The star of A-Rod's lawsuit against MLB: Bill Madden

I picked up Alex Rodriguez' suit against Team Selig yesterday. It's literary crack cocaine. You can't set it down - 33 pages of baseball corruption porn. Read it in your gimp suit, with GWAR playing on the stereo.

The Old Yeller shooting highlight arrives on page 24 when the writing team turns its attention to NY Daily News columnist Bill Madden, aka "the Ghost of Dick Young." Since spring, Madden had been assuring everyone that A-Rod would never play an inning for the Yankees, that he couldn't swing a bat, that he was "the most wanted criminal in the game's history" and at one point, that he was comparable to Whitey Bulger, the Boston gangster. Madden became A-Rod's harshest critic.

So on Page 24, the suit draws Madden as the embodiment of MLB's "witch hunt," in which Selig's flunkies systematically leaked dirt to media outlets, seeking to smear A-Rod's pristine reputation. (Yeah, right.) The great moment came when Madden appeared on the Mike Francesa Radio Show. (Italics are mine):

"Throughout the interview, Madden discussed confidential details of Mr. Rodriguez's investigation, punishment, and appeal. When Francesa questioned Madden about the veracity of his information, Madden emphasized that he had complete access to MLB officials, and was getting his information directly from "Baseball." 

Madden said MLB had enough evidence on A-Rod to bring a lifetime ban, that A-Rod would never play again, that owners wanted him gone, and that A-Rod had offered to accept a 100-game suspension and then retire - but Selig rejected it.

Madden's article in the Daily News the following day provided even more detail, quoting sources inside baseball as saying that "[a]t first [the 100 game deal] might have sounded compelling to MLB ... But then the question of who would be paying him the guaranteed contract arose. Baseball couldn't saddle the Yankees with that."
 
If this lawsuit ever gets to court - (ah, sadly, it won't) - it would be baseball's trial of the century.  But as Yankee fans, we should fear the consequences of all this. It's fun to watch, but I can't help but think that it's going to chase Joe Girardi out the door.