I don't get A-Rod being called out.

[rexallllsc]

By Giambi? As if Giambi has better numbers or isn't back on something? Or isn't a cheater?

Sorry, but I'll take a slumping A-Rod over a Giambi anyday.

And the guys who are saying he's afraid of the ball - I wonder why they're not attaching their names to that statement?

[dacman]

Is a guy hitting .371 with 8 homers and 20 RBI in the last 20 games afraid of the ball? Or is it the guy hitting .163 with 0 homers and 3 RBI in the last 20 games?

Take a guess who is who.

[JS19]

Being from NY and having plenty of friends who are Yankees fans, I have never understood their problem with A-Rod.

[PackerFanatic]

I knew A-Rod when he was in the minors, loved him then.

[ISiddiqui]

Being from NY and having plenty of friends who are Yankees fans, I have never understood their problem with A-Rod.

Ditto. They invariably say "He chokes when it matters" as in he's been in enough postseason games to make a proper evaluation on that count. It's all perception.

[Maple Leafs]

A-Rod should keep his mouth shut, play out the season, then tell the Yankees to go chew themselves in the off-season. This is getting ridiculous.

And Yankee fans are just embarassing themselves here. He's a great player who makes too much money. And the fact that he makes too much money is the only reason he's on the team. So now Yankee fans are suddenly all value-conscious? That's almost as bad as the Red Sox fans acting like small-budget underdogs all the time.

[MalcPow]

His "slapping" the ball out while running down the first baseline in the 2004 ALCS was probably the signature lame play of the greatest collapse in baseball history. I think that's where the perception comes from. He looked whiny and pathetic in a huge game, and Yankees fans are spoiled by Jeter/by being Yankees fans.

[TroyF]

His "slapping" the ball out while running down the first baseline in the 2004 ALCS was probably the signature lame play of the greatest collapse in baseball history. I think that's where the perception comes from. He looked whiny and pathetic in a huge game, and Yankees fans are spoiled by Jeter/by being Yankees fans.

I agree with this. I think that one play changed the perception of ARod for a lot of people, especially Yankee/Red Sox fans. The thought is that "true Yankees" don't act like that.

The amazing thing to me is the none of the "true Yankees" have ever really bothered defending ARod when things go wrong. They leave him out in the open, are unsupportive and sometimes seem to act like a HS girls locker room than a professional baseball team.

Giambi criticizing Arod for ANYTHING is ridiculous.

Did that play cause me to lose some respect for ARod? Yeah, it did. I think it was classless on a lot of levels, especially his continued whining to the umpire when he got his hand caught in the cookie jar. With that said, I'll take him on my team anyday of the week. He's a class act with the media, puts up MVP numbers every year, is durable. . . Yankee fans could cheer for a lot less than this guy.

[cschex]

Yankee fans could cheer for a lot less than this guy.

They do. See Giambi, Jason, an admitted steroid user.

[Maple Leafs]

They do. See Giambi, Jason, an admitted steroid user.
Of Sheffield, the other steroid user. Or Damon, who wrote a book where we bragged about cheating on his wife while she was looking after their infants.

But A-Rod? He's not a "real" Yankee.

[WSUCougar]

All else aside, I think some players are just not suited to the New York sports market. And I don't mean that in a bad way...hell, I know I wouldn't be suited to it. But A-Rod doesn't come across like a larger-than-life hero figure. His stats and his contract do, but he seems more like a mellow guy with superhero talent. Honestly, he might be better suited to LA.

[Ksyrup]

That article about A-Rod a few weeks back on ESPN.com nailed it - he's too sensitive, he takes things to heart, he's too ready to please people, to be what they want - to ever be the kind of sports figure his talent and his numbers suggest. And playing in NY only makes it worse.

On the field, he suffers because he doesn't just hear the criticisms, he listens to them. And off the field, his actions and comments seem too carefully-crafted, like he's a politician with a team of people telling him how to dress and what to say to make the biggest positive impact on the fans. And when you're as out in the open as he is - great player, huge contract, playing for the Yankees - the scrutiny of it all magnifies 1000%.

