Alex Rodriguez Gets Harsh Sendoff With ‘God Hates A-Rod’ ‘New York Post’ Cover

As Alex Rodriguez played his final game for the New York Yankees, there were plenty of people paying their respects to the third baseman. Not everyone was quite so sweet and flowery, though.

The New York Post decided to run a back page headline dedicated to Alex Rodriguez that said “God Hates A-Rod.” The reason the Post claimed Rodriguez was so hated by God? Because his final game had been delayed a bit by a rainstorm.

Of course, the New York Post didn’t believe the storm was God’s way of showing his disdain for Rodriguez. Instead, this headline was the final way for the paper to show just how much it didn’t like the ballplayer.

After his final game as a Yankee, the NY Post just RIPPED Alex Rodriguez with today’s cover. #GodHatesArodhttps://t.co/KrYhAjHKyo

— Baseball Fam (@ShtBallPlayrsDo) August 13, 2016

The headline was also a way to underline just how controversial Rodriguez was during his playing days. There was a time when A-Rod was nothing more than the absolute best player in Major League Baseball.

Rodriguez was someone who seemed to make his play look effortless, and it was almost impossible to get him out. Then Alex Rodriguez signed a contract that blew people away, and suddenly the spotlight on the player was stronger than ever before.

It’s possible the increased attention on Rodriguez was enough to get the player to take performance enhancing drugs. It’s also possible Rodriguez was taking those drugs all along.

Despite the focus on a player who has spent good portions of his career under fire, Rodriguez got a bit of a last kick out the door as WEEI points out. The New York Post decided to focus on the rainstorm instead of what Alex Rodriguez did in his final game in pinstripes.

Yahoo! Sports points out there were plenty of people who were making comments about the fact that a celebration honoring A-Rod was one of the things canceled because of the rainstorm. Still, there were few people willing to go so far as to claim “God hates A-Rod” and even fewer of them were putting headlines in a popular newspaper.

The headline stood out even more considering that while he had a rather up and down career, Friday was about celebrating him. There was plenty of talk about what a great dad he is, as well as what a great player he was.

The team, which certainly had its problems with Rodriguez over the years, has even decided they would like to make him part of their front office. The New York Post, by all accounts, hasn’t had any dealings with A-Rod directly.

This headline was more about a paper looking to get some eyes on their writing in the most outrageous way. This is certainly nothing new for the Post, which has taken aim at all kinds of people in these kinds of headlines.

Sports figures aren’t the only ones the paper has put in its crosshairs. Donald Trump has even managed to get called out on the carpet now and then.

The New York Post likely doesn’t believe God hates A-Rod anymore than anyone else does, but it shows what people feel about Rodriguez. There are plenty of Yankees fans that probably feel the same way as the headline the newspaper ran.

The New York Post: With A-Rod out, this guy could be next: Alex Rodriguez played his final game as a Yankee o… https://t.co/6mtXRbHjqt

— DuMont Television (@dumonttelev) August 13, 2016

Luckily for Rodriguez and the Yankees, they did not make themselves known at Friday’s game. Instead, there was almost universal cheering and a celebration of a player who put up insane numbers during his time with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and Yankees.

Alex Rodriguez might not have been the kind of player who was universally loved, but he also wasn’t a man that was hated by God. That’s why the headline stuck out so much when the New York Post ran it.

[Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images]