

and that metal hit that clay, I felt like a tree

that's been there for 200 years.

And literally I would say, OK,

do I want to hit this in the fucking

right center field seats or the left center field seats?

He's done it.

Alex Rodriguez has made

Major League Baseball history...

the youngest player ever to hit 500 home runs.

An A-bomb from A-Rod.

If you look at my career...

'03, MVP; '05, MVP; '07, MVP...

when it was an odd year, I felt something really good

was going to happen.

Well, what about even years?

Did you think, this is not going to be my year?

No, they were still good.

Driven deep to center field.

Going back. Sizemore still there.

See ya.

Another walk-off home run for Alex Rodriguez.

A 3-run shot, and the Yankees win 8-6.

Pandemonium in the Bronx.

Can you be hotter than Alex Rodriguez?

If there's one guy that works hard, this is the man.

He's out in that field every day early.

He even beats me to the park.

All those numbers are great,

but they don't mean much, right?

The only thing that matters is winning.

Yogi, I am very proud and impressed

with your three MVP awards.

The 10 championships, I'm very jealous about.

I felt I had a responsibility to play well as an individual,

but my biggest responsibility was to help

bring a winning attitude.

And we couldn't get it done.

I know that A-Rod wasn't very good in the postseason,

and it was very disappointing for Yankees fans.

So here you have this guy kind of on top of the world,

getting paid the biggest salary in baseball,

and not delivering.

You do not want to be that person in New York.

Anyway, do you want to hear how I first met him,

kind of how our paths first crossed?

I went to a Yankees game with some friends of mine

when I was anchoring the CBS Evening News.

And I remember him looking up towards me in the stands.

I knew he saw me,

and I felt like Glenn Close

in "The Natural" or something.

I remember I think I was even wearing something white.

And the next thing I knew, his security guard came up

and gave me an autographed bat and three or four baseballs

that had been tied in knots in an athletic sock

that he had autographed for me.

And everyone around me was like, what is going on?

And I was like, I have no idea.

And then we just kind of became friendly-ish.

He would call me once in a while.

There was an infuriating story last night on the CBS...

I'll never forget getting ready to do the news,

gosh, around 2007, and I got this call and my assistant

said that Alex Rodriguez was on the phone.

And he said he didn't know whether he

should stay with the Yankees.

Tonight's question is put to you.

Will Alex Rodriguez be a member of the Yankees next year?

I think he's going to opt out on this deal

and he's going to go elsewhere.

He has until 10 days after the World Series

to decide whether he's going to opt out

or stay with the Yankees.

It was sort of sweet and also a little sad

that he was turning to me, somebody who really knew

very little about baseball, for advice,

which seemed indicative of the fact that he didn't

really have anyone who really had

his best interests at heart.

Isn't that crazy?

Scott Boras, his agent, said the team

needed to present a deal worth $350 million

before opting out.

When you think about an extension,

it's not as polarizing as, you know,

leaving one team, Seattle, to go to a new team, Rangers.

I had unfinished business

and I wanted to stay in New York,

but I was also open to attain

the best deal for me and my family.

This place is ready to go as the Red Sox try

and finish off the World Series.

-We're sitting at my house... -family, friends, my brother,

my sister... and we're watching the Red Sox

about to sweep the Rockies.

Scott called and said, hey, I think we should opt out,

but we should opt out today during the game.

I said, that doesn't make any sense, Scott.

What's the rush?

Oh, no, we have to do it, because if not,

we're going to miss our window.

And this is the kind of pressure we need to put on him.

Left side and off the glove of Atkins into left.

And then by the seventh inning, he's like, tell me,

I mean, are we going to do this?

Just press the button.

Granted, we're probably a couple drinks in,

and, like,

they're like, fuck it, press the button.

There is big news brewing.

And for that, we go down to Ken Rosenthal.

Joe, I just spoke with Scott Boras,

and he confirmed that Alex Rodriguez

has decided to opt out of his contract with the Yankees.

And I remember, like, my phone started blowing up.

