Verducci with a darn good piece about A-Rod

All he owes people are 40 homers and 120 RBI a year. Not one more fucking thing is required from him. No one absolutely has to be likable. Some people just won't be, no matter how hard they try. But hell, Nick Green is a peach of a guy, I'm sure. I guess he should be playing third instead.

 

You're right, Dools. What I meant was: A-Rod tries so hard to BE likable, and makes it so clear that he wants to be likable, and yet he has no clue that his 40-HR, 120-RBI "obligation" isn't what it takes to be likable.

And at this point, it's only about October. He has to have a Bonds-circa-'02 or Beltran-circa-'04 postseason -- that's the only thing that's going to work for him.

Or he could revel in playing the heel, as Bonds does, and feed off that. Hell, I think it would be better for him.

 

The line about the Ruth-Gehrig pose reminds me of the picture of ARod and Jeter that's hanging outside the offices on the loge level. They're posing together at Legends Field, ARod on the left and Jeter on the right. ARod is striking his usual perfect pearly whites smile and looks eager to please, like "hey I'm posing with Derek that means we're getting along better right maybe he'll start to like me again right pretty please right?"

And Jeter is just standing there in a perfunctionary pose, the faintest hint of a smirk on his face, looking as if he's going to drop the bat and take off in the other direction as soon as the picture is snapped, never to look back at ARod.

I'm not sure why that photo hangs there. It's not fooling anyone.

 

"In the 80 games the Yankees played from June 1 to Aug. 30 -- almost half a season -- Rodriguez hit .257 with 81 strikeouts."

This is a case of a writer being intellectually dishonest, yet again, to serve his purposes. ARod had one bad month, June.

And, Mattingly couldn't carry ARod's jock. Leave his swing the fuck alone.

 

Absolutely.

 

While I'm glad to see we agree on Jeter's phonyness, explain to me how Verducci is being dishonest by pointing out ARod's half-season #s.

Numbers are numbers. And ARod's stunk for 80 games (and will stink for five or 12 or 19 games in October, but that's a topic for three weeks from now).

 

Another Verducci dishonest omission.

also... I can't believe Torre gave him all that manager's office play-by-play.

I always have perceived Torre as a trustworthy guy.

 

ARod hit .295 in July and .277 in August.

Dishonestly played, that .257 stat.

Also, you need to catch up on ARod's past postseason performance, apparently.

 

Tom Verducci is an excellent reporter, but it's going to really piss me off if I see that article in my next issue of Sports Illustrated. What on earth am I subscribing to this magazine for if it's giving away its best stuff on the web?

Verducci makes the comparison of A-Rod to the "prettiest girl in high school who gets straight A's, which is to say he is viewed with equal parts admiration and resentment." I disagree slightly. You can be beautiful, intelligent and admired -- even in high school -- if you are viewed as an honest person, a non-phony, a legitimate leader.

A-Rod is phony. That's his problem. But he's not phony in the mean sense, like Jeter. (My theory on Jeter is that he is a good teammate on the field, but a horrible one anywhere else. Cross him, like Rodriguez did in Esquire or Ken Huckaby did at third base a few years ago, and he never forgets it. He trashed an insignificant borderline major-league catcher for no reason after the Huckaby incident, and now, when he could single-handedly help change fans' opinion of Rodriguez, he remembers some slight from years ago and lets the guy hang. While he is a great player, I always thought others like Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neill were the true heartbeat of that Yankees dynasty and it's not a coincidence that this team has failed to win without them around.)

A-Rod is phony in the sense that despite being a nice guy, he's a follower who cannot allow himself to be seen as weak, even though he is, mentally. Unfortunately, he is a talented, but soft, pampered guy who tries to do everything he can to please authority figures. That story -- a good one from Verducci -- about being in the suit at 1 a.m. is a perfect exampe. Rodriguez was not always like that. But, Michael Jordan once saw him dressed down in public and told him that when you are a superstar of this magnitude, you must look impeccable at all times. Now, Rodriguez never fails to look immaculate. He followed that advice because he badly wants Jordan to like him.

It's all over the article. The quote about how guys like Tim Salmon and Chipper Jones recognize the great year he is having. The put-downs of Eric Chavez, Jeter (that's going to be well-received) and Mariano Rivera (which is worse, because Rivera is so highly respected). His desperation is unbelievable: Why doesn't anyone like me? Giambi and Reggie Jackson are absolutely accurate in their assessments of the guy, particularly the first baseman's comment about the false confidence.

The bottom line is that people -- especially teammates -- recognize his false bravado, his complete insecurity, his weakness, and exploit it, the same way they do to the weak kids in high school. That's why a real bully like Mike Mussina publicly called him out in Toronto, because Mussina knows the rest of the group won't mind A-Rod being picked on. It's why Giambi can be called a guy who stirs teammates because he plays with passion when several of them -- including Jeter -- wanted to kill him for sitting during the 2003 World Series.

He's one of the guys, so his transgressions are forgiven. A-Rod, closest to the batting-practice pitcher, is not one of the guys. Never will be.

 

So? He produces. From your post, I would be more likely to take from the article that Rodriguez's teammates are assholes than assume much negative about him.

 

the bashing of jeter for swinging at a 3-0 pitch to try to keep his hit streak alive is really reaching to swipe at the guy. the next night, with a man on first in the seventh and down by a run, jeter swung at a 3-0 serving again -- and crushed a go-ahead, 2-run homer.

guess he was just eager to selfishly start a new hit streak.

there isn't anyone who sees jeter every day who doesn't appreciate his greatness as a player. is he a phony off-the-field? i have no idea and don't give a darn.

by the same token, i don't give a darn that a-rod isn't loved by his teammates. all anyone should care about is how he plays. and i can tell you from watching almost every game, a-rod's a headcase whose a tremendous numbers compiler with serious flaws in clutch situations. his late-inning numbers with runners on are gawdawful.

in my mind, it's no coincidence that a-rod started hitting again well after the five-game sweep of the bosox, when the race was over. typical a-rod.

case closed.

 

Not to muck up a good urban legend, but...in the key series of the season for the Yankees, the five-game sweep of Boston, Rodriguez batted .333 with five RBI. Sorry for letting stats get in the way of the schadenfraude.