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A-Rod Announces: I'm coming home.


PFSIKH

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Before anyone ever cared where I would play baseball, I was a kid from Washington Heights. It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with New York City is bigger than baseball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.

 

Remember when I was up at the plate in 2010 going 3-25 in the post season? I was thinking, This is really tough. I could feel it. I was leaving something I had spent a long time creating. If I had to do it all over again, I’d obviously do things differently, but I’d still have done PEDs. Miami, for me, has been almost like college for other kids. These past four years helped raise me into who I am. I became a medicore player, but a better man. I learned from a franchise that had been where I wanted to go. I will always think of Miami as my second home. Without the experiences I had there, I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing today.

 

I went to Miami because of Biogenisis and PEDs. We made sacrifices to keep the fraud. I loved becoming a big bro to Cano. I believed we could do something magical if we came together. And that’s exactly what we did! The hardest thing to leave is what I built with those guys. I’ve talked to some of them and will talk to others. Nothing will ever change what we accomplished. We are brothers for life.  I also want to thank the Steinbrenners for giving me an amazing ten years for $252 million.

 

I’m doing this essay because I want an opportunity to explain myself uninterrupted. I don’t want anyone thinking: He and Derek Jeter didn’t get along. … He and Girardi didn’t get along. … The Yankees couldn’t put the right team together. That’s absolutely not true.

 

I’m not having a press conference or a party. After this, it’s time to get to work.

When I left Texas, I was on a mission. I was seeking championships, and we won one. But New York already knew that feeling. Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to New York.

 

I always believed that I’d return to New York and finish my career there. I just didn’t know when. After the season, free agency wasn’t even a thought. I looked at other teams, but I wasn’t going to leave Texas for anywhere except New York. The more time passed, the more it felt right. This is what makes me happy.

 

The letter from Bud Selig, the booing of the Yankee fans, the jerseys being burned -- seeing all that was hard for them. My emotions were more mixed. It was easy to say, “OK, I don’t want to deal with these people ever again.” But then you think about the other side. What if I were a kid who looked up to an athlete, and that athlete made me want to do better in my own life, and then he left? How would I react? I’ve met with Dan, face-to-face, man-to-man. We’ve talked it out. Everybody makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes as well. Who am I to hold a grudge?

 

I’m not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way. Of course, I want to win next year, but I’m realistic. It will be a long process, much longer than it was in 2009. My patience will get tested. I know that. I’m going into a situation with a young team and a new coach. I will be the old head. But I get a thrill out of bringing a group together and helping them reach a place they didn’t know they could go. I see myself as a mentor now and I’m excited to lead some of these talented young guys. I think I can help Jacoby Ellsbury become a homerun threat again if you know what I mean. I think I can help elevate Mark Teixeira and CC. And I can’t wait to reunite with Derek Jeter, one of my favorite teammates.  Oh he retired...how did I miss it.

 

But this is not about the roster or the organization. I feel my calling here goes above baseball. I have a responsibility to lead, in more ways than one, and I take that very seriously. My presence can make a difference in Miami, but I think it can mean more where I’m from. I want kids in New York, like the hundreds of P.S. third-graders I sponsor through my foundation, to realize that there’s no better place to grow up.

 

Maybe some of them will come home after college and start a family or open a business. That would make me smile. Our community, which has struggled so much, needs all the talent it can get.

In New York, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have.

 

I’m ready to accept the challenge.

 

I’m coming home.

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