[WSUCougar]

Yup.

That being said, I don't have much sympathy for the guy. I don't hate him, but he left the Mariners to chase the big dollars, and now he's got them. Reap the whirlwind, PayRod.

[MikeVic]

Honestly, he might be better suited to LA.

Maybe take a paycut and go to St.Louis. :p

[TroyF]

That article about A-Rod a few weeks back on ESPN.com nailed it - he's too sensitive, he takes things to heart, he's too ready to please people, to be what they want - to ever be the kind of sports figure his talent and his numbers suggest. And playing in NY only makes it worse.

On the field, he suffers because he doesn't just hear the criticisms, he listens to them. And off the field, his actions and comments seem too carefully-crafted, like he's a politician with a team of people telling him how to dress and what to say to make the biggest positive impact on the fans. And when you're as out in the open as he is - great player, huge contract, playing for the Yankees - the scrutiny of it all magnifies 1000%.

But I'm not even sure that's all that fair to be honest. He's to sensitive? Does it impact his play? Sure, he went though a slump earlier in the year and had some throwing problems. Still, he's one of the best players in the league and his numbers show it.

That said, if ARod just came out and flipped off the NY media, had an affair with some tabloid princess and blew some coke up his nose, NY fans would probably start to like him.

[Ksyrup]

But I'm not even sure that's all that fair to be honest. He's to sensitive? Does it impact his play? Sure, he went though a slump earlier in the year and had some throwing problems. Still, he's one of the best players in the league and his numbers show it.

He's still one of the best players in the league because he's got that much talent. That doesn't mean his play isn't affected by his sensitivity. I have no doubt that the throwing problem and the strikeout issue he was having earlier in the season were both caused by him trying too hard - hearing the boos, letting a few errors get into his head, thinking instead of just reacting. I think A-Rod is probably one of the most emotionally and mentally fragile "superstars" we've ever seen.

[WSUCougar]

Maybe take a paycut and go to St.Louis. :p
We'll ship Izzy out for him, straight up. And we'll throw in Jason Marquis, he's a feisty New Yorker.

[Logan]

We'll ship Izzy out for him, straight up. And we'll throw in Jason Marquis, he's a feisty New Yorker.

Ugh. Staten Island doesn't count. :)

[Logan]

My favorite part of the whole article was how the Boston people were completely freaked out when they showed up at A-Rod's hotel room at 1am and he was decked out in suit and tie.

[Buccaneer]

seem to act like a HS girls locker room than a professional baseball team

Troy, is there something we don't know about you?

[rexallllsc]

My favorite part of the whole article was how the Boston people were completely freaked out when they showed up at A-Rod's hotel room at 1am and he was decked out in suit and tie.

That should've made them happy that the guy wanted to impress them. Or maybe they just wanted another Manny, man.

[sterlingice]

A-Rod should keep his mouth shut, play out the season, then tell the Yankees to go chew themselves in the off-season. This is getting ridiculous.

And Yankee fans are just embarassing themselves here. He's a great player who makes too much money. And the fact that he makes too much money is the only reason he's on the team. So now Yankee fans are suddenly all value-conscious? That's almost as bad as the Red Sox fans acting like small-budget underdogs all the time.

I agree with this. I think that one play changed the perception of ARod for a lot of people, especially Yankee/Red Sox fans. The thought is that "true Yankees" don't act like that.

The amazing thing to me is the none of the "true Yankees" have ever really bothered defending ARod when things go wrong. They leave him out in the open, are unsupportive and sometimes seem to act like a HS girls locker room than a professional baseball team.

Giambi criticizing Arod for ANYTHING is ridiculous.

Did that play cause me to lose some respect for ARod? Yeah, it did. I think it was classless on a lot of levels, especially his continued whining to the umpire when he got his hand caught in the cookie jar. With that said, I'll take him on my team anyday of the week. He's a class act with the media, puts up MVP numbers every year, is durable. . . Yankee fans could cheer for a lot less than this guy.

