Alex Rodriguez accepts season-long suspension

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez ended his extended and acrimonious fight with Major League Baseball on Friday, withdrawing a pair of lawsuits and accepting a season-long suspension that marks the longest penalty in the sport’s history related to performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez, who has steadfastly denied using banned substances while with the Yankees, made the decision nearly four weeks after arbitrator Fredric Horowitz largely upheld the discipline issued last summer by baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games last Aug. 5 for violations of baseball’s drug agreement and labor contract, and Horowitz cut the penalty on Jan. 11 to 162 games plus the 2014 postseason. Rodriguez sued two days later. – AP