This was supposed to be the year of the $30 million-man, but so far he’s helped the Yankees about as much as the midges that descended upon Jacobs Field Friday night. The game’s last next-great thing, Barry Bonds, was rendered useless once summer turned to fall, so will Alex Rodriguez ever achieve postseason immortality? Or will he forever be the guy that couldn’t get it done when it counts?
These rumors of Rodriguez’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, if not unfair, as they once were with Bonds. The New York media would have you believe that he is a big waste of money, that has cost the Yankees a World Series title, over the last three years. Maybe he wasn’t at this best against Los Angeles and Detroit the last few Octobers, but if this man doesn’t hit a grand slam every time he comes to the plate, even when he leads off the inning, he will be considered a failure.
These writers would rather push the best baseball player alive out of town instead of admitting that they wouldn’t be writing these stories if it weren’t for his efforts during the regular season. Did the Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio, face this type of treatment when he was struggling through the postseason in his MVP years of 1941 and ‘47 when he hit a combined .244? Or how about Mickey Mantle, who hit below .250 in more than half of his October appearances? Of course not, they appreciated what these men did from April to September.
Have we already forgotten that Rodriguez just handed in one of the greatest offensive seasons of all-time, and is certain to collect his third MVP award? He’s silenced the critics over and again throughout his career, so cut him some slack for once. When everyone said that he disappeared when his team needed him the most last season, he responded by hitting .329/.433/.719 with runners on base and drove in the men who got on in front of him 19% of the time.
What will it take for him to vindicate himself from his supposed ‘down year’ in 2006 when he hit .290/.392/.523 with 35 home runs and 121 RBI? Does he have to have multiple Edgar Renteria or Joe Carter moments? In New York, one certainly won’t satisfy. Who cares if he went hitless through the first two games, it’s not like they’re playing the Devil Rays. It has nothing to with his talent or psyche, C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona are the problem. You could make a strong Cy Young case for either one of these pitchers. The whole team is struggling, and they should be against pitchers of this caliber. Everyone on that roster should be exempt from any type of scrutiny because of this. They haven’t failed. There are no Jeff Weavers left to feast on, only the best of the best remain. Numbers are going to drop, that’s why each at-bat becomes more important. A clutch hit or an RBI here or there should be enough to suffice, and it usually is, as long as your name isn’t Alex Rodriguez.
They say you never know what you have until it’s gone. If they keep this stuff up they’ll find out next season how great Rodriguez was when he’s hitting .314/.422/.645 while driving in 156 runs and bashing 54 home runs for the Red Sox, or wherever he may end up. He may never be worth $30 million a year, but for some people a trip to the playoffs is. Not in New York though.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Big Mike 10.06.07 at 5:57 pm
People need to start layin off my man’s A-Rod. The Yanks are fittin to be in trouble next year when he steps on them, ya know what im sayin? How you gonna disrespect my mans when he had 2 MVP season in 3 years, and last year he should have taken home the shine if the NY media wouldn’t have been playin him. He had better numbers than JMorn, ya feel me? When he givin them Massholes something to cheer about, or the Angles something, next year we gonna be in trouble lookin real stupid. You run a brotha out, he gonna bounce. The man is a monster and we wanna play him, blowin up his spot with other women and that, aint no one gonna stick around for more of that. ya feel me?
The WB 10.06.07 at 6:00 pm
A-Rod needs to step it up though. You touched on the fact that its about money and it is. If he was making 300,000 a year people wouldn’t be pressing him so much. Also, the great talent that you talked about, a top 50 season, of course people are going to wonder why he’s stirking out 3 times a night. obviously something is wrong there. the playoffs are a small sample size and very unpredictable. it’s the reason taht someone like Yadier Molina can show up and be the hero, hit something like .400, and then come back over 162 games and hit half of that. its a crazy time and people have to step it up.
Nick Johnson 10.06.07 at 6:01 pm
This is where heros are made, and wheres hero’s are born. you have a big postseason and you are an immortal. you have a bad postseason and you are a goat. Deal with it A-Rod. I’m sure the 30 million he gets next season will give him more than enough money to have a phsychologist fix him up from all the abuse he is taking. I, for one, am not going to feel bad about it. YOU SUCK!
Nick Underhill 10.06.07 at 6:03 pm
WB,
Your right on the money about Yadi. That was crazy last year. He actually had me thinking that he learned how to use that bat, and then I was brought back to earth real quick. Of course he should take some criticism for his play, but to hold him soley responsible for this is wrong. What about everyone else.