A major recent story in the sports world concerns Alex Rodriguez and his steroid charges. An article in the New York Times introduced Rodriguez's story through an anecdote that grabbed my attention immediately. The first paragraph caught my eye because it not only involved Rodriguez, but his reaction to a fan waiting for his turn for an autograph.
I felt this opening was more than effective. The writer sets the scene with A Rod making his way down the left-field fence, signing baseball after patient baseball. The silent player continued to autograph until one person spoke their mind and ultimately stopped Rodriguez in his tracks.
The man said if A Rod won a World Series anytime soon, the steroid drama would go away. A Rod heard his comment and asked him to repeat himself, and the man said again if the Yankees won the World Series, no one will care about his steroid use anymore. After listening to the comment for the second time, A Rod nodded and continued to make his way down the line of waiting fans.
The man who grabbed Rodriguez's attention remained anonymous in this article and I thought this sense of mystery added to the article's purpose. Millions of people have opinions about A Rod's confession, but that one man could have spoke some truth for the millions of unheard baseball fans. One man took the initiative to speak his mind and was not exposed in this NYT article. I thought the writer did a great job of capturing an opinion of a random by-stander and not exposing his identity for a greater purpose. Sometimes the truest quotes come from the ones you least expect them from.
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