Brian Cashman has been very clear

that if Alex Rodriguez opts out,

they will not negotiate.

Everyone's like, why the fuck would you

opt out in the middle of the World Series?

What this means is that Boras and A-Rod

feel that they can do better than that on the open market.

-I don't know. -We had to.

You know, it's, like, one of those things

that your instincts tell you better.

And I'm sure Scott had good intentions.

They just did not work out well for me.

That's when I said, Scott, I hear you.

I'm sorry.

I'm staying with the Yankees, and let's sign the contract.

You got hammered by the press.

They called you, among other things,

a gold-plated phony, Pay-Rod in Pinstripes.

They said you upstaged more World Series games

than you actually played in.

I think everything about Alex Rodriguez

is about image, in a way.

Image building, image repair.

Were you surprised at the level of vitriol that came your way?

No.

If I was a writer, I would have done the same thing

because it was unacceptable.

He was under so much pressure,

and the spotlight was so white-hot on him.

I think he was still finding his sea legs.

These are the two MVP awards,

but I would like to yank all three of them

and put a world championship there.

I think he's someone who is fixated

on how he comes across to the world and didn't quite...

quite know how to behave.

You know, I spent a lot more time thinking

about what the world thought about me

back when I was much younger.

I was so uptight.

I would have, like, Pepe and Jose

and my brother come up to the games,

and I told them the rules.

Like, we're not allowed to drink alcohol.

I'm so big, it's hard to find anything

off the rack that fits.

Alex would ask us to wear suits during the game

because he said we were a representative of him.

Knots are moody.

Some days, it looks pretty.

Some days, it looks like a hot mess.

He wanted us always to be on point,

for everyone to see that his team was perfect.

You know, in the summer, it's 100 degrees.

And we would tell him... you're like,

hey, dude, you're crazy, man.

It's hot as shit out here.

I just couldn't take it anymore.

And we had a couple drinks during the game.

And I think they thought that I wouldn't be looking at them.

But for whatever reason, I looked up,

and all three of them are taking sips.

The next morning, he sits Guy and I down,

and he goes, what is it that I hear that you guys

were drinking at the game?

And Pepe was drunk, and you guys were yelling,

so on and so forth.

I mean, I can't think of a good reason now,

but I think, back then, I would say,

yeah, we're part of a team.

We're here to work.

And you guys drinking in the stands

is not helping the cause.

I just think that a lot of pressure

came from thinking that at the time,

you had to dress a certain way

or act a certain way or say certain things,

but it almost came out, like, way too fake

and us trying to be something we were not.

Cool.

That expression "fake it till you make it"...

-Mm-hmm. -Do you relate to that?

Oh, yeah.

Of course, I mean, fake it till you make it,

I mean, that's been my whole life, right,

and everyone I grew up with.

I mean, we didn't have anything.

If we didn't fake it, we weren't going to survive.

There's something a little almost Gatsbyesque

about this guy,

because he always seems to be striving.

So you have to admire his constant desire

for self-improvement,

but you also have to wonder at what cost.

Guys, hold back, please.

Mrs. Rodriguez.

Call it naivety.

I have always believed that you trust people

until they do something to,

I don't know, create distrust.

Well, I mean, at first, I would say,

you can't believe everything you read.

Some things are underplayed in the media.

Some things are overplayed.

And this is probably somewhere in the middle.

It was not like we were unhappy.

But we were growing apart romantically.

I don't know.

I mean, you know, marriage is challenging.

He seemed to be, you know, extremely apologetic

and, you know, not proud of his actions.

And we were together about a year,

and then I got pregnant with Ella.

And then when Ella was first born,

a very similar scenario.

And at that point, we got divorced.

In hindsight, I could have been a better husband.

I could have been more present.

I could have been more loyal.

I could have been more sympathetic, empathetic,

all of it, you name it.

I knew that he had his own demons,

and I was hoping he would get help.

And I hoping that it could end differently than it did.

He was really upset, so that affected me.

