Courtesy New York Newsday

(February 10, 2009) Landing the first interview with Alex Rodriguez since he morphed overnight from A-Fraud to A-Roid was a coup for ESPN, which predictably spent yesterday taking full, multi-platform use of it.

But the sit-down was a mixed blessing for Peter Gammons, who was in a tough spot.

His every question (or lack thereof) was sure to be picked apart by fans, media critics and radio hosts, understandable given the fact that Rodriguez's camp specifically requested him.

Not Jeremy Schaap or Bob Ley, the network's top studio interview bulldogs, and not other networks' star interrogators, such as Bob Costas or even his old pal Katie Couric.

Nope, Rodriguez wanted Gammons, a veteran baseball insider who in the past has been relatively sympathetic to him. Is that kosher?

"It's not unusual when people come here," said Vince Doria, ESPN's senior VP and director of news. "Our policy has been if people work with us, we're satisfied with them doing interviews. We believe we can get anybody up to speed. Clearly, this was in Peter's wheelhouse."

So how did Gammons do? Well, it certainly was a productive 45 minutes, thanks mostly to A-Rod, who in his first answer dropped the bombshell that rendered all that followed secondary.

Gammons might have faced a rocky road if Rodriguez had chosen to be slippery, but this was almost too easy.

Still, there were flaws, such as not further pressing A-Rod on what drugs he took and where he got them - or to question the believability of the notion he simply didn't know.

Also, there was a seemingly disingenuous answer about telling Couric in 2007 that he had not used steroids, and a time-wasting question about what all this can teach America's youth.

Gammons' biggest omission, though, was not following up on A-Rod's charges of unethical and / or illegal behavior by Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts - a stunner in an interview in which he otherwise took the high road with everyone from Joe Torre to the players' union.

(Roberts later went on the MLB Network to debunk every charge, part of the network's encouraging performance both Saturday and yesterday in dealing with its first controversial baseball story.)

Thankfully, whatever Gammons chose to ask or not, it was entirely his decision. Despite agreeing to a hand-picked interviewer, ESPN would not agree to restrictions on content.

"There were no conditions, no terms," Doria said. "Obviously, we didn't offer any, and we would not have agreed to any."

Cynthia by A-Rod's side

A-Rod being A-Rod, there was nothing conventional about yesterday's ESPN sit-down, which was recorded from about 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. at a rented home on an island off Miami Beach.

It began Sunday evening, when Rodriguez postponed the interview after initially scheduling it for that night, then postponed again after rescheduling for 11 a.m. yesterday.

When the time came at last, Rodriguez walked down the stairs alongside his ex-wife, Cynthia, according to Willie Weinbaum, ESPN's producer. (Cynthia would watch the interview from just off camera.)

"His eyes were very, very red, and they were during that first answer," said Weinbaum, a veteran New York-based producer.

"It looked to me as though he had been crying, and it looked to me as if Cynthia had been crying. I was not upstairs with them, so I don't know why they were together, but there is no doubt before the red light on the camera ever turned on, this was a very emotional period."

Weinbaum and supervising producer Mike Leber had worked with Gammons to prepare for directions Rodriguez might travel, the only hint being cryptic words from agent Scott Boras.

"He said, 'He will communicate sincerity and remorse,"' Weinbaum recalled. "I will never forget that. That's exactly what he said."

Beyond that, the crew had no idea what A-Rod would say until that fateful first answer, which made it clear this would be a historic sports media moment.

"Boom, his first answer was that answer, and then it's almost like the previous 48 hours didn't happen," Weinbaum said. "His first answer created a new reality in the room, and a new reality in the lives of Alex Rodriguez and in the lives of everybody in baseball."

WHY HE LIED TO COURIC

On Dec. 16, 2007, Alex Rodriguez denied on CBS' "60 Minutes" that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Yesterday, ESPN's Peter Gammons asked Rodriguez about that interview.

DEC. 16, 2007, "60 MINUTES"

KATIE COURIC: For the record, have you ever used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance?

ALEX RODRIGUEZ: No.

COURIC: Have you ever been tempted to use any of those things?

A-ROD: No.

COURIC: You never felt like, "This guy is doing it, maybe I should look into this, too? He's getting better numbers, playing better ball."

A-ROD: I've never felt overmatched on the baseball field. I've always been in a very strong, dominant position ... I didn't have a problem competing at any level. So, no.

YESTERDAY ON ESPN

PETER GAMMONS: Now, you mentioned the Katie Couric interview. You were asked if you ever used steroids, human growth hormones or other performance-enhancing substances. You said no, flat-out no. In your mind, that wasn't a lie?

ALEX RODRIGUEZ: At the time, Peter, I wasn't even being truthful with myself. How am I going to be truthful with Katie or CBS? Today, I'm here to tell the truth, and I feel good about that. I think my fans deserve that. I'm ready to put everything behind me and go play baseball. You know, we have a great team this year. I couldn't be more excited about the guys that we've brought in, Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia ... It's an important time in my life to turn the page and focus on what's next.