Buccaneer
09-23-2006, 10:54 AM
Just in time for the playoffs, Alex Rodriguez needlessly has heaped another mountain of pressure on himself.
Just in time for prime time national television, A-Rod has ensured that the October microscope will beam even brighter on him now than it ever has.
The latest is included in Tom Verducci's marvelous Sports Illustrated cover story this week, entitled "The Lonely Yankee: After a Bewildering Summer in Pinstripes, Alex Rodriguez Has to Prove Himself in Pinstripes."
It is an even-handed and fair look at Rodriguez's turbulent season and inexplicable slumps (both offensive and defensive). In the piece, Verducci works at identifying the cause of Rodriguez's bewildering inconsistency this summer, and the trail leads exactly where you might suspect: Directly into Rodriguez's fatal flaw, his epic insecurity.
Speaking of some of his high-priced teammates, Rodriguez tells SI: "(Mike) Mussina doesn't get hammered at all. He's making a boatload of money. Giambi's making ($20.4 million), which is fine and dandy, but it seems those guys get a pass. When people write (bad things) about me, I don't know if it's (because) I'm good-looking, I'm bi-racial, I make the most money, I play on the most popular team ..."
Aside from the sheer absurdity of those words, which would sound juvenile enough in a junior-high gymnasium, is this: Derek Jeter qualifies for three of those categories -- good-looking, bi-racial, plays on the most popular team -- and, though he doesn't make the most money, he makes enough ($21 million) to get people's attention. Not to mention the fact that he makes more than every Yankee not named A-Rod.
So what's Rodriguez's explanation for his one-time friend not getting raspberries from the crowd?
Meanwhile, instead of simply shrugging his shoulders, making a corny self-deprecating joke or giving a heartfelt self-analysis -- anything -- on the subject of his slumps this summer (in 80 games between June 1 and Aug. 30, Rodriguez hit only .257 with 81 strikeouts and 13 errors), Rodriguez crafted a response in which he seems to avoid responsibility for his own actions.
And in the process, he throws a couple of teammates and a Yankees legend under the bus.
"Reggie (Jackson) hit .230 one year," Rodriguez tells the magazine. "That's awful. He struck out 170-something times in a year. I don't care who you are, extremes are just part of the game. I was awful (in Anaheim during last fall's playoffs, when he went 2-for-15), but Jeter was 0-for-32 (in 2004), Mo (Rivera, Yankees closer) blew three games in one week (last year). ... Everybody goes through it."
I was awful, but. ...
Exactly how a brain can short-circuit to this extent, probably nobody can explain -- least of all the man talking. First off, how many players go around keeping a mental file on his teammates' negative statistics?
And for those who do, how many would clumsily speak of them in such a public forum? He also seems to take delight in pointing out that Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez is struggling badly this year ("He's got 16 home runs, 43 ribbies?") yet continues to be cheered in Oakland.
Perhaps someone should tell A-Rod that Chavez probably should have spent half the season on the disabled list with forearm tendinitis yet has played through it even at the expense of his own numbers because he can help his team in other ways.
For a seemingly smart guy, A-Rod leads the league in saying dumb things.
This is exactly the kind of petty stuff that rarely went on inside the vaunted Yankees' clubhouse before A-Rod's arrival. It is the stuff that Joe Torre has managed so well to keep at arm's length during his time in New York.
Torre has spent most of his days in the pilot's chair selling the team before the individual, and part of the magic of Torre is that he almost always has gotten whatever highly talented group he was charged with in a particular year to buy into it.
Rodriguez, once again, completely comes across as a guy obsessed with his own numbers when all he has to do is look at Jeter to realize that the only thing that matters in New York is winning. After that, everything else takes care of itself.
People who have known Rodriguez well for years have told me time and time again that the root of his problems is his patented insecurity. After so many years, it is HDTV clear to anybody who simply pays attention to the man for any length of time.
