On August 5, 2013, the MLB announced they were suspending longtime Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez 211 games for his involvement in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal. If it were upheld in full, it would have been for the rest of the 2013 season as well as the entire 2014 season, and it would have marked the record for the longest suspension in MLB history that wasn’t a lifetime ban. However, Rodriguez appealed the ban and was allowed to play during the appeal, after which the MLB decided to shorten the punishment to 162 games—the full 2014 season. He went on to play one more full season in 2015, batting .250, hitting 33 home runs, and collecting 86 RBI. He left the Yankees in August of 2016, his last season as a player.
Today in Sports History: August 5
