Alex Rodriguez, who it was announced today will be suspended starting Thursday for 211 games (all of this year and the 2014 season as well), will make a bizarre return to the Yankee lineup tonight for the first time in 2013. Not only that, but Rodriguez will be batting cleanup tonight in the New York lineup.

Facing the Chicago White Sox, the Yankees will be glad to have any productivity from their highly-paid third baseman. Despite being under contract for more than $29 million this year (if he meets all of the contractual terms), Rodriguez has been no help for the Yankees in the 2013 season, since he has been hurt for the entire year. New York, who has been a team rocked by multiple injuries, currently sits 9.5 games adrift in the AL East and 4.5 games back in the race for the final AL Wild Card spot.

Though he is scheduled to technically begin his suspension on Thursday, Rodriguez has repeatedly stated that he will challenge and appeal any suspension he receives from Major League commissioner Bud Selig.

Rodriguez, known by his common nickname “A-Rod,” first debuted in the majors in the strike-shortened season of 1994. Since then, he terrorized opposing pitchers and hit a combined 647 home runs, 2,901 hits, 1,950 RBI, and a career .300 batting average. Also, he was paid more money in team salary than any other baseball player in history. This included a 10-year, 250 million-dollar contract with the Texas Rangers, and a subsequent 10-year, 275 million-dollar deal with the Yankees (after having been traded to New York in the winter of 2003).

In terms of all-time records, Rodriguez still sits more than 100 home runs behind fellow controversial star, Barry Bonds (now retired). His career achievements, already cast in a skeptical light following his first PED admission, will now be all but dismissed entirely as serious statistics given his repeated offenses in using performance enhancing drugs.