A-Rod Pops in on Mike Francesa, Calls Bud Selig, "The Man From Milwaukee," Denies PED Accusations

Alex Rodriguez popped in on Mike Francesa’s No. 1 WFAN radio show unexpectedly Wednesday afternoon, only hours after storming out of his arbitration hearing with Major League Baseball. The embattled Yankees third baseman repeatedly took shots at Bud Selig, who declined to testify which prompted A-Rod’s walk-out. Francesa, meanwhile, played the roll of Ryan Dempster, serving up softball-after-softball for A-Rod. 

Rodriguez took repeated swings at the commish, calling him “the Man from Milwaukee” and later said he thinks Selig “hates my guts. There’s no question about it.” A-Rod also maintained Selig hates coming to New York.

He also denied using PEDs and talked about his “legacy” being at stake via the 211-game suspension hanging over his head. Rodriguez denied almost all other charges lobbed against him, saying he shouldn’t serve one-inning.

Other highlights:

• “I know you don’t like New York, but you gotta come face me.”
• “I exploded much worse than Paul O’Neill.”
• “And (Selig) doesn’t have the courage to come and tell me this is why I’m gonna destroy your career?”
• “I’m so pissed off right now I can’t even think straight.”
• “People have told me I hate your guts, but what MLB is doing to you is disgusting.”
• “He’s trying to destroy me. To put me on his big mantle on the way out, that’s a hell of a trophy.”

Rodriguez said he was planning to testify on Friday had Selig testified on Thursday. He said he would  “huddle up” before moving forward, leaving the status of the arbitration hearing up in the air. There are reports the aim for Rodriguez’s legal team is to bring the case to federal court.

Francesa, playing the role of Barbara Walters (minus the soft-focus lens), kept lobbing them up for A-Rod to crush:

How much you want to believe A-Rod, given his past track record, is up to you. Were today’s actions from A-Rod planned all along by his legal team? Were these genuine emotions from Rodriguez or all part of a script? At this point in this affair, who rightly knows?

Somehow, today, the Rodriguez case found a way to get more surreal.