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Snapshot of tarnished player loses its focus
A picture sits on my office shelf. It’s a photograph of a professional baseball player hitting a ball.
The player has a long, lean body. His hips are fully cocked, pointing to the outfield fence. His powerful arms bulge with veins on top of muscles and his wrists are locked and ready to roll his shiny black bat through the ball.
The right-handed batter’s face is obscured by his helmet, but his strong jaw is clenched with a grim determination, as if he is ready to execute the ball.
At first glance, it would be difficult to determine the identity of the player. He is wearing an unfamiliar uniform, with black, burgundy and silver colors. He wears a number 3 on the front of his helmet and the points of what looks like the Seattle Mariners’ compass rose logo are emblazoned on his chest.
The batter is Alex Rodriguez and it was taken by me during the Mariners’ “Turn Ahead the Clock Night,” which was held on July 18, 1998 in the Kingdome.
As part of a marketing gimmick, the Mariners decided to fast forward the clock 20 years and have fun with what would have otherwise been a routine game between the M’s and the Kansas City Royals.
I was a student at Washington State University and working as the photo editor for the school newspaper. I’m not sure the reason, but somehow the sports editor and I finagled a couple of media passes for the game (it was also Pullman Night or something like that). Needless to say, it was an incredible experience for someone who grew up as a Mariners fan. During the game, I had the second-best seat in the house, working in the photographers’ well next to the visitor’s dugout (the first best seat).
The game was exciting, aside from the goofiness of the “Turn Ahead the Clock” promotion. (Scotty from Star Trek threw out the first pitch, after a DeLorean delivered him to the pitching mound.) The biggest moment of the night came when Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez broke open a 4-4 tie with a three-run, home run over the left field wall in the bottom of the seventh. It was the 93rd home run of his career.
By some magical stroke of luck, I caught the moment with my camera. It was my crowning achievement as a sports photographer. I’m proud of that photograph, but now I’m starting to wish it was of a different player.
As most baseball fans know, A-Rod left the Mariners in 2000 to sign a record contract with the Texas Rangers. (In the process, he gave up a chance to play on a Seattle team that would win 116 games the following season.)
While I wished he would have stayed in Seattle, I coudn’t really fault him for taking more money to play elsewhere, and I could still appreciate the photograph for depicting a great player in his prime.
But the recent news that A-Rod admitted to using steroids makes my heart sink whenever I look at the photo. A-Rod, who has 553 career home runs and now plays third base for the New York Yankees, was the one player baseball fans were counting on to make the record books clean.
“Barry Bonds may have cheated his way to the home run record, but A-Rod will eventually catch him and his numbers are pure,” they would say.
That’s no longer true. The man in my picture — no matter what he accomplishes in baseball — will now be remembered as just another cheater.
Sean commented, on February 28, 2009 at 4:36 a.m.:
Albert Pujooools! Come on dooowwnnn! You're the next contestant on "The Please Be Clean Sweepstakes!!!"
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