But at the same time, I think I felt, like, a sense

of, like, maybe freedom.

Well, we go to the bottom of the second.

A-Rod leads off.

I hope he gets it.

The day that we filed for divorce,

I think we were playing the Red Sox.

The 0-1.

Line to deep left.

Fair, it's gone. It is gone.

A bullet home run by A-Rod in the lower deck in left.

And on that day, I hit a home run.

And for Alex Rodriguez, home run number 536.

And he just tied Mickey Mantle for 13th place

on baseball's all-time list.

Personally I think he just fell in love with the idea

of marriage, not understanding the grind

of marriage every day.

He wasn't ready.

He was so committed to the game.

He was always great on the baseball field.

But off the field, he had a lot of problems.

You have this, you know, exceptional talent.

And he's just disconnected with me.

He's disconnected with his mother.

Now he's A-Rod to the world.

The best baseball player in the game,

the highest-paid baseball player.

And the A-Rod persona becomes more overwhelming than Alex.

I don't know.

I mean, maybe baseball's...

the field is where I escape and I get to be,

you know, the best version of myself,

at least at that time.

A-Rod is once again a lightning rod for controversy.

"Sports Illustrated" says A-Rod's name

appears on a list of 104 players

who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs

in 2003.

At the time, baseball did not have penalties

for steroid use, and the results were supposed

to be anonymous and remain sealed.

But in 2004, federal agents...

I detested the steroid era.

Everyone who is in the media or did what I did

hates the subject of steroids, because they almost destroyed

the sport with their greed...

both the players and the owners.

Those that treated this with great surprise, I'm surprised.

I'm surprised that anybody would treat anybody

anymore with great surprise.

I mean, I think the great surprise left us long ago.

For more than a decade, there has been widespread illegal use

of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing

substances by players in Major League Baseball.

I just remember there was this

massive investigation about performance-enhancing

drugs in baseball.

And George Mitchell, who was one

of the most respected public figures in America,

was overseeing it.

The evidence we uncovered indicates that this has not

been an isolated problem involving just

a few players or a few clubs.

Many players were involved.

He wasn't named in the report,

but I still don't think that necessarily absolved him.

And I think people were very suspicious.

Clearly that became a focal point of our interview.

For the record, have you ever used steroids,

human growth hormone, or any other

performance-enhancing substance?

No.

Have you ever been tempted to use any of those things?

No.

You never felt like, this guy's doing it;

maybe I should look into this too?

He's getting better numbers, playing better ball.

I've never felt over matched on the baseball field.

I've always been in a very strong, dominant position.

And I felt that if I did my work,

since I've done since I was,

you know, a rookie back in Seattle,

I didn't have a problem competing at any level.

So no.

I thought, gosh, he's so adamant with his answers

that he must be telling the truth.

The initial reaction from most players was,

how is this even possible?

You know, because it was supposed to be

these anonymous tests.

The way I looked at it, it was just going

to be a huge distraction.

I mean, this is going to be a story that probably never ends.

If he admits it, he's probably not going

to get in the Hall of Fame.

I mean, and this is a guy...

I told him I wouldn't admit to it.

If they had it on paper,

why do you have to say anything?

Just look at the report, and that's it.

But he was truthful.

Cash, you're over here.

I got Alex here.

First, bear with me.

I'm a little nervous... or a lot nervous,

so bear with me a little bit.

Going back to 2001, my cousin started telling me

about a substance that you could purchase over the counter

in DR known as...

in the streets is known as boley or bole.

It was his understanding it would give me

a dramatic energy boost and otherwise harmless.

I had a strong desire to win, and I had a strong desire

to justify my contract because it just had taken over my life.

And I thought it was important to produce and play

at a really high level.

And they weren't banned before 2003?

I mean, technically.

After our voluntary test, all the players voted

for a Major League drug policy.

At that time it became evident to me how serious this all was,

and I decided to stop then.

It was just different back then.

I was consumed by baseball.

I wanted just to play every single day,

and that's where I put all my focus, attention, discipline,

fears, self-esteem.

