Of course that record was tainted by Barry Bonds and his alleged use of steroids.
And now all that he accomplished, all the adulation that was heaped on his potential, all the money he was paid (the most of any baseball player in history, at more than $27 million or so a year), is being called into question. What a way to end a career. But that's exactly what is likely to happen, and soon, to the man known as A-Rod.
The Yankees slugger and should we call him former slugger, because it's been a while since he slugged anything round and white with a bat is now negotiating his fate with Major League Baseball. MLB reportedly wants to suspend him for life; A-Rod would like very much to avoid that.
Our Jim Dolan is in San Diego, where the Yankees are playing, and awaiting to hear the fate of their scandalized third baseman. And Rob Powers has the latest from New York about the case. All that tonight at 11.
Also at 11, we're following a clouded communiqué from the U.S. State Department, ordering embassies in several countries to shut down this Sunday, out of an abundance of caution, but based on some kind of perceived threat.
Closing this Sunday will be the U.S. Embassies in Dhaka, Cairo, Doha, Khartoum, Baghdad, Amman, Muscat in Oman, Manama in Bahrain, Kuwait City, Algiers and Kabul. The list is growing by the minute. As for timing, unclear. But Saturday is Laylat Al-Qadr, the "Night of Power" – the holiest night of the year for Muslims. It celebrates the moment the Koran was first revealed to Mohammed. And Ramadan ends next week.
We're also announcing tonight that the first broadcast TV debates for New York Mayor and Comptroller will be aired on Eyewitness News. The Democratic candidates for Mayor will air live on Tuesday, August 13 at 7 p.m. I'll moderate that debate. The Republican candidates debate will air Sunday at noon on
Aug. 11. Sade Baderinwa will moderate. And the Comptroller race – Eliot Spitzer vs. Scott Stringer – will air on Aug. 11 at 11 a.m. I'll moderate that one.
We're interested in getting your video questions for the debate – we might use it! Send us your 15-second Instagram video using the hastag #ABC7Debates.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Meteorologist Lee Goldberg's AccuWeather forecast. I hope you can join Sade Baderinwa and me, tonight at 11. One more note: I'm off tomorrow, so this column will resume on Monday, August 5.
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