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A-Rod On Bud Selig: 'He Hates My Guts'

One thing is for sure: the Alex Rodriguez arbitration hearing does not lack for entertainment value.

By Al Yellon
Al Bello

Yes, that headline is something Alex Rodriguez actually said on Mike Francesa's WFAN New York radio talk show Wednesday afternoon:

But wait, I'm starting at the end of the story. Earlier in the day, A-Rod stormed out of his arb hearing after arbitrator Frederic Horowitz ruled against A-Rod's request to have Bud Selig testify at the hearing:

"This is ridiculous!" Rodriguez is said to have shouted after Horowitz issued his ruling shortly before noon.

Rodriguez then pointed a finger at Manfred, who directed MLB's investigation into the since-shuttered Biogenesis clinic suspected of being a source of illegal performance-enhancing drugs for ballplayers, and said "This is f---ing bulls---!"

It's really, really hard for me to defend Bud Selig on anything. Nevertheless, if Horowitz had ordered him to testify, I'm pretty sure Selig wouldn't have said "This is f---ing bulls---!", and he would have complied with the order. Instead, we have a temper tantrum thrown by Rodriguez, after which he went on sports talk radio.

You can just imagine what his attorneys must be thinking right about now. The MLB Players Association issued the following statement:

"The MLBPA believes that every player has the right under our arbitration process to directly confront his accuser. We argued strenuously to the Arbitrator in Alex's case that the Commissioner should be required to appear and testify. While we respectfully disagree with the Arbitrator's ruling, we will abide by it as we continue to vigorously challenge Alex's suspension within the context of this hearing."

That's a logical and sensible thing to say. They don't agree with the decision, but they'll go along with it, because they intend to play by the rules. Here's another thing A-Rod said on the radio show:

I dunno. Is this really something personal for Selig? Maybe it is, but the way for A-Rod to win his case isn't to stomp out of the room like a three-year-old. Talk about burning bridges, he has nuked them, destroyed them, crushed them, put any verb you want in there, there aren't any more bridges. A-Rod's likely going to try to go to court, but my understanding is that in general, courts don't like to get involved in processes like this, where there is a collectively bargained arbitration process.

It's been entertaining, if nothing else. They should have sold tickets. This is an ongoing story; feel free to post updates in the comments. Or you can listen to WFAN live at this link.

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