The incredible thing is that, all of these years later, it seems to be getting worse instead of better.
.
Just in time for prime time national television, A-Rod has ensured that the October microscope will beam even brighter on him now than it ever has.
The latest is included in Tom Verducci's marvelous Sports Illustrated cover story this week, entitled "The Lonely Yankee: After a Bewildering Summer in Pinstripes, Alex Rodriguez Has to Prove Himself in Pinstripes."
It is an even-handed and fair look at Rodriguez's turbulent season and inexplicable slumps (both offensive and defensive). In the piece, Verducci works at identifying the cause of Rodriguez's bewildering inconsistency this summer, and the trail leads exactly where you might suspect: Directly into Rodriguez's fatal flaw, his epic insecurity.
Speaking of some of his high-priced teammates, Rodriguez tells SI: "(Mike) Mussina doesn't get hammered at all. He's making a boatload of money. Giambi's making ($20.4 million), which is fine and dandy, but it seems those guys get a pass. When people write (bad things) about me, I don't know if it's (because) I'm good-looking, I'm bi-racial, I make the most money, I play on the most popular team ..."
Aside from the sheer absurdity of those words, which would sound juvenile enough in a junior-high gymnasium, is this: Derek Jeter qualifies for three of those categories -- good-looking, bi-racial, plays on the most popular team -- and, though he doesn't make the most money, he makes enough ($21 million) to get people's attention. Not to mention the fact that he makes more than every Yankee not named A-Rod.
So what's Rodriguez's explanation for his one-time friend not getting raspberries from the crowd?
Meanwhile, instead of simply shrugging his shoulders, making a corny self-deprecating joke or giving a heartfelt self-analysis -- anything -- on the subject of his slumps this summer (in 80 games between June 1 and Aug. 30, Rodriguez hit only .257 with 81 strikeouts and 13 errors), Rodriguez crafted a response in which he seems to avoid responsibility for his own actions.
And in the process, he throws a couple of teammates and a Yankees legend under the bus.
"Reggie (Jackson) hit .230 one year," Rodriguez tells the magazine. "That's awful. He struck out 170-something times in a year. I don't care who you are, extremes are just part of the game. I was awful (in Anaheim during last fall's playoffs, when he went 2-for-15), but Jeter was 0-for-32 (in 2004), Mo (Rivera, Yankees closer) blew three games in one week (last year). ... Everybody goes through it."
I was awful, but. ...
Exactly how a brain can short-circuit to this extent, probably nobody can explain -- least of all the man talking. First off, how many players go around keeping a mental file on his teammates' negative statistics?
And for those who do, how many would clumsily speak of them in such a public forum? He also seems to take delight in pointing out that Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez is struggling badly this year ("He's got 16 home runs, 43 ribbies?") yet continues to be cheered in Oakland.
Perhaps someone should tell A-Rod that Chavez probably should have spent half the season on the disabled list with forearm tendinitis yet has played through it even at the expense of his own numbers because he can help his team in other ways.
For a seemingly smart guy, A-Rod leads the league in saying dumb things.
This is exactly the kind of petty stuff that rarely went on inside the vaunted Yankees' clubhouse before A-Rod's arrival. It is the stuff that Joe Torre has managed so well to keep at arm's length during his time in New York.
Torre has spent most of his days in the pilot's chair selling the team before the individual, and part of the magic of Torre is that he almost always has gotten whatever highly talented group he was charged with in a particular year to buy into it.
Rodriguez, once again, completely comes across as a guy obsessed with his own numbers when all he has to do is look at Jeter to realize that the only thing that matters in New York is winning. After that, everything else takes care of itself.
People who have known Rodriguez well for years have told me time and time again that the root of his problems is his patented insecurity. After so many years, it is HDTV clear to anybody who simply pays attention to the man for any length of time.
The incredible thing is that, all of these years later, it seems to be getting worse instead of better.
.