Just after high school I believe. Pretty scrawny. Wiry strong.
He's still a little guy.
Starting to fill out.
He looks a little bigger, but I think all the arm bands make him look bigger than he is.
Current A-Rod. In full disclosure, my opinion is that A-Rod got bigger when he came to New York. Not sure if that means anything, though. He does play third now.I'm not trying to pass judgments here. I'm not sure how we would have known he was getting bigger by steroids or by naturally filling out. He certainly looks bigger as time goes on, but that happens anyway. Another thing to wonder, do we see A-Rod getting "huge" because of what we know now or did we really see him getting "huge" at the time? Considering the surprise reactions, I don't think too many people realized it at the time. Maybe they just didn't want to see it then, but I don't really see too much of an increase anywhere.
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"do we see A-Rod getting "huge" because of what we know now or did we really see him getting "huge" at the time?"
Good question, Mark. I wouldn't say he's huge. But he's definitely well-toned. He's definitely filled out, especially in the upper chest area. And his legs seem a little thicker. And of course his arms. But how much of that is due to natural adult growth and obsessive working out is hard to say.
Thank you. I am taking a Psychology class that talks about hindsight bias, thinking you knew something beforehand after it happened, and I wonder how it applies to things like baseball (trades, free-agents, drafts, etc.).
I don't want to bust anyone's bubble (or is that burst), but either A-Rod is lying, or there is a bad misconception of his size.
I worked security for the Mariners (yeah, I know I don't really know anything about the job, but I do know this).
At different times, while escorting Alex Rodriguez to various interviews/meet and greets/etc, I had to stand next to him at times.
I'm 6'1", and over 200 pounds. And Alex made me look small next to him. That was between seasons of 1999-2000, and he was bigger than me. His size is deceptive. I never thought he was that big until I stood next to him, but he's a big guy. At least 6'3", and well over 200 pounds. And that was at least a year before he "started using".
NOt saying you're doing it, Mark, but if anyone tries to imply that Rodriguez had some miraculous growth spurt due to steriods, then they are completely, absolutely wrong. I only point this out becasue people will infer that from the pictures.
But Rodriguez is a big dude. Always has been.
Just my take, for what it's worth.
I probably should have been more explicit than I was. My point is that I don't think anyone can just say, "He got huge off steroids, and I knew it when I saw him." He was a decently sized but still scrawny guy when he came up, and over the years, he's gotten bigger. Now, how much bigger is the question. I don't think he really grew rapidly enough to incur any accusations, and his added bulk (of which I belive is still fairly substantial) could have easily been due to just filling out as one gets older. It's not like he went from skinny to Mark McGwire. He went from wiry to muscular. He's a work-out freak. What do you expect?
I didn't think you necessarily meant it. But people will try to make that connection.
I don't know about him being a workout freak, but I know he's a big guy.
Isn't it kind of funny that McGwire and Rodriguez (as big as they are) supposedly started juicing while playing in parks that reduced HR's. Then went to homer friendly parks and went crazy.
Mark,
How much of an impact do you think A-Rod's stats had on playing in Texas?
We will always debate the impact of steroids, but what about the impact of playing in one of the best hitters parks in baseball?
I think they certainly helped, but the guy rakes wherever he goes. Steroids or no, he is an amazing offensive force.
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