MLB legend Alex Rodriguez has long been a pretty alienating figure in the world of baseball, from his well-documented denial and then his admitting to doping during his illustrious career to his love life with actress and musician Jennifer Lopez.
In the end, A-Rod has always been himself and doesn’t really seem to care what folks think of him. Some have called him smug, and others love him. With Rodriguez it’s a mixed bag of results.
Former High School Teammate Rips Alex Rodriguez
Recently, former high school teammate Doug Mientkiewicz, a long-tenured MLB player himself, had a lot to say about the former New York Yankees third baseman. During an appearance on the “Foul Territory” podcast, Mientkiewicz let it all hang out about A-Rod.
“I always said he was gonna die a lonely man, because this whole ‘father of the year’ stuff, God bless him with his daughters, because it’s got to come a long way. But it’s like, ‘You’re just trying to get into heaven now.’
“I’m still friends with my high school team,” Mientkiewicz continued. “We still text often — not as often as we should — but we still text, group thread, constantly badgering each other, and he’s just distanced from it. I don’t care how good or how great you become and how your career goes, you never forget your high school dudes.
“Like, your high school and college teammates are brothers till the end. We still talk. We still shoot the sh*t, but he’s nowhere to be found, even when we do stuff for our high school coach. Like I said, I have a picture of him sleeping at the table in his Timberwolves shirt. I’m like, Are you serious? Go Wolves. No wonder they suck.”
Mientkiewicz Sounds Like A Scorned Hater
Strong words from a high school teammate, but something tells us A-Rod couldn’t care less. And one has to question the motivation behind spewing this venom toward A-Rod. With all due respect to A-Rod’s high school buddies, he’s a busy man between his jet-setting, job as a baseball analyst and overall celebrity demands.
He wrecked his marriage over a relationship with Madonna and had J-Lo wrapped around his finger with promises of marriage for a decade. So, excuse him if he doesn’t have time to catch a beer with his old high school, college or MLB buddies.
Mientkiewicz sounds like a real hater.
And for him to say the T-Wolves suck is wrong as well, they don’t suck, and Rodriguez is set take over ownership of the team by the start of the 2024 NBA season, along with close friend and business partner Marc Lore.
Rodriguez Takes High Road In Response
Not that Rodriguez had to even give this attack any time of the day, but he did. But surprisingly he didn’t clap back as most probably figured he would, he instead opted for the high road.
In an interview with Fox 5 NY’s Rosanna Scottie, Rodriguez had this to say.
“There’s always going to be people out there that have things to say, everyone has an opinion, but I certainly would never talk publicly negatively about any of my teammates, especially from high school. I mean, look, we’re almost 50 now. This is supposed to be the good old days when we look back, and we cringe about some of the weird things that we did, and we’re proud of the relationships we built over the years. So, you take that with a grain of salt and you wish everyone well and you move on.”
Sounds like a new and improved Rodriguez, and maybe so he’s about to be a full-time owner of an NBA team, and he gains nothing from a verbal fisticuffs with a former teammate from high school.
Pair Was Teammates With The Yankees As Well
The duo not only teamed up at Westminster Christian on the outskirts of Miami, they also became teammates with the Yankees in 2007. After his arrival to the Bronx, Mientkiewicz mentioned that Yankees great Jorge Posada believed the team should’ve brought him in earlier to help “control” Rodriguez.
“He’s like Alex is completely different around you. And I’m like, ‘It’s on you guys. You guys let him get away with s***,’” Mientkiewicz said. “He’d made a kid carry his glove and belt … and I’m like, ‘What the f—? You can’t carry your own belt? What’s wrong with you? Put it on. Everyone here is making $30 million, too.’”
There’s obviously some bad blood between A-Rod and Mientkiewicz, that Rodriguez is over, while Mientkiewicz isn’t.
As A-Rod stated, they’re too old for this type of stuff.
