Alex Rodriguez could go on and on about his love for girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.
Alex Rodriguez could go on and on about his love for girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.
The 43-year-old baseball legend covers Cigar Aficionado magazine's September/October issue, in which he gushes about Lopez's best attributes. Rodriguez calls the superstar beautiful and praises her as a mother to her 10-year-old twins, Max and Emme, with ex-husband Marc Anthony.
“Jennifer, when you talk about power, and you talk about beautiful, both inside and outside," he says. "The way she mothers her twins, the way she’s with my daughters. There’s just so much admiration. And what I love about Jennifer is how genuine, how real, and how much she does for others, and how much she inspires others, men and women.”
Aside from talking about his headline-making relationship, Rodriguez also looks back at his controversial career in the new interview, specifically, the fallout from being hit with the longest suspension in baseball history in 2014 for using performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez says that he understands if he doesn't ever get inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, even though he wants it so badly.
“There’s rules, and you have to follow the rules," he notes. "I made those mistakes, and at the end of the day I have to live by those mistakes. Whether I get in or not -- and let’s be clear, I want to get in, I hope I get in, I pray I get in -- if I don’t, I think I have a bigger opportunity yet again. And the platform of my mistakes, the good the bad and the ugly, has allowed me to have a loud voice to the next generation, to say when in doubt, just look at my career… The other message is, maybe I’m not a Hall of Fame player, but I get a chance to be a Hall of Fame dad, a Hall of Fame friend.”
When asked how he wants to be remembered, he says he'd like to be acknowledged for growing from his missteps.
“I think, someone that has been through a lot," he muses. "Has accomplished a lot. Has made great mistakes, but he refused to be defined by those mistakes.”
Rodriguez later discusses his friendship with fellow New York Yankee legend, 44-year-old Derek Jeter, and admits that they didn't always get along.
"Derek and I are friends," he says. "I’ve known Derek since we were 15 years old … Like all relationships, there’s ups, there’s downs, there’s ups, but where it sits today is where it’s always sat -- with respect."
"I have a lot of love and admiration for Derek, and he’s a five-time world champion and what I remember most about our relationship is he’s one of the greatest competitors, consummate professionals I’ve ever been around," he adds.
Last May, Jeter and Rodriguez had a cringe-worthy start to a joint interview, when a reporter brought up old reports that the teammmates had some dugout drama.
Watch the awkward moment below:
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