PHOENIX – Mike Borzello, the former Yankees bullpen catcher who kidded pal Alex Rodriguez by tagging him “A-Fraud,” believes A-Rod eventually will overcome the backlash caused by his admission that he used banned substances.
“This is a very forgiving country,” Borzello said yesterday. “He’s going to find that out. I know Alex is going to overcome this situation and prove to everybody that while we all make mistakes, it’s what you do after that and what you learn from those mistakes that make you who you are and what you’re going to be.”
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Borzello, who’s working for Joe Torre again as the Dodgers’ bullpen catcher, thinks Rodriguez will be able to deal with what figures to be a tough time for the Yankees slugger.
“Of course, it’s going to be difficult. But he’s resilient and he’s taken on a lot of stuff over the years and he’s going to overcome,” Borzello told the Associated Press at the Dodgers’ spring camp. “He’s tougher than people think. He’s going to prove to people how good he is.”
Borzello said he wishes more people knew Rodriguez beyond his public persona, citing the “A-Fraud” nickname as an example. That was included in the book about Torre’s experiences with the Yankees and perceived by some as having a negative connotation.
“I guess I was surprised at the way it was taken,” Borzello said “Alex is one of my closest friends in the game and he’s also a great sport in the clubhouse, with the status he has as a player, allowing himself to be teased at times, all in good nature.”
Borzello said he was unaware of Rodriguez using any banned substances before Sports Illustrated’s Feb. 7 report. Rodriguez said he stopped using them in 2003, before he joined the Yankees.
Borzello said his opinion of Rodriguez remains the same despite the revelations: “It’s not something that has weighed on the way I feel about him as a friend, a person – or as a player.”