A Return to the Lineup and a Fight to Stay CHICAGO - Alex Rodriguez sat in the far corner of the Yankees clubhouse Monday afternoon, staring at a computer screen displaying video images of Chicago White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana, whom he would soon be facing. A mere 30 minutes had passed since Major League Baseball had announced Rodriguez was being suspended for 211 games in connection with its months-long doping investigation, but Rodriguez, the 38-year-old third baseman, appeared unfazed. Behind him stood dozens of reporters, most sent specifically to observe and record Rodriguez's every move on a day when he was simultaneously handed the largest doping penalty in baseball history while incongruously preparing for his first game of the season. As Rodriguez casually chatted with a bystander hours before the Yankees" 8-1 loss to the White Sox, Derek Jeter walked past and said, "How's it going, man?" as if it were any other day. But it was far from that. It was one of the most unusual days in recent baseball history, even for a lightning-rod player like Rodriguez. He had spent the first four months of the baseball season recovering from hip surgery and watching while baseball investigated his ties to an anti-aging clinic in South Florida suspected of distributing performance-enhancing drugs. And then on Monday, baseball pounced, suspending Rodriguez and 12 other players as the result of its investigation but with only Rodriguez drawing more than a 50-game ban. In turn, only Rodriguez decided to appeal, a process that may allow him to play right through the end of the regular season and even into October, should the injury-battered Yankees somehow find a way to grab a playoff spot. That is fine with Rodriguez, who in a pregame news conference with more than 100 members of the news media declined to directly answer questions about drug use but said he was intent on sticking up for his rights and playing baseball. "I'm fighting for my life," he said. I have to defend myself. If I don't defend myself, no one will. Still, while he was composed in the clubhouse, there were times in his measured opening statement when he seemed to put on a display of emotions. He called the last seven months of his life, since reports first tied him to the clinic, a nightmare. And yet, in another part of the news conference, he said he felt like a teenager because of the sheer joy of being able to get back on the field. "I am thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to put this uniform on again and play major league baseball again," he said. I feel like I was 18 years old, back in Fenway Park in 1994 when I went in to face the Red Sox for the very first time. It's been 20 years and I'm just very excited to have the opportunity to go out there and play baseball and help my team win. By the time Rodriguez stepped to the plate two and a half hours later for his first at-bat of the season, the Yankees needed help. It was the top of the second and they were already trailing, 3-0. Amid a backdrop of sustained booing - nothing Rodriguez hasn't heard before during the course of his controversial career - he hit a bloop single to left. He went 1 for 4, and by the time he came to bat in the eighth, the boos had transformed into chants of "A-Roid, A-Roid." "It's been crazy," Rodriguez said. But from this point on, I'm going to do my very best to focus on baseball. Every game is very important. It was good to get the first one behind me, even though it wasn't a win. Rodriguez's debut began hours after the announcement he had been suspended through the 2014 season, beginning Thursday, on grounds he had both used performance enhancers and attempted to thwart baseball's inquiry. Rodriguez, with the full backing of the players union, is planning to appeal the ruling through baseball's arbitrator, a process that could take as long as three months or more to conclude, according to Michael Weiner, the union's executive director. Weiner said the penalty was "way out of line," and he said the union agreed with Rodriguez's decision to appeal. In 2009, Rodriguez admitted to using steroids years earlier when he was with the Texas Rangers. In this instance, he was less forthcoming. Asked if he had used performance enhancers in the much more recent period outlined in baseball's investigation, he declined to answer yes or no. "We'll have a forum to discuss all of that and we'll talk about it then," he said, in an apparent reference to the appeals process. Rodriguez was also vague about his relationship with the Yankees, which has gone from cool to testy to outright combative in recent weeks. Rodriguez has made indirect accusations that the Yankees were involved in baseball's investigation as a way to escape their immense financial commitment to him. He is owed roughly $95 million through 2017. Rodriguez has also insinuated that he has not received adequate care from the Yankees" medical staff. Both charges have angered the Yankees, who issued a statement Monday challenging them. "The New York Yankees in no way instituted and/or assisted M.L.B. in the direction of this investigation; or used the investigation as an attempt to avoid its responsibilities under a player contract; or did its medical staff fail to provide the appropriate standard of care to Alex Rodriguez," the statement read in part. But despite this mutual antagonism, the Yankees can use any help Rodriguez can provide. Even as he returned to the lineup, Jeter, the team captain, was going back on the disabled list for a third time with more leg troubles. He has been unable to stay on the field this season, and now he will watch as Rodriguez tries to play, one more twist in a bizarre and nightmarish season no Yankee could have anticipated.