He is a supernova with Hall of Fame numbers, yet there is a disconnect to his stardom. He is contrived rather than genuine, calculated instead of spontaneous, admired for his statistical body of work, yet rarely beloved for his approach to the game.
Come to think of it, have A-Rod and Kobe Bryant ever shared a cab? A publicist? A therapist?
Perhaps they should. They truly could be separated at birth. Both try too hard to be liked, and care too much when they're not. They tell us too much, allowing their insecurities to bubble to the surface like a pot of soup that has been simmering too long.
You remember that annoying kid you grew up with who got all A's on his tests? Instead of waiting for someone to tell him how smart he was, he went around bragging about his perfect scores. By the end of recess, you wanted to pummel the kid instead of praise him.
And, when that kid faltered ever so slightly, you celebrated his demise in spite of yourself.
A-Rod came to Fenway this weekend with some bulky tabloid baggage in tow. He was snapped in Toronto squiring around a buxom blonde, who happened to be someone other than his wife. A-Rod was trailed to a steakhouse, a strip club, then a hotel elevator a few blocks away from where teammates were staying.
The New York Post ran the exclusive photos under the headline: "Stray-Rod."
Conventional wisdom would suggest the best strategy would be to lay low and begin making amends privately to your wife.
But there was A-Rod Thursday afternoon at the trendy No. 9 Park with wife Cynthia. How convenient. The Rodriguezes managed to score a window seat -- a picture window seat perfectly suitable for a zoom lens. Later, A-Rod was photographed walking down the street holding his wife's hand.
Note to Alex: Have you ever seen Tim Duncan's wife in public? Bet you don't even know what she looks like. That's no accident. It's also why no tabloids trail the Spurs star from town to town.
