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Alex Rodriguez does not need any introduction. A baseball phenom, an ace businessman, and sometimes a game analyst, Alex Rodriguez, AKA, A-Rod has aced every field he has been associated with.

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While being a successful sports personality, the former New York Yankees star also faced some big rejections in his professional career. And when talking about his rejections, who can forget his infamous PEDs scandal? Although the PEDs suspension cost A-Rod a huge price, he also learned a few life lessons.

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The MLB suspension helped Alex Rodriguez become emotionally strong

In an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated in 2019, Alex Rodriguez discussed his personal and professional life in detail. While doing so, the former Yankees slugger also talked about his most difficult time when he faced an MLB suspension.

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A-Rod said the suspension helped him identify his inner self, something he should have done long ago. But his massive wages and the limelight over 20 years of his baseball career had blinded him to identify his other side.

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“I felt this fake bravado. Physically, I was ready, because I was a man-child. But not emotionally. Then you go on this ascending road for 20 years, along the way you make hundreds of millions of dollars, it’s f**king hard to have some reality, some self-awareness,” Alex Rodriguez said.

“In college, you get four years to get things out of your system, to grow, to learn. I don’t know what that’s like. The sabbatical—my time off, when I served my suspension—really taught me things that I should have been learning at 19, 20, 21 years old. Things that a good whipping in the butt from my dad would have helped with.”

Will A-Rod ever get into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Had Alex Rodriguez not gotten involved with PEDs, the Hall of Fame would have been even a debate for him. But the former Yankee ruined his baseball legacy the day he used PEDs in his baseball career.

WATCH THIS STORY: From Alex Rodriguez To Derek Jeter: Here Are The Top-5 Richest MLB Players Of All Time

And now, with a famous history with PEDs, it is difficult for him to get votes from baseball writers for the Hall of Fame induction. Do you think that A-Rod should get into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

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Abhishek Kumar

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Abhishek Kumar is a Newsroom Editor at EssentiallySports with over three years of editorial experience across multiple sports. He joined as a Yankees beat reporter during the 2022 MLB season before quickly rising to lead editorial and content strategy for the MLB division. His deep knowledge of baseball, combined with expertise across the NFL, NBA, Tennis, and Soccer, has shaped him into one of ES’s versatile newsroom leaders. Beyond reporting, Abhishek played a key role in pioneering initiatives at ES, including leading the homepage content execution during its 2024 relaunch and producing the ES Think Tank podcast series, where industry experts dissect the business side of sports. A Communication graduate, he blends journalistic fundamentals with digital-first strategy, ensuring ES stories are both authoritative and reader-first. Away from the desk, Abhishek is equally passionate about cooking experiments and rewatching Christopher Nolan classics.

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Abhishek Kumar

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