Everything was tied to my game

and winning and playing every day and being

the best at all costs.

If there's a way that you can say that I almost loved it

too much, I loved it too much.

Like everyone else, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life.

The only way I know how to handle them

is to learn from them and move forward.

One thing I know is for sure, that baseball

is a lot bigger than Alex Rodriguez.

And to my teammates...

Thank you.

For the Yankees, this was a very, very bad day.

The Yankees have hitched their wagon to A-Rod,

understanding that that would mean enormous ratings,

that it would mean full houses, and now that's gone.

They have a performance anxiety that is so dramatic.

You got to understand, the good ones,

the great ones are so driven to be the best.

You know, the most honest answer I ever got

was Mickey Mantle.

He said, you know what?

If they had put that stuff in front of me,

I would have done it in a second.

I was always just enthralled by his level of talent.

And that bothered me that he did that.

Baseball fans here and all across the country

may be getting fed up with players on steroids

now that the sport's biggest star, Alex Rodriguez,

has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.

I remember he dropped off a note to my apartment

that said, "Dear Katie, I'm sorry that I didn't

tell you the truth, Alex."

And I thought, well, that was kind of nice.

On the other hand, I was pissed that he lied.

I screwed up big-time.

The only thing I ask from the American people

is to judge me from this day forward.

That's all I can ask for.

I think, with that, folks, obviously we could stand here

for another three hours, but I think

that we will end with that.

As I mentioned before... by the way,

I personally appreciate all the media members

being patient at the beginning of this program.

I know that we ran late, and I do recognize that,

and I appreciate your patience personally.

31 days till opening day.

April 16th, the Yankees will take on the Cleveland Indians

at their new home right here across the street

at the new Yankee Stadium.

Crews putting the finishing touches...

We're his team.

We're going to stand behind him.

I mean, he made a mistake.

First and foremost, I don't condone anything he did.

He doesn't condone anything he did.

He understands that it is a mistake.

He's trying to get past that mistake.

And, you know, as teammates, we're going to help him out.

You know, realize it's going to be difficult.

Every day is a new opportunity.

That's what makes baseball great.

The game is played... 162 games every single day.

It sort of emulates life.

You know, there's ups, there's downs,

but no matter how you look at it, you play the next day.

There was no penalty.

There was no law broken.

It didn't mess with MLB rules.

There was no suspension.

But then when I got to spring training,

two or three days in, I knew there was something off.

You know, wasn't running as fast,

wasn't hitting the ball as far.

I wasn't as explosive when I threw.

It was almost like pressing the accelerator in your car

and the car not moving.

And then finally, I went to get an MRI,

and they're like, oh yeah, you have a huge tear on your hip.

It was supposed to be about eight weeks to recover.

So I was supposed to miss all of spring training

and probably the first month of the season.

And I remember that we got off to a really, really bad start.

And an awful, awful home stand

ends for the Yankees.

We're in last place.

Building's empty.

Boys are getting booed every day.

We're three or four games into 500,

and Hal Steinbrenner calls and says,

OK, what do you think, big boy?

Are we getting close?

I'm, like, five or six days away,

and I think we lost, like, the third in a row.

And he was like, hey, I'm sending the plane.

We need to get you up to New York.

-What's up? -Good to be back?

Hi, guys.

There's still some doubt.

What kind of player is he going to be?

With this hip injury, and then everything's out in the open,

he's not doing PEDs anymore.

I arrived in Baltimore about a week early.

Come up in the first inning, first pitch I see...

Can you believe this?

Baseball theater, his first at bat, first pitch,

A-Rod delivers a 3-RBI homer.

3-run homer.

And I'm rounding the bases, and I'm like,

oh, man, I'm back.

First at bat, he hits a home run.

It's just unbelievable.

Kind of like storybook.

And his season took off from there.

I came into that year kind of feeling free and liberated.

And from that moment on, we went from last place

to play almost 700 baseball.

There it goes.

See ya.

