ESPN officially won the “race to reveal Alex Rodriguez’s cousin”, when they made contact with the wife of a man named Yuri Sucart. The couple declined to make any comment, yet the WWL was still able to track down enough background info to depict Sucart as a mix between a personal butler and confidant for A-Rod, a role which seems to have diminished as years have wound on.
Amy K. Nelson got the byline for the story, which cites background sources who call Sucart a fierce loyalist and a follower - which means A-Rod’s depiction of Sucart as the instigator of his steroid use is a bit out of place. But Yuri’s wife, Carmen Sucart, did confirm to an ESPN Deportes reporter that her husband was the man A-Rod referred to as “my cousin” in his Tuesday press conference, ending the need for further speculation.
While the Sucarts may not be willing to talk, there are others who have been happy to share tales about his relationship with Rodriguez, which dates back to childhood and includes stops in Seattle and Texas, where he palled around with the star and tried to help take care of him.
“Yuri was a mule, not a guy who would initiate anything,” a friend once close to Rodriguez said Wednesday. “He did what Alex told him to. He was only looking out for Alex. He is not a guy who would take the initiative to go out and buy drugs. Alex said during the press conference that his cousin just did what was asked — that is perfect for Yuri’s MO. He is a person who would be with him forever, a loyal guy without a bad bone in his body.”
Evidently that defensiveness only extended to A-Rod. When the pair was living in Texas, Sucart once offered to introduce a personal trainer and bodybuilder to Rodriguez in the Rangers clubhouse, then stood him up altogether.
It all sounds appropos for A-Rod, doesn’t it? Yet Sucart is clearly still sticking to his loyal guns. We’ll see if he can avoid cracking after two weeks of reporters staking him out on his lawn.
On a side note, the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS decided to send a reporter down to the Dominican Republic to see how hard it would be to acquire steroids in A-Rod’s home country. Turns out such a transaction only takes 2 minutes and $19.
12:12 pm on February 19th, 2009
You know the old saying - blood is thicker than steroid-enhanced water.
12:44 pm on February 19th, 2009
It should make for a fun family Thanksgiving in the Rodriguez-Sucart household.
10:49 am on February 20th, 2009
Alex rodriguez is such a idiot , he was set making millions and playing pro baseball. Now he is the laughing stock of the league. It was only a matter of time before it came out to the public that he was on roids. It was actually no surprise to me just look at how much larger he is now compared to when he was first in the league. I didnt think anything would come up until maybe the end of his career like the whole Bonds situation.I hope other players and future players learn from both Bonds and Rodriguez that steroids can only ruin your career. Look at both Alex and Barry they each have been concidered the best in the game at some point and now they will most likely not make the hall of fame.