'We Heart A-rod' fan sign in Toronto Monday night

8/27/13, "Photographic proof that somebody loves A-Rod," David Brown, Big League Stew

"On the occasion of the 650th career home run for slugger Alex Rodriguez on Monday night, we also learned that, for the first time, someone loves him."...

[Ed. note: Toronto isn't the first. Arod love signs were seen in at least one other game since Arod's return]:

8/9/13, Arod fan signs in Yankee Stadium as he takes his first at bat, Tigers v Yankees, final 4-3 Yankees in 10.

(continuing): "A fan wearing New York Yankees gear at Rogers Centre in Toronto held aloft a professional-looking sign with team logos that bore the message: "We [heart] you A-Rod!" The implication could not get any stronger than that. Not everyone hates him anymore, as many of the baseball columnists of the world had us believe was the case. It's not known when this stunning reversal occurred. Possibly after the Ryan Dempster incident."...

Red Sox pitcher Dempster misses Rodriguez with one pitch, hits him in the ribs with next, 8/18/13, property of CJZero, fansided.com

(continuing): "This fan with the sign obviously speaks for all Yankees fans everywhere, because of how he is dressed, and by proxy the nation of Canada, because that's where he made his declaration. As a result, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig ought to rescind A-Rod's 211-game suspension for Rodriguez's alleged association with Biogenesis at any moment. After all, there is no suspending a beloved figure. Despite A-Rod's homer and the love that flowed from the stands, the Blue Jays won 5-2 behind R.A. Dickey."...top photo, ap/getty

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Bud Selig and the media are business partners. When this alliance overreaches, fans naturally are drawn to the player:

8/8/13, "Overcompensating," The Economist

"Moreover, details of the investigation were regularly leaked to the press, a tactic that helped put public pressure on players not to appeal their suspensions. Michael Weiner, the head of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, did not mince words in expressing his “profound disappointment in the way individuals granted access to private and privileged information felt compelled to share that information publicly. The manner in which confidential information was so freely exchanged is not only a threat to the success and credibility of our jointly administered programme; it calls into question the level of trust required to administer such a programme.”"...via btf

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8/1/13, "Baseball’s Bullying Makes It Tempting to Root for Rodriguez," NY Times, William C. Rhoden

"Funny how Major League Baseball can make you root for the villain. Commissioner Bud Selig’s heavy-handed approach to the investigation of Alex Rodriguez has almost turned Rodriguez into a sympathetic figure. And that’s difficult."...

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Ed. note: Link for NY Times article above by William C. Rhoden, seems to be inactive at the moment. I copied it when it first came out in case you want to read it.

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