Alex Rodriguez ban draws mixed reaction from New Yorkers, poll says
Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees looks on during fielding practice before a game against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. (Aug. 9, 2013) Credit: Jim McIsaac
Don't ban Alex Rodriguez for life, most New York City baseball fans say in a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday afternoon. But that doesn't mean the majority don't think the Yankees' third baseman shouldn't suffer some kind of punishment.
Rodriguez is currently appealing a 211-game ban handed down by Major League Baseball for his alleged involvement with performance-enhancing drugs. A lifetime ban for Rodriguez was rumored to have been considered by MLB before the announced suspension.
Baseball fans come down overwhelmingly against a lifetime suspension, 69 percent to 26 percent, while Yankees fans are even more adamant about it, 74 percent to 20 percent.
The question of whether a 211-game suspension was appropriate, however, drew a mixed response, with 36 percent of baseball fans finding it fair, 36 percent believing it to be too severe and 22 percent thinking it not severe enough. Even among Yankees fans, there was no conclusive opinion: 37 percent thought missing 211 games was appropriate, 40 percent thought it was too severe and 18 percent didn't think it was severe enough.
Quinnipiac normally conducts polls on political matters, but given the attention of the Rodriguez suspension, veered off that path.
"Usually politics and government, but how could you resist this?" said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "It shows people are mixed on Alex. When a guy comes up in the ninth inning and hits a home run, you root for it. And he does a lot of that. He doesn't dog it. But I think that people are still mixed on him."
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,864 NYC adults -- more than half of who identified as baseball fans, and were the ones asked about Rodriguez -- with live interviewers calling landlines and cellphones for the survey, which was conducted from Aug. 7-12.
Rodriguez is batting .258 with a .343 on-base percentage, one home run and four RBIs in eight games since returning from offseason hip surgery.
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