Watch Former Yankees Star Diss Himself While Touring Monument Park

Alex Rodriguez and the rest of the Fox Sports baseball crew took a tour of Yankee Stadium before Saturday’s game.

May 17, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; New York Yankees former third baseman Alex Rodriguez talks with broadcaster Rex Hudler before the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

These days, former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez makes his money analyzing baseball for Fox. He works alongside host Kevin Burkhardt and two Hall-of-Famers — Derek Jeter and David Ortiz — during the network’s pregame and postgame shows.

As part of Saturday’s extended pre-game leading up to the Yankees’ game with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the quartet toured Yankee Stadium, including Monument Park.

Monument Park is where Yankees legends are enshrined with plaques and retired jersey numbers. Everyone from Babe Ruth to Jeter is there.

During the tour, Jeter talked about how meaningful it is to have his number retired. Formerly a Yankees captain, he won five World Series rings with the team.

Ortiz, a former Red Sox legend and persistent agitator to both during the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, took the opportunity to take a jab at Rodriguez, who to this point doesn’t have his No. 13 retired by the Yankees.

"Papi you have a better chance of getting your number retired here than I do." 🤣👏@davidortiz x @AROD pic.twitter.com/JlkODFUZdf

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 8, 2024

He asked A-Rod why his number wasn’t retired. The slugger’s response was, at least, honest.

“Papi, you have a better chance of getting your number retired here than I do,” Rodriguez said.

While meant as a joke, there is certainly a grain of truth to his comment.

Under normal circumstances the 48-year-old would be a first-ballot Hall of Fame. He was a three-time American League MVP, a 14-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner and a 10-time Silver Slugger. He won a World Series with the Yankees in 2019 and even won a batting title.

He finished his 22-year career with a .295 batting average, 696 home runs and 2,086 RBI. Rodriguez is fifth on the all-time home run list.

But, his circumstances are not ordinary.

He had a tempestuous relationship with the organization at times, threatening to sue the Yankees at one point. Fans cheered him and booed him in equal measures.

He was also part of Major League Baseball’s performance enhancing drug culture in those days. He admitted to taking steroids in 2009 — two years after denying the accusation — while with the Texas Rangers.

Then, he was suspended for the entire 2014 season after he was allegedly found to have obtained PEDs from Biogenesis, a Miami-based company that several players found embroiled with during an investigation.

It doesn’t sound like A-Rod expects his jersey to be retired anytime soon.