Alex Rodriguez Keeps His Head Up At LAX During Baseball Ban

Despite recent troubles, Alex Rodriguez kept his head up when he arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday after spending his New Year's in St. Barth.

2013 was quite the trying time for A-Rod. On August 5, Major League Baseball came down heavily on the sports star, suspending him through the 2014 baseball season. Rodriguez's 211-game ban was a result of a doping scandal surrounding the South Florida anti-aging clinic Biogenesis. Twelve other players, including All-Stars : Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers, Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres and Jhonny Peralta of the Detroit Tigers, were suspended others for 50 games -- but the MLB's heavy baseball bat came down harshest on the Yankee.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed with the news today," Rodriguez said at a news conference at the time. "What we've always fought for is the process and I think we have that, and I think at some point we'll sit in front of an arbiter and we'll give our case. That's as much as I feel comfortable saying right now."

The 38-year-old called the seven months prior to the MLB's decision a "nightmare." The sports star added, "Probably the worst time of my life for sure. Obviously, for the circumstances that are at hand, and dealing with a tough surgery and a rehab program and being 38."