A walk-off 2-run home run for Alex Rodriguez.

And the Yankees win 6-4.

He had a record where he hit 30 home runs and 100 RBIs

however X many years in a row.

They're playing their final game before the playoffs,

and he's at 28 home runs and 93 runs batted in.

And it's the seventh inning of the game.

He hits two home runs in the inning and drives in seven.

A long fly ball into deep right center field,

and this one is gone, a grand slam home run.

So Alex will finish with 100 RBIs and 30 home runs.

I've never seen anything like it in my life.

It was like it was written by the gods.

And this is the spot for Alex Rodriguez,

where he truly has struggled with New York.

Second-longest run in a tie with Barry Bonds

for the longest postseason hit less streak

with a runner on base.

In a postseason game, since Game 4 of 2004,

and you see that Alex is coming up.

You go, ugh.

Line drive, left center field.

The streak is over.

Here comes Jeter.

He will score.

And the Yankees up 4-2.

He completely flipped the narrative.

Fly ball, center field.

Well hit, at the track.

He's done it again!

There's bedlam in the Bronx

as Alex Rodriguez, a new man in 2009,

has tied this game in the ninth.

He played like a man possessed.

Big home runs, big hits, clutch hits.

He did everything he had to do.

That was the Alex Rodriguez that he was

with Seattle and Texas and the MVP years

all into one postseason.

That is a rocket, just blasted into left field.

It's 2-0.

The hero of the playoffs was A-Rod in a very big way.

He had 18 RBIs in the postseason that year.

At the time, it was a record.

To be picking at the ball really well

as he hits one into left.

Back at the wall, Rodriguez goes deep.

Number five of this postseason.

What a year it's been for Alex Rodriguez,

admitting that he used steroids

and undergoing serious hip surgery.

I guess the hip's OK, huh?

I think that meant a lot to him as well,

to prove that, I could do it clean.

Yankees win the pennant.

Alex Rodriguez, who, through this team on his back

at times this postseason, is going to the World Series.

I probably played the best baseball

of my career that entire month of October,

including the World Series.

These are two veteran teams.

These are two teams that can score in the blink of an eye

because of all their power.

And let's not forget who the defending champs are.

It's the Philadelphia Phillies.

They're back to try and repeat.

I came here in the middle of my career.

I gave up my position.

'04 happened.

I'm in year 15.

The only way this works is, we have to win the title.

First World Series at bat

in a 16-year career for Alex Rodriguez.

That's a ball. Ball 1.

He went 0 for 20.

I remember saying, like, if I don't pitch to me,

pass the baton.

Trust your teammates. Trust your teammates.

Leading it off.

And he gets drilled by Cole Hamels.

And I think, one game, I walked four or five times.

Alex Rodriguez is on base for the fourth time tonight

as he draws a two-out...

Matsui ended up having, like, seven RBIs.

And the lesson for me was, like,

you don't have to be the MVP.

If they don't want to pitch to you, pass the baton

and let Matsui be the MVP.

And that was a shift that I made from my early struggles

in the playoffs with New York, where I wanted to do it myself.

Tonight the Yankees enter

with a 2-games-to-1 series lead

after an 8-5 win over the Phillies last night.

We thought that the winner of Game 4

would probably go on to win the World Series,

because it was a swing game.

We can either go up 3-1 or go 2-2.

With two out, nobody on, Johnny Damon

steps in here in the ninth.

I remember Johnny Damon being up

with two outs, nobody on base.

We were dead in the water, and he grinds at bat.

Line drive into left field's a base hit.

Steals second and then just keeps going to third.

Now headed to third base as he got around Feliz.

It was inspiring for our whole dugout.

I mean, it was the life that we needed.

On Teixeira.

And that hits Teixeira to put runners at the corners

with two out.

And sure enough, once Tex got hit, I said, OK, here we go.

This is my moment, my time.

Brad Lidge, who's a hell of a closer.

And because of the tie game with Johnny at third,

Lidge would not want to bounce a ball

and give us a cheap run with a wild pitch,

because if he bounces, we take the lead.

