A-Rod: Satan? Topic

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Hestill gets 25-30 mil next year whether or not he ever gets a hit. How about it Mike wouldn't you cheer?
10/11/2012 9:36 AM
I was just the opposite.  I thought ARod looked genuinely happy after Ibanez hit the first home run.  He was the first to greet him as Ibanez got back to the dugout.  After the game, he said all the right things (including the very honest "I wish it was me hitting two home runs").  Maybe it's all an act, but he did and said all the right things last night when he could have pouted and sulked (which is what I and maybe you would have expected).

Maybe he's looking at his performance the past two seasons and is realizing that this is the player he now is at age 37, and he is coming to terms with it.  Maybe he's growing up and putting the prima-donna stuff behind him.  I don't know.  Hopefully he can look at how Jeter has bounced back after a couple of down seasons and bounce back somewhat next season.  That would be great.

We'll see.
10/11/2012 9:36 AM
The A-Rod/Yankee fan dynamic is one of the more fascinating things in NY sports to me since he's been here.  He's constantly hated on by so many fans, despite being the first Yankee since the 60s to win 2 MVPs and consistently being one of the best players in baseball up until recently.  He's struggled in the playoffs overall, but you don't face the Red Sox in 2004 without him, and you don't win a World Series in 2009 without him.  You might miss the playoffs in a couple of those years without him.

I've also always thought it was comical that when A-Rod does something, it's fake, but when Jeter does something, it's genuine.  Jeter's interviews are the worst thing ever.  He never says anything of value.  When A-Rod gives the same interview, people rip him for it.  A-Rod cheers when his teammate does something, like Mike points out, and you think he's faking it.  His reaction last night was immediate joy.  I don't know how you can see anything but that.

Now, he's struggling because he's old and off steroids (probably).  And maybe he's playing hurt.  Expectations of him are just too high at this point.  He's struggling in the playoffs, yes, but he struggled throughout September too.  Now the story today will be "should A-Rod play tonight?" Logic says no...if you think that Ibanez is better suited to face the Orioles in a big spot, how it is any different in the 2nd inning?  Play Chavez at 3B and DH last night's hero.  But like Mike said, the story should be Ibanez, who had one of the greatest playoff performances of all-time.  But NY fans' fascination with A-Rod will override it.  I do feel bad for him to a point, and I always have.  But he's still making stupid money for the next few years, so that feeling doesn't linger.
10/11/2012 9:45 AM
Well, as you know, Jeter in NYY's darling.   A-Rod created a lot of ill will in his interview in TX when he backhandedly criticized Jeter.  Something to the effect of "Teams don't gameplan against Jeter" which was really unnecessary.   Then you hear the stories about why the Mets didn't sign him(24 and 1) and the primadonna stuff in the locker rooms.  Couple that with Madonna, strippers, his supposed cheapness, weasly steroid explanation and he's just not a "nice" guy.   Compared to Jeter, who has never been a headline grabber thru wrongdoings or "better than you" attitude, and it's no contest. 

I'm just not sure it's fair anymore.   With his declining skills, he seems to do and say the "right" things.   I'm just not sure his past will be forgotten.
10/11/2012 10:08 AM
The past is done. 

The real problem with him going forward is going to be 5 years/$114m still owed to him for declining skills and age.  He's never going to be able to "earn" what he's getting from this point forward.  And that's not necessarily his fault (blame GMS III and Cashman for that), but that's going to be out there until October, 2017.  And he's going to have to face the fact that he will be masively underperforming the expectations that come with getting that kind of money, and the consequences (from the fans and media) that also come with it.
10/11/2012 10:17 AM (edited)
A-Rod has shown that's he's insecure...there are a few examples of that.  I'm sure the Jeter comments several years ago were because of that.
10/11/2012 10:24 AM
This is baseball, the past is never done.
10/11/2012 10:28 AM
Fangraphs in funny in that virtually no one will remember Jeter striking out to end the 8th.   No one was on and he was obviously a bit hobbled but that AB was a "battle" because he fouled a couple off.    A-Rod strikes out and everyone groans while saying "******* A-Rod."
10/11/2012 10:33 AM
A-Rod made the last out in Game 2.  Jeter also made an out that inning.
10/11/2012 10:42 AM
A-Rod's post-season legacy was cast in cement by his "deer in the headlights" performance in games 5 through 7 in the 2004 ALCS.

That's pretty much what I come to expect from him in every post-season game.
10/11/2012 10:54 AM
Posted by tecwrg on 10/11/2012 10:54:00 AM (view original):
A-Rod's post-season legacy was cast in cement by his "deer in the headlights" performance in games 5 through 7 in the 2004 ALCS.

That's pretty much what I come to expect from him in every post-season game.
Jeter went 3 for 15 in those games.

You aren't playing those games if A-Rod didn't play in the ALDS.

This is exactly what I'm talking about.
10/11/2012 10:58 AM
1996-2000.   Yanks played 13 post-season series and won 4 WS.   Jeter played well in 9 of them.
2004-2011.   Yanks played 11 post-season series and won 1 WS.  A-Rod played well in 3 of them.

People remember that.
10/11/2012 11:06 AM
What 3 are you counting?  I count 6.  You could argue 5.

Regardless, it's unfair.  You can't blame one person for a team's failures when there are failures everyone in the clubhouse.

in 2004?

Game 4 - Sheffield 0-5. A-Rod homered this game.
Game 5 - Tom Gordon.  Sheffield also went 0-4.
Game 6 - Jorge Posada and Tony Clark never reached base.  Leiber allows 4 runs.
Game 7 - Kevin Brown.

10/11/2012 11:15 AM
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A-Rod: Satan? Topic

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