‘A story of redemption’: Alex Rodriguez shares experiences with students

For Alex Rodriguez, 2014 was a turning point.

He was suspended from the MLB that year, after it was discovered the baseball superstar took performance-enhancing drugs during his career. Up until that point, he was one of the game’s most decorated players, notching 14 all-star appearances and a World Series win.

But he soon became a villain in the eyes of many.

“I made my bed. I have to lie on it,” the retired New York Yankees third baseman told a crowd of 541 students and residents Tuesday at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

As a part of the Accent Speakers Bureau’s 50th anniversary, Rodriguez spoke about the moments that defined him: growing up in a low-income home, becoming a star, then becoming a villain — before turning it around, in part, through his fatherhood and entrepreneurship.

“There’s this saying that athletes die twice,” once when you retire and the other when you die in real life, he said.

Rodriguez implored students to admit mistakes and learn from his lapses in judgement, which led to the longest temporary drug suspension in the MLB.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that I’m fifth all time in strikeouts,” he said, a nod to his past.

Rodriguez also recalled the best moments of his baseball career, harkening back to a home run he hit as a 9-year-old facing a red-headed pitcher named Tim in Coconut Grove, his several World Series wins and his other feats.

After his career ended, Rodriguez started working as a baseball analyst for Fox Sports and a special adviser to the Yankees, tasked with mentoring and scouting young prospects.

Having never graduated from college, Rodriguez has since taken business classes at the University of Miami and will take them at Stanford University in January.

In the crowd, 22-year-old Danny Manziel remembered his first baseball glove, an Alex Rodriguez model. He was no more than 12 years old.

The University of California, Los Angeles, student modeled his entire game after Rodriguez, and he said it was refreshing to see him in person.

“He’s manning up to his mistakes, and he’s setting a good example for the youth,” Manziel said.

Up front in the VIP section, UF graduate student Alexis Farinacci remembered her family telling her how she was brought home from the hospital after her birth wearing a Yankees jersey. When she heard Rodriguez was coming to UF, she said she was understandably excited, having followed his former team for most of her life.

She echoed Manziel’s sentiment that after all Rodriguez has gone through, seeing him now is inspiring.

“It is a story of redemption,” the 24-year-old said.