One man is still sticking up for Alex Rodriguez in his recent troubles with Major League Baseball.
Rich Hofman coached Rodriguez for three years at Westminster Christian School in south Florida. He spoke to the Tri State Sports Guys Internet radio show with hosts Michael DePalma, Neal Lynch and Tony Dilorio about Rodriguez and his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.
Hofman also gave his insight into author Selena Roberts, who claimed in a biography of Rodriguez published in 2010 that he used PED's in high school and throughout his major league career.
"Selena Roberts is a fraud," Hofman said. "What she put in the book was proved to be baseless. Coaches are the last to know, but ... Alex was so poor that guys had to buy him a hamburger. So how can he afford to buy drugs unless someone gave them to him?
"If a guy does that ... somebody will say something ... and there never has been one player who played with him all those years that had never said anything to me after the fact. ... Unless this is the best-kept secret in the world that, to me, is evidence right there."
PHOTOS: POST COVERS A-ROD THROUGH THE YEARS
Would you boo Alex Rodriguez if you were going to Friday's game?
Hofman said he feels when Rodriguez got to the majors and signed big contracts the two began to drift apart.
"He became a rock star.," Hofman said. "It's kind of like when he left Westminster and left high school ...for Major League Baseball he kind of left us behind and he took on a different persona with different contacts, different people, and different friends.
"As time went on he signed that other contract and became a villain. Became more involved with big-time, different personalities. ... I don't know what you think at that level. I haven't spent enough one-on-one time with him."
Hofman said he and Rodriguez haven't really spoken as much as they used to.
"Early on ... I spent at least part of every season, a week or so [with Rodriguez]. So I had some great moments in [Seattle]. I got to throw out a first pitch on his 21st birthday when he signed his first long-term contract ... and I got to do it in Texas. It's all good things high school coaches dream about.
"The last five years our communication has been pretty minimal."
In high school, Rodriguez was an all-around athlete, doubling as the school's quarterback. He was an even bigger baseball star. In his junior year, he hit .477 and stole 42 bases in just 35 games while leading the school to the 1992 Florida state championship.
Rodriguez committed to the University of Miami, but was selected No. 1 in the 1993 amateur draft by the Mariners and signed a three-year, $1.3 million contract.
"I think the best three years of his life were at Westminster," Hofman said. "He had a group of players around him that took care of him, families that took care of him."
jsilverberg@nypost.com
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
A-Rod still has the support of his old coach
Dengan url
http://susuvirus.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-rod-still-has-support-of-his-old-coach.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
A-Rod still has the support of his old coach
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
A-Rod still has the support of his old coach
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar