me and alex rodriguez

Me and Alex Rodriguez

Before he was Bud Selig’s and Major League Baseball’s favorite witch hunt target, Alex Rodriguez was an All-American shortstop at Miami’s Westminster Christian High School. Back in 1993 the A-rod moniker had yet to be bestowed on the 17 year old who was already built like a pro and was projected to be the number one overall pick in the upcoming amateur draft.

It was at a house party in Perrine where he humbly introduced himself to me simply as Alex. I knew who he was. Everyone did. He had a quartet of private school girls hanging on his every word as he and I talked about playing junior ball at Miami’s famed Boys Club league, a baseball haven where only a few years earlier Alex was just another promising player.

Only one of us broke the law that night. I’m guilty of a few underage beers, while Alex nursed a Sprite. Before the century would close, A-rod (as the Big League Press had anointed him) would donate undisclosed millions to the Boys Club so future crops of promising players enjoyed better facilities than the ones we did. !

© Fred Smith 2014 theonlyfredsmith.com