Union backs A-Rod in launching appeal

Head of players association calls 211-game ban 'way out of line'

The Major League Baseball Players Association formally appealed Alex Rodriguez's 211-game suspension on Wednesday, sending the case to an independent arbitrator.

Union spokesman Greg Bouris confirmed the appeal and said the players association had no further comment.

Rodriguez, who played third base and batted third for the New York Yankees in their 6-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night, said he had "no reaction" to the filing of the grievance.

"I don't think any of us thought it was going to be any different," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

"As for reaction, it's kind of what I expected. It's part of the process negotiated between MLB and the PA, and you let it play out.

"I expect him to play a lot. We need him to help us."

Major League Baseball declined to comment.

Rodriguez was suspended through the 2014 season on Monday when MLB penalized 13 players following an investigation into Biogenesis of America, a Florida anti-aging clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs.

The other 12 players accepted 50-game suspensions, but Rodriguez said he planned to fight.

Union head Michael Weiner said the punishment for the slugger was "way out of line'".

Rodriguez's suspension was scheduled to begin Thursday, but he is allowed to keep playing until the grievance is heard by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz.

Horowitz isn't expected to rule until November or December, at the earliest.

Coming back from hip surgery in January, Rodriguez played his first game of the season Monday night in the series opener at Chicago.

The three-time AL MVP singled in his first at-bat and was 3 for 11 with two walks in the three-game sweep by the White Sox. The 38-year-old was booed lustily throughout the series, except when he was hit by a pitch in the third inning of the Yankees' 3-2 loss on Tuesday night.

The Yankees are off on Thursday and then open a three-game series against AL Central-leading Detroit on Friday night in New York.

It will be the first home game for Rodriguez since the suspension was announced.

"I am curious what it's going to be like Friday," Girardi said. "I'm not sure. And I don't really know what the appropriate response is.

"I don't think it's my right to tell people how to respond to certain situations."

Rodriguez, who agreed to a 10-year, $275 million contract with the Yankees in December 2007, is MLB's active leader with 647 career homers.

He played a major role in New York winning the 2009 World Series, batting .365 with six homers and 18 RBIs in the postseason that year.

In an interview on MLB Network radio on Wednesday, former teammate Johnny Damon said the 2009 championship would be diminished if Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs during the playoff run.

"I really haven't gotten to think that far, but if that's how he was able to hit in the postseason, like he did that year, then yeah, absolutely," said Damon, who has been friends with Rodriguez since they were teenagers.

"Then you start going and saying, 'Well, was anybody on their team cheating?'

"There's just so many different factors that determine if a team wins, and A-Rod was a huge determining factor."

Asked about Damon's comments, Rodriguez said he wasn't aware of them.

"I talk to Johnny all the time so no disappointment whatsoever," Rodriguez said.

(China Daily 08/09/2013 page24)