Alex Rodriguez’s ex-wife, Cynthia Rodriguez Nicolas (née Scurtis), explained how his all-encompassing baseball career prevented him from making necessary strides in his personal life.
“I felt sorry for him. I did,” Nicolas said in the first episode of HBO’s Alex vs ARod, which premiered on Thursday, November 6. “He was a sweet guy. He had a really big heart. But 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.”
Rodriguez, 50, and Nicolas, 52, were married from 2002 to 2008 and share daughters Natasha, 20, and Ella, 17.
“Alex is a creature of habit and baseball was all he did,” Nicolas explained. “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.”
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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 argued the weight on Rodriguez’s shoulders was also a result of the pressure he faced to provide for his parents and half siblings, saying, “I could see where his family gave him the position of the head of the family at a very young age.”
In the docuseries, Nicolas recalled first meeting Rodriguez and being completely unaware of his status as a generational athlete.
“I had no idea who he was,” she said. “I didn’t follow baseball. I wasn’t into baseball. I had no clue.”
Nicolas added, “He would approach me in the gym. He was really interested in my college life, I guess because he didn’t have one.”
After the pair got married, Nicolas said Rodriguez was successful 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.”
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Rodriguez exclusively told Us Weekly that he hopes the docuseries not only helps viewers distinguish the difference between Alex and A-Rod, but influences people to be proactive about taking care of their mental health.
“Just like most humans out there, everyone has certain obstacles in their life, right?” Rodriguez told Us at the New York premiere of Alex vs ARod on Monday, November 3. “Some bigger than others, some more public than others, but I just encourage everyone out there that there’s a need for help. A lot of people can’t afford a therapist, but maybe there’s a good friend, maybe there’s a family member that you can unload on sometimes because you need a place to vent.”
He added, “I hope young kids, the next generation watching this documentary, can not only avoid some of the mistakes that I made, but if they need help, it is celebrated. You should go get help.”
The first episode of Alex vs ARod is available on HBO Max, with episodes two and three premiering on November 13 and November 20, respectively.
