Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, fighting to reverse his historic 211-game doping ban, walked out of a grievance hearing in New York on Wednesday calling the proceedings a “farce”.
Rodriguez departed the hearing after arbitrator Fredric Horowitz ruled that Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig wouldn’t be required to testify.
“I am disgusted with this abusive process, designed to ensure that the player fails,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “I have sat through 10 days of testimony by felons and liars, sitting quietly through every minute, trying to respect the league and the process.
“This morning, after Bud Selig refused to come in and testify about his rationale for the unprecedented and totally baseless punishment he hit me with, the arbitrator selected by MLB and the Players Association refused to order Selig to come in and face me.
“The absurdity and injustice just became too much,” Rodriguez added. “I walked out and will not participate any further in this farce.”
Rodriguez was banned an unprecedented 211 games in August for taking performance-enhancing drugs including testosterone and human growth hormone.