How do you want to be remembered?
Is it as one of the highest paid baseball players of all time? Is it as a home run king and as one of the greatest players of all time?
I am not a ball player but a Rabbi. I cannot offer advice on hitting but on life. You are not alone. It is easy for the press to malign you now but everyone, regardless of profession, is faced with hundreds of choices like yours. When no one is looking and we are not being regulated from without, do we make decisions based on expedience, or based on what is right?
You, yourself, shared in an interview with Katie Couric on 60 Minutes that you used steroids when playing for the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003 due to an "enormous amount of pressure" to perform.
In truth, whether in the world of sports, finance or many spheres of life, we are confronted with much pressure to win sometimes at the expense of doing what is right.
How do you want to be remembered?
Just a few weeks ago, in the world of baseball, the sounds of silence were deafening.
A home run king and a Cy Young award pitcher should have been shoe ins for the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, this summer's celebration was one of the quietest on record. For the first time since 1965, no living players were inducted into the hallowed halls. The crowd was sparse as the three men were who enshrined have been dead for over 80 years.
Who was notably absent?
This was the first year of eligibility for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa. However, their careers were tainted with suspicion of involvement with steroids. Despite their prowess on the field and the adulation heaped on them by the fans while playing the game, they are remembered for the private moments of moral compromise and weakness.
At the moment, you seem to be headed down the same path. When asked if you felt the Yankees want you to return, you replied, "If I'm productive," he said, "I think they'll want me back."
I am not privy to Yankees management but perhaps listen for a few minutes not to the crowds but to your inner voice. Listen to the voice of your daughters.
As a teenager at Westminster Christian School in Florida, I would venture you had no intention of cutting corners to be a superstar. No one does.
How do you and we ensure we stay true to our roots?
Four Words: "Remember who you are."
As a teenager, my parents reminded me of this motto to keep me focused on listening more to my internal moral compass than the pressure of my peers.
You are not alone. I wish you strength and courage to remember who you are in the days ahead and in this spirit be remembered for being the best Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez you can be.