Mike Francesa gave Alex Rodriguez the platform to vehemently deny using PEDs, but wasn’t ignorant of the fact that the New York Yankees third baseman could be lying.
One of the wildest interviews in the history of Francesa’s reign in afternoon drive came in Nov. 2013, when Alex Rodriguez stormed out of his grievance hearing over the 211-game suspension he received for violating MLB’s drug agreement, and went straight to WFAN’s studio. With Francesa live on WFAN and YES Network, Rodriguez repeatedly denied using any PEDs that would have garnered him the historic suspension.
More than a dozen years later, Francesa was asked whether he felt Rodriguez was lying at the time.
“I didn’t know. I thought there was a very good chance, yes,” Francesa admitted. “But I asked the question like ten different times and I implored him, I said, ‘listen, this is gonna follow you forever if you don’t tell the truth.’ He didn’t.
“He didn’t tell Katie Couric the truth; he didn’t tell me the truth. We know that. We know how it unfolded. That day, did I know one way or the other? I didn’t know for sure, no. How would I know? All I could do is ask the question. And I asked it on multiple occasions that day.”
Mike Francesa: “Were you guilty of any of these charges?”
Alex Rodriguez: “No, and I shouldn’t serve one inning.”
Mike Francesa: “Did you do anything wrong?”
Alex Rodriguez: “No.”
Mike Francesa: “Did you do any PEDs?”
Alex Rodriguez: “No.”
Rodriguez had already admitted to lying about PED usage earlier in his career. And just as he was lying to Katie Couric during a 2007 60 Minutes interview about his PED usage, he lied to Francesa during this 2013 interview on WFAN. After insisting he was innocent to Francesa in Nov. 2013, he ended his litigation against baseball the following February and began serving a season-long suspension.
A-Rod has since admitted he “made an ass” of himself during the Francesa interview. Francesa, however, has maintained that he didn’t take offense to Rodriguez lying during that interview. It wasn’t just Francesa he lied to; Rodriguez was lying to the audience, to Major League Baseball, and its fans.
Regardless of whether Francesa felt Rodriguez was lying or telling the truth, this was an interview he could not pass up.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com