Are you ready to applaud A-Rod?

On Tuesday, former Major League shortstop Alex Rodriguez appeared on the radio station where I used to work and made it clear he’d love to be welcomed back to Seattle.

“I hope that one day I get to come back and celebrate,” he said, “at least thank the great fans of the Mariners for what they did for me.”

Statistically, he absolutely should be celebrated. He has the highest career slugging percentage in the history of a franchise that includes two Hall of Famers.

Also, the one thing that every Seattle fan cites when explaining their dislike of him never actually happened. You know that quote in which Rodriguez said it wasn’t about the money and then – as a free agent – went and signed with Texas for the money? It doesn’t exist. Not only that, when Larry Stone tried to track down the source for The Seattle Times, what he actually found was examples of Rodriguez saying the decision would be – and ultimately was – financial.

And yet – for all the ways I’ve tried to outgrow resentment in general and grudges in particular — I love the fact that Seattle still loathes Alex Rodriguez. I hope it doesn’t change.

Hello there. You miss me? I was on vacation last week, back in the Pacific Northwest attending the nuptials of one Jessamyn McIntyre.

She was the person who – more than anyone else – took three misfits and cobbled us into an afternoon radio show on the station where Rodriguez appeared this week. She got married on Friday in an incredible ceremony at Roche Harbor, and Sharon and I were there after flying from a small island on the East Coast (Manhattan is 23 square miles) to a larger one on the West Coast, (San Juan Island is 621 square miles). Jess looked fabulous. So did Jim Moore, honestly. I even have photographic evidence.

I also saw this guy at the wedding, and I’m pleased to report there are absolutely no hard feelings.

The Mariners are still struggling to score, which is frustrating. They are also finding it tough to win every single one-run game they play in, which is not surprising. I can also report first-hand that there is a surprisingly deep dislike of this team in particular, which is going to require its own psychological deep dive. Just not today because we’ve already got our own psychological deep dive going on and it involves Alex Rodriguez.

You remember him, right? The Mariners’ No. 1 overall pick in 1993. Made his MLB debut in ’94 and two years later finished second in the MVP balloting to Juan Gonzalez of Texas.

He was so good that when he hit free agency, the Texas Rangers offered to pay him $252 million over 10 years. A quarter of a billion dollars.

When he signed this contract, he was vilified in Seattle. This was true when it happened, and it was especially true when he came back for the first time as a Ranger.

Rodriguez tried to downplay it.

“If they boo, I think it’s good,” he said before the game. “It’s good. It’s exciting for baseball.” 

Oh, we booed. A lot. The lasting memory was the guy with a fishing pole, fake money attached to the end of the line.

The thing is, we didn’t stop booing. Ever. And if I’m being honest, I’m proud of that.

Seattle is a fairly passive-aggressive city. A place where you wave for a pedestrian to cross in front of you while cursing under your breath about the fact that they are doing so. Where we always talk to our neighbors about coming over for dinner, but never actually make plans to do it.

We like to keep our harder feelings hidden. 

Hell, Ken Griffey Jr. asked to be traded, and we never stopped loving him. At least I didn’t.

But with A-Rod it was always different, and the question now is whether we should let go of that. After all, the guy has said nothing but nice things about Seattle not just this week, but going back to that first time he returned as a Ranger. He said that the city’s reaction to him wouldn’t change the way he felt about the city.

To be clear, Rodriguez didn’t ask for anything. He simply said – when asked – that he would love to come back and thank Seattle’s fans. That could be accomplished in any variety of ways from a pre-game introduction up to an induction in the team’s hall of fame, which currently consists of 10 members.

In terms of performance, Rodriguez absolutely merits inclusion. He ranks fifth in franchise history for career home runs despite playing less than six full seasons with the team. He clobbered more than 40 home runs in three of those seasons and he has the highest career slugging percentage in the history of a franchise that includes two Hall of Fame sluggers. 

There’s no evidence he used steroids while he was in Seattle, either, and even if he did, I would see that as more a sign of the times than some moral failing on his part.

On Tuesday, Nathan Bishop made a clear, persuasive argument for why Seattle should let go of its collective grudge against Rodriguez.

Two things worth noting:

1. Nathan is someone whose coverage of the Mariners I’ve enjoyed going back to his time as managing editor of Lookout Landing.

2. I don’t have a rational rebuttal to anything he said.

My reaction is strictly emotional: The idea of welcoming Rodriguez back in any form or fashion simply does not resonate with me in any way. In fact, if I was at T-Mobile Park and he was introduced before a game, I could absolutely see myself booing.

This would be immature of me. In fact, it would also be mean because part of the reason I enjoy Seattle’s continuing hostility toward A-Rod is because I think it does actually hurt his feelings. But if there is any sort of deeper meaning to any of this it’s that allegiance is not something that is owed to any specific athlete or team. 

Yes, Rodriguez was an absolutely incredible baseball player while he was in a Mariners uniform. No, he didn’t do anything wrong or even all that hypocritical in the context of modern sports. Yes, he subsequently used steroids and then lied about it, but so did an awful lot of other players from that era. I also believe he is utterly cringy and chooses his words based largely on what he thinks will make him look as good as possible, but if we’re going to start booing every athlete who’s not totally transparent I’m not sure if there’d be anyone left to cheer.

There are bigger jerks than Rodriguez who’ve done worse things and we’ve gotten over it. 

However, Rodriguez chose to leave the team I cheer for. Then, in what can only be described as a desire to suck up to either his boss or his new hometown, signed a letter to Boeing saying he, “moved to Dallas-Fort Worth to improve my future and so should you.” Finally, he obviously wants to be at least mildly embraced in Seattle, and I’m petty enough that I do get some small satisfaction out of denying him that. 

So while I’m not going to judge anyone who does cheer for A-Rod or would like to welcome him back to Seattle, this is one grudge I’m not going to be giving up on.