Johnny Damon: 2009 World Series Diminished If A-Rod Was Using PEDs
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Alex Rodriguez's sole World Series championship came with the Yankees in 2009. But Johnny Damon, A-Rod's Yankees teammate from 2006-09, exclaims that if A-Rod was using PEDs during the 2009 postseason, the significance of winning the World Series is certainly lessened, if not completely diminished.
"I really haven't sat down and thought that far, but if that's how he was able to hit in the postseason, then yeah, absolutely," Damon told First Pitch on MLB Network Radio, which is broadcast on Sirus XM Radio. "Then you start going and saying, 'Was anyone (else) on their team cheating?'"
In the 2009 postseason, A-Rod batted .365 and tallied five doubles, six home runs and 18 RBIs. Damon admits that Rodriguez was a major factor in the Yankees' run to the World Series.
"There's just so many different factors that determine if a team wins, and A-Rod was a huge determining factor," Damon said on First Pitch. "He was the MVP of the ALCS. He played a pretty huge part. Unfortunately, through the years, guys winning awards have been linked to something."
2009 was the first year that A-Rod's name began to be associated with PEDs. Now, Rodriguez is facing a 211-game suspension handed down by MLB based on his alleged role with Biogenesis. Damon, who has been close with A-Rod since they were teenagers, supports A-Rod and his fight to appeal the suspension, but admits that the third baseman will have a tough road ahead.
"That's big news," Damon told MLB Network Radio. "And this is the kind of thing where you think you know who your friends are, and you think they are on the right path to clearing their names, especially with what was going on in 2009. You start making all these important strides to get a better name for yourself; then this pops up again and there's this level that they are going at now.
"...A-Rod thought for sure his name was going to be linked with anything that pops up with PEDs or anything. I am going to be there to support him as a friend, but he definitely has an uphill battle."
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
