By DAN MANGAN
Last updated: 7:36 am
July 2, 2008
Posted: 4:03 am
July 2, 2008
Now that's a squeeze play!
Madonna yesterday strongly denied reports that she and Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez have been cozying up at the unhappily married Material Mom's Upper West Side pad.
PHOTO GALLERY: Madonna & A-Rod
But even as the aging pop star and free-swinging slugger cried foul over reports of clandestine canoodling, a source told Us Weekly that A-Rod visited Madonna's Central Park West digs the night after his long-suffering wife, Cynthia, gave birth in April to their second daughter.
The "Holy Cow"-worthy claims come after The Post's revelations last year that Rodriguez was catting around North America with busty blond stripper Joslyn Morse, and amid recent news Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have been talking to divorce lawyers.
The Post has also learned that the two egocentric stars share something deeper than the same agent - kabbalah. In recent months, A-Rod has shown active interest in studying the Jewish mystical practice popularized by Madonna, her director hubby, and Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, sources said.
Rodriguez has visited kabbalah centers in south Florida, where the all-star and the singer both have posh homes, the sources said.
"I'm not talking about it. No comment," A-Rod, 32, told The Post yesterday when asked about his linkage to the soon-to-be-50 Madonna, whose past athletic conquests include basketball stars Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley, and Rodriguez's nemesis José Canseco.
A source at Madonna's building told Us Weekly that Rodriguez "has been hanging out at her apartment a lot lately. He's been leaving by himself as late as midnight."
Another source said, "All the doormen are talking."
Us Weekly cited another source saying Rodriguez visited Madonna "possibly as early as the night after his wife gave birth" to their daughter, Ella, in a Miami-area hospital on April 21.
Nine days later, Rodriguez attended Madonna's April 30 concert at Roseland and partied with her at The Box club that night.
He also worked out with her at a city gym last October, and chatted with the singer and her daughter, Lourdes, at her UN benefit for Malawi in February, according to reports in The Post and OK! magazine.
Madonna and Rodriguez have the same agent, Guy Oseary. On June 22, Madonna, her kids and Oseary all sat in A-Rod's Yankee Stadium box seats - as well as the Steinbrenner family's box - during a game against the Reds.
A spokesman for the Rodriguezes declined comment.
Madonna's spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, told People, "There are no plans for Madonna and Guy to divorce," and no truth to the suggestion that the singer and A-Rod are playing ball.
Madonna and Ritchie had no comment last night as they strolled into their Manhattan apartment holding hands.
Additional reporting by Amanda Melillo, Samuel Goldsmith and Matt Kennard
