Alex reported to spring training eager to start anew. Rodriguez is a likable fellow, and his disposition is as sunny as the Arizona sky. I greeted him with a hug. Then I asked about his goals for the coming year. Most athletes are numbers oriented. A ballplayer doesn’t have to look up his slugging percentage or earned run average. His stats are like important phone numbers—he knows them by heart. So I expected this twenty-one-year-old to say he wanted to drive in more runs or raise his batting average, which would take some doing. Alex hit .358 the previous year. Instead, his answer floored me
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