According to a front page article published in the New York Daily News, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been spoken to by team officials about his visits to illegal poker clubs in Manhattan. While Rodriguez's poker playing is not illegal, as New York law only prohibits the house from making a profit, Yankees management has made it clear to their star player that they feel he is endangering himself and ruining his otherwise solid reputation.
Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Bud Selig reflected on the incident by saying that Rodriguez's poker activities are currently under scrutiny and that, if necessary, further measures would be taken. Rodriguez's poker exploits don't violate MLB's morality clause, and officials aren't dissatisfied with his interest in playing card games for money, per se, but they are worried about Baseball potentially becoming entangled with sports gambling, especially when it involves one of the game's best active players.
Rodriguez had been sighted with professional poker icon Phil Hellmuth as recently as one month ago, when it was learned that he was frequenting poker establishments in New York City. The 30-year-old is not the only celebrity who has been swept into the nation's poker craze. Film stars such as James Woods, Jennifer Tilly, and Ben Affleck have also been known to shuffle up and deal at various poker hot spots.
Scott Boras, Rodriguez's agent, reportedly denied that the Yankees or MLB warned his client about playing in the controversial poker clubs. Yet, having endured the 1919 Black Sox scandal as well as having banned legendary baseball great Pete Rose from the game for life due to his sports wagers, MLB is understandably hesitant to see one of its star players' reputations tarnished by gambling.
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