A-Rod is going down, that much is clear. If the Miami New-Times story didn’t do it, then this ESPN story Friday – which you might have missed with everyone in Super Bowl mode – did:

The visits took place every few weeks. One night last spring, a source said, Bosch told associates he had been kicked out of Rodriguez’s home after he had trouble locating a vein, infuriating the player. The sources did not say why Bosch would have been tapping a vein, as HGH and testosterone do not require intravenous injections. But whatever he was doing, “Tony said A-Rod was pissed at him,” a source said. “He said he was bleeding everywhere.”

Several sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Bosch spoke openly about his relationship with the Yankees All-Star, and two sources said that documents they reviewed detailed the drug regimens and schedules Rodriguez received.

Nobody really doubts A-Rod was juicing in some form, right? Career over, no shot at breaking Barry’s home run record, and given his previous HGH admission, you gotta wonder if anyone would give this cheater a vote when it comes to the Hall of Fame.

Anyway, this seemed like the ideal time to highlight a wonderful A-Rod story from Richard Justice of MLB.com:

I was having lunch at Houston’s in Country Club Plaza when one of the people at our table said, “Hey, look, that’s one of A-Rod’s guys.” He pointed to a man who was engaged in a hush-hush conversation with the restaurant’s host, pointing, gesturing, explaining. My lunch buddies—they covered the Texas Rangers—knew what was up.

“He wants to make sure A-Rod isn’t bothered during lunch,” one said.

Sure enough, after making sure A-Rod, then a Texas Ranger, would have a table in a corner of the restaurant, a table that would afford him some measure of privacy, a table that would keep him somewhat away from the screaming masses who were sure to lose their minds when he entered the restaurant, A-Rod walked through the front door and was guided quickly and quietly to a section of the dining room.

… No one—and I mean no one—recognized him. There was zero buzz. There were no fans desperately trying to get a moment of his time. All that happened that day was A-Rod had lunch.

“He has to be crushed,” one of the guys at my table said.

That story dovetails nicely into an on-point Justice column. [MLB.com]

Unrelated, but Funny: In Honor of Jim Leyland, Here’s 1991 Video Footage of the Then-Pirates Manager Dropping 21 F-Bombs on Barry Bonds