A-Rod challenges 2014 ban

Embattled New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez asked a federal judge on Monday to throw out an arbitrator’s decision to suspend him for the 2014 baseball season for doping, escalating a battle with Major League Baseball that shows no signs of abating.

In the petition, filed by Rodriguez’s attorneys at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, they said arbitrator Fredric Horowitz exhibited “blatant partiality” toward MLB.

Rodriguez also said in his petition that the league’s initial 211-game ban was impermissibly long under the terms of baseball’s labor agreement and he accused MLB officials of leaking details about the case to the media.

Monday’s lawsuit included a copy of Horowitz’s decision, which had not previously been made public, giving the first glimpse of a proceeding that had taken place behind closed doors.

Horowitz ruled on Saturday that Rodriguez, baseball’s highest-paid player, would miss all 162 regular season games this year as well as the playoffs.

The ban, which was reduced from 211 games, is the longest in baseball history for the use of performance-enhancing drugs and will cost Rodriguez $25 million in salary.

The 38-year-old third baseman, popularly known as A-Rod, is fifth on baseball’s all-time home run list with 654 and was once widely expected to challenge Barry Bonds’ record of 762 home runs. Bonds was also repeatedly linked to doping.

Reuters