Alex Rodriguez is a guy you either hate, or love to hate.
In high school, Doug Mientkiewicz and Alex Rodriguez were teammates in both baseball and football at Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Florida.
They both went on to play in the major leagues, with Mientkiewicz playing for six teams and Rodriguez for three. They were also teammates on the Yankees team in 2007, before Rodriguez was suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs in 2013.
During an interview on the Foul Territory podcast, Mientkiewicz expressed frustration with his former teammate, questioning whether Rodriguez had forgotten about his 200-game suspension. Mientkiewicz admitted to considering using performance-enhancing drugs himself but ultimately prioritized his health in the long run.
“It’s painful,” Mientkiewicz said. “It’s like, wait a minute, do you (forget) you got suspended 200 games? It’s like, ‘Come on, man. Stop it.’ I get it. I played a power position and didn’t have any. Did it cross my mind? Of course. You thought about it. But I was like, ‘You know what, I want to be able to walk when I’m 50.’”
When asked if he still talks to Rodriguez, Mientkiewicz said they only communicate in certain settings such as when they are doing things for their high school.
“I always said he’s going to die a lonely man, because this whole ‘father of the year’ stuff, God bless him with his daughters, because it’s got to come a long way. But it’s like, ‘You’re just trying to get into heaven now.’
“I’m still friends with my high school team,” Mientkiewicz continued. “We still text often, not as often as we should, but we still text, group thread, constantly badgering each other and he’s just distanced from it. I don’t care how good or how great you become and how far your career goes, you never forget your high school dudes.
“Like, your high school and your college teammates are brothers till the end. We still talk. We still shoot the s***, but he’s just nowhere to be found, even when we do high school stuff for our coach. Like I said, I have a picture of him sleeping at the table in his Timberwolves shirt. I’m like, ‘Are you serious? Go Wolves. No wonder they suck.’”
Mientkiewicz expressed disappointment that Rodriguez is distant from his high school teammates, and even fell asleep at a table during one of their get-togethers.
For all the latest breaking in sports entertainment news, be sure to follow TMSPN.com on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