I know I'm a couple of days late to the party but these two posts are dead on. I still don't get the New Yorkers v ARod thing.

SI

[MalcPow]

Bumping this one because I was at the Yankees game last night (where they absolutely unloaded on the O's, their lineup is ridiculous) and the whole A-Rod thing is really pretty funny. I think the problem is that New Yorkers know he's sensitive, and there's a sort of third grade mentality with every group needing that person to make fun of, even if everyone understands there's a real cruelty beneath the surface that isn't openly admitted. There's also something to the fact that A-Rod is just kind of a cheesey guy, and his "sensitivity" can really be read as a self-absorption that, although not manifested in an arrogant pompous way, does come out in ways that make you want to roll your eyes and groan.

Best example of this last night was in the bottom of the 5th, with the Yankees up 13-2, two outs, nobody on, A-Rod comes up and hits a chopper through the box that finds its way into centerfield for a single. So he gets down to first, takes the turn, starts walking back to the bag, and he's clapping his hands, sort of shaking a low fist, and grinning (with some amount of relief on his face) like he just drove in two in a tie game. There was nothing asshole about it, but it was somewhat surreal in its douchedom. His at bat was previewed by the obligatory "Here's your chance to come through in the clutch!" guy a few rows behind us, so maybe we were all looking a little more closely for some material but still, it was pretty comical. The moral I guess being that, even in a game where everyone is hitting homers, the result is beyond doubt, the team is loose and enjoying themselves, and Torre's rotating youngsters in, A-Rod was still capable of being really relieved/excited, and showing it, after a meaningless and small individual feat. He's just a little off is all, and I think it really annoys some people, kind of like how jbmagic really annoys some people here.

And another side note I found fascinating, I sort of took it for granted without checking the stats, but I did last night and Giambi might be having a better year than A-Rod...

_______G --AB --R -H 2B 3B HR RBI BB -SO SB Avg. OBP Slg. OPS
Giambi ---136 441 92 112 24 0 37 113 108 104 2 .254 .413 .560 .973
Rodriguez 152 566 111 162 25 1 34 118 90 139 15 .286 .389 .514 .903

[Desnudo]

I think you just summarized my feelings. Nothing precisely wrong, but everything about his personality is just a little off.

[JasonC23]

Hey, now, Giambi can say whatever he wants because he's a true Yankee who came up through the system, won a lot of rings, and was certainly not a mercenary-for-hire like A-Rod.

Wait a minute...

Giambi, shut the hell up!

[Maple Leafs]

I finally got around to reading that SI article from last week...

Even though the entire article seems to be trying to make A-Rod look like a dink, in the end Giambi comes across like a complete tool, and the Yankees clubhouse in general sounds like the cool kids table in a high school cafetiria, with Jeter as the too-cool-for-school prom queen.

[Ksyrup]

I don't think that was the point of the article, but I agree he came out smelling less like crap than the rest of his teammates.

[TroyF]

I finally got around to reading that SI article from last week...

Even though the entire article seems to be trying to make A-Rod look like a dink, in the end Giambi comes across like a complete tool, and the Yankees clubhouse in general sounds like the cool kids table in a high school cafetiria, with Jeter as the too-cool-for-school prom queen.


Yeah, I read the article this week and could only laugh. It's every bit as stupid as what the press snippets make it out to be. A bunch of idiots sniping for reasons I can't quite figure out.

I love it. ARod is to sensitive and can't play because he's busy trying to please everyone, so the fix for it is to try to heap more pressure on him from the people who should be supporting him the most and that'll allow him to ease up and be the player in the clutch we all know he can be.

Sure, I get it. Not to mention the steroid user calling someone out saying he isn't tough enough. Yeah, Jason, maybe he should follow your sparkling example and dope himself up so he can make sure he's not a failure. You are the kind of role model and classic human being who everyone should strive to be. YOU are a true Yankee.

Asshat.

[Coffee Warlord]

The Cubs will take him.

[russiaboss]

If i was a Yankee fan i wouldn't boo Alex I would boo every pitch Randy Johnson throws.