HBO’s three-part new docuseries “Alex vs. A-Rod” — directed by Gotham Chopra and Erik LeDrew — sees polarizing former New York Yankee great Alex Rodriguez recap the not-so-riven regrets of a legendary career gone awry.
Everyone from familiar friend-turned-foe-turned-colleague Derek Jeter, to his ex-wife Cynthia, to the always spot-on Michael Kay turns out to wax reflective upon a complicated obsessive, solitarily consumed with a pursuit of all-time greatness — enough to check off every box, yet fail to clock his own arrested development.
With Rodriguez on board for the deep dive, the documentary posits there were two sides to him that were in constant clash: the disciplined “Alex” and the egomaniacally untethered “A-Rod.”
Christened the man of the house after his father abandoned the family when he was 11 years old, Rodriguez developed the latter persona to skyrocket and detach.
At 26, he signed his first record-breaking 10-year, $250 million deal. At 32, he signed another. But even before the performance-enhancing drug (PED) revelations, everyone hated him (besides me).
The best-in-show was constantly the ire of the media, his teammates, the man in the mirror. The bar was set astronomically high, and he failed to live up to it every single time.
…until he did.
Liberated by finally admitting to steroid use in the spring of 2009, Rodriguez returned from injury and oftentimes single-handedly led the Yankees to the promised land. His redemption quite literally revealed the clutch gene that had lain dormant in him all along.
It’s wholly unfortunate that he — spoiler warning — subsequently got back on, and fell spectacularly off the PED horse once more. But dammit, were those the days or what?
His media-friendly resurgence post–playing career notwithstanding, the documentary cuts its teeth on the saddening volatility. Why did this self-isolator stoop so low? Who hurt him?
To grow up rooting for superiority-cloak–adorned A-Rod and Golden Boy Jetes to find kumbaya through all the distractive hoopla was the honor of a lifetime. Nevertheless, it’s bittersweet to go back down memory lane.
The 2009 recap makes one feel simultaneous elation and melancholia. There should have been plenty more rings for them to wrangle together, but at least they got the one.