NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez dropped a lawsuit accusing a New York Yankees team doctor of botching his treatment for a hip injury, ending what had been a lingering piece of the sluggers legal fight over his baseball career, his lawyer said Friday. Rodriguez withdrew his suit against Dr. Christopher Ahmad "for the sole purpose of having no legal distractions" as the third baseman anticipates returning to play after the season-long suspension hes serving this year, attorney Alan S. Ripka said. "He wants to focus on being the best baseball player he can be, the best Yankee he can be, and wants nothing to distract him from those goals," the attorney said. Ahmads lawyer, Peter T. Crean, said the orthopedic surgeon was very pleased with the development, which he described as "demonstrating that Dr. Ahmads care was complete and appropriate." Ripka insisted that dropping the case wasnt a reflection on its merits. "Its about eliminating more things to think about and deal with instead of whats the most important thing to (Rodriguez), which is playing baseball for the Yankees," the lawyer said. Rodriguez abandoned the medical malpractice case four months after withdrawing two lawsuits against Major League Baseball over its investigation into whether he used banned, performance-enhancing drugs. He has denied it, but he agreed to accept the longest performance-booster-related suspension in baseball history. While he was fighting the suspension last fall, the 38-year-old Rodriguez filed his medical malpractice suit. It said he had kept playing and worsened a left hip injury in October 2012 because Ahmad didnt tell him an MRI had showed a joint tear. Rodriguez ultimately had surgery for the injury in January 2013, and his recuperation kept him from rejoining the Yankees until August. The now-withdrawn suit also named New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where the MRI was done. The hospital "never thought that the case had any merit" and was pleased to see it dropped, said its lawyer, Neil F. Brenes. The case was still in early stages, and arguments hadnt delved into the medical issues. But in a sign of the sensitivity surrounding them, Rodriguezs lawyer had asked a judge to make sure that any potential video of Rodriguez answering pretrial questions wouldnt be publicly disseminated, had the case gotten to that point. The suit didnt name the Yankees, and team representatives didnt immediately respond to email inquiries Friday evening about the development, first reported by the Daily News. Fake Baseball Jerseys .ca! Hi Kerry, Im sure youve received many emails wondering what your take is on the Spezza goal that looked like Neil blatantly kicked it in while standing directly in the middle of the crease where, you know, usually a goalie is to make a save but couldnt be due to Neil being there! Thanks! 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Tiger Woods didnt come close to claiming either Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open, where the seven-time champion failed to break par in the opening round for first time in his career.It appears as though the UFC is taking a stand against disgruntled lightweight Nate Diaz. In Tuesdays updated rankings on the organizations website, Diaz was removed from his post as the sixth-ranked lightweight and no longer appears anywhere on the list. MMAFighting.coms Ariel Helwani is reporting UFC officials said the company labels fighters as "active" and if they dont fall under that designation they are ineligible to appear in the rankings. The twist is that Diaz last fought just six months ago, scoring a knockout victory over now eighth-ranked Gray Maynard at "The Ultimate Fighter 18" finale in November. It seems as though his inactivity is a result of recent complaints over his contract. Since his win over Maynard, Diaz frequently voiced his displeasure via Twitter, often requesting to be released by the UFC through social media. UFC president Dana White responded in March saying that Diaz "just signed a new contract that he was happy witth a month ago.dddddddddddd." The situation came to a head when Diaz finally spoke in early April, unleashing a tirade about his paychecks to MMAFighting, claiming he didnt want to fight for "funny money". "They need to be about more money. My contract is all (expletive) up. I want to be paid like these other fighters. Im over here getting chump change," he said. "At this point, theyre paying all my partners and other people I train with are getting real money, and its too embarrassing for me to even fight again for the money theyre paying me. So they can either pay me or let me go. Im with that." At this point it can be assumed Diaz will remain off the list until he his booked again, which may be sooner than later after White told reports at UFC 172 that Diaz had apparently reached out to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva. "Nate said hes ready to fight," White said, "so, he told Joe to call him." ' ' '