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The ex-wife of the baseball icon says "He was a sweet guy" and that "He had a really big heart," but she also shares some revealing observations about his emotional state and hidden personal struggles.
The premiere of the highly anticipated HBO documentary series, Alex vs ARod, offered viewers a personal look into the life of baseball icon Alex Rodriguez. Airing its first episode on Thursday, November 6, the docuseries immediately sparked conversation, particularly due to the revealing comments made by Rodriguez's ex-wife, Cynthia Rodriguez Nicolas.
Nicolas, who was married to the former MLB star from 2002 to 2008, shared eye-opening insight into the man behind the superstar moniker "A-Rod." During her segment in the premiere, she opened up about the emotional state of her ex-husband, hinting at the personal struggles that often lay hidden beneath Rodriguez’s public persona.
“I felt sorry for him. I did,” Nicolas said in the first episode. “He was a sweet guy. He had a really big heart.”
The source of her pity appeared rooted in her observation of his personal growth, or lack thereof, over the years. According to Nicolas: "He was so stunted when it came to the natural development of a person. He was so entrenched in baseball. He was told that’s what he was going to do for so long, and it’s all he did.”
Her quote suggests that the immense pressure and rapid ascent to fame and fortune may have hindered his maturity and emotional well-being outside of baseball.
“Alex is a creature of habit and baseball was all he did,” Nicolas continued. “If he wasn’t hitting, he was throwing. If he wasn’t throwing, he was running. If he wasn’t running, he was watching videos of different pitchers, studying. He was all in.”
She added, “There was a lot of his life that he missed and a lot of stages that we go through as children into young adulthood that mold us and shape us, and he didn’t have those experiences.”
Nicolas also suggests the pressure Rodriguez faced to provide for his parents and half siblings may have put some weight over his shoulders. “I could see where his family gave him the position of the head of the family at a very young age, " she said.
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View StoryThe docuseries also explores the time period Nicolas first met Rodriguez and she recalled being totally unaware of his celebrity baseball icon status.
“I had no idea who he was,” she revealed. “I didn’t follow baseball. I wasn’t into baseball. I had no clue.”
Nicolas continued, “He would approach me in the gym. He was really interested in my college life, I guess because he didn’t have one.”
But despite his popular athletic persona, she says that, after they first tied the knot, he was totally succeeded in compartmentalizing his professional and personal lives.
“I didn’t really know A-Rod. I know Alex,” Nicolas explained. “A-Rod was like a fictitious thing that people created. It was a persona, it was a personality. For me, he was just Alex.”
The three-part docuseries is expected to continue dissecting the life of one of baseball's most polarizing figures, offering exclusive commentary from family and others close to him.
The first episode of Alex vs ARod is available on HBO Max, with episodes two and three premiering on November 13 and November 20.
