Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that they are investigating Yankees third baseman Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez for his involvement in an illegal poker game.
According to reports, Rodriguez took part in two-games at the Beverly Hills mansion of a record executive in which “cocaine was openly used”. A fight also almost broke out after a participant refused pay after losing more than half a million dollars.
What’s even more interesting and potentially troubling for Rodriguez and Yankees fans is A-Rod was apparently already warned once back in 2005 by MLB commissioner Bud Selig about potential participation in illegal poker games.
“We’re talking to people involved in the investigation and we’re taking this very seriously,” said an MLB executive. “Because he had been warned about this before, I would say a possible suspension would be very much in play … I could see us trying to pursue this a lot further. The truth is still out there somewhere.”
Reports further indicate that once violence broke out Rodriguez tried to distance himself from the game.
“He just shook his head, not knowing what the hell happened,” the whistle-blower revealed. “He didn’t want to deal with it at all. He was like, ‘OK, whatever. It’s your game.’ I would estimate A-Rod lost, like, a few thousand dollars that night. After everything that happened, he paid up and left.”
Baseball may also be concerned that A-Rod’s name may surface in the ongoing investigation of Dr. Anthony Galea, the Toronto physician charged with smuggling human growth hormone and other illegal substances into the United States. Galea has treated numerous professional athletes, including Rodriguez and Tiger Woods.
Rodriguez, currently rehabbing in Miami after knee surgery on July 11.
Source: ESPN, Associated Press, Star Magazine