Brian Cashman, on how he thinks Yankees fans should remember @AROD: pic.twitter.com/uxHxEbXGXi
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) August 7, 2016
Alex Rodriguez, who announced Sunday he will play his final game with the New York Yankees on Friday, leaves behind a complicated legacy, with his litany of accomplishments - his three MVP awards, 14 All-Star appearances, and 696 career home runs - obscured, to some, by his performance-enhancing drug use.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman knows how he'll remember Rodriguez, though, and all he had to do was flash his 2009 World Series championship ring to distill his feelings toward Rodriguez's legacy in the Bronx.
"He had his ups and downs. He always got back up," said Cashman. "The world we live in, everybody makes mistakes. It's what you do after the fact."
In the lone World Series appearance of his remarkable 22-year career, Rodriguez didn't disappoint, posting a .973 OPS with four extra-base hits - including a two-run homer off Cole Hamels in Game 3 - to lift the Yankees past the Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees haven't returned to the World Series in the six full seasons since.