So the probability was that he had

to attack me with fastballs.

Alex Rodriguez takes a strike.

Throws me a first-pitch fastball in,

94, black, great pitch.

And I thought to myself, OK, stay with your game plan.

If he does it again, I'm going to beat him to the spot.

Try to put the Yankees back on top.

And sure enough, he threw me exactly the same pitch.

I said, all right, that's my pitch.

And I beat him to the spot.

Ripped to left field.

Alex Rodriguez has delivered for New York.

In to score is Damon,

and the Yankees lead 5-4 in the ninth.

That was definitely the biggest hit of my career.

That not only puts them ahead,

but it puts Mariano Rivera in the game.

As I'm approaching second base,

I see Mariano Rivera warming up,

and I'm thinking,

we're going to be world champs.

The 0-2 pitch.

That is a fair ball.

And that's the end of the night.

Game 4 belongs to the Yankees.

A final of 7-4.

And with two out and a runner at first, here's Rodriguez.

Maybe all the pressure was off because people

didn't expect anything out of him,

where he wasn't on PEDs anymore,

gone through the serious surgery.

Fastball, base hit into the right-field corner.

But the fact that he took the pressure off himself,

that he didn't have to be the man,

ironically enough, made him the man.

1-0 New York in the first inning of Game 5.

And if there was an MVP for the entire postseason,

he was definitely going to be the guy.

And he probably would have won it in the World Series, too,

but Matsui had that great last game and he rightfully won it.

Here is a 1-2.

Rodriguez grounds it left side and through for a base hit.

All I can remember is, the entire ninth inning,

I'm sitting at third base and I'm just, like,

flowing with emotions.

I mean, you're basically flying.

You do not feel your feet on the ground.

You're in the 1-inch line to win this title

that you've been pursuing for, you know, over 30 years.

And as I look to my right,

I have literally, like, 40 people.

I think everyone in my family and everyone

I grew up with was there waiting for the moment.

To the second baseman, Canó.

The Yankees are back on top,

world champions for the 27th time.

That was one of the greatest feelings in the world,

to be celebrating in Yankee Stadium.

Man, you talk about a great feeling.

You'd almost forgotten what it felt like

to win a championship.

So that was a special moment.

Whoo!

I mean, once you're a champion, you're a champion forever.

You go down in history as a champion,

and no one can take that away.

So yes, I was happy, but it was more of a relief

and, like, a giant gorilla got off my back.

I know it was a huge load on his shoulders,

what happened in '04 and subsequent postseasons.

Beautiful thing about sports:

you can erase failures by unbelievable success.

And he did erase all of that.

Every time this Yankee came up in the postseason,

it seemed like he got the biggest hit

you could possibly get.

He said he was at rock bottom at the beginning of the year.

Well, from rock bottom to the top of the world,

Alex Rodriguez!

Of their 27 world championships,

I'd say that was close to the most important one.

The Yankees, if they hadn't won in '09,

wouldn't have won since 2000.

That's the only championship they have in the last 24 years.

And that was A-Rod.

We had fun for about three weeks after that.

I don't think we slept much.

It was a big party after that.

All I can think about is how sweet it is

and how all the...

Sleepless nights, headlines, headaches,

it was all worth it right there.

Through all my ups and downs,

felt like there's been lessons along the way,

and that's why I'm where I am today.

I don't know if "regret" is the right word,

but, like, things that I'd like to do over,

I would say the 252.

But I'll keep that one.

I'll keep that one.

Would not have done interview with Katie.

And I probably would have just retired then,

and I would have avoided a lot of nightmares.

Do we have any water anywhere?

-Do you have a water? -Yeah, grab the waters.

Thanks.

You asked fans to judge you from that point forward

in your press conference at spring training.

What would you say to them now,

the people who took you on your word?

Well, I would tell them that, you know,

please have some patience.

Let this process play out.

You know, in due time, we'll have

an opportunity to sit in front of an arbiter

and give our case.