The A-Rod Apologete (Vol. III)

I apologize that my final installment of The A-Rod Apologete is about as timely as the Vatican's admission of the heliocentric nature of the solar system. I have deliberately avoided completing this series for over a month, as presenting the statistical analysis debunking the myth that Rodriguez can't get the job done in the playoffs is by far the most tedious chore of my defense. It is far easier, and more fun, taking pot shots at the common fan.

In his 53 postseason at bats prior to joining the Yankees, A-Rod batted .340, with 3 doubles and 3 HRs. He was good for a .375 OBP/.566 SLG/.941 OPS. His career regular season OPS is .962, which places him among the handful of greatest players in the history of the sport. The difference between .941 and .962 is
a) completely statistically irrelevant based on the number of at bats and
b) less than one would expect given that
1) teams with bad pitching rarely make the playoffs
2) 5th starters never pitch in the playoffs
3) the ass-end of bullpens rarely see the light of day in the postseason

By now, you should be convinced that Rodriguez was an excellent postseason hitter, before becoming a member of the Yankees. But what of his playoff performance in New York?

Alex Rodriguez's was phenomenal in his first Yankees playoff series. In the 2004 ALDS against the Twins, Rodriguez went 8 for 19, with 3 doubles and a home run. For those sabermetrically inclined, he put up a .476 OBP/.737 SLG/1.213 OPS.

"Surely he compiled these numbers in the midst of blowouts, right?"
Not at all, straw man. Allow me to walk you through it.

After losing Game 1, the Yankees were in nearly a must win situation in Game 2. They could not afford to go down 2-0 in a best of 5 series. Alex Rodriguez broke a 3-3 tie in the 5th inning with a home run. He then singled in a run in the 7th to extend the lead to 5-3. The resilient Twins rallied back to tie the game up in the 8th inning. The game remained knotted at 5-5 until the 12th inning, when Rodriguez came up with runners on first and second. He proceded to blast a game-winning ground-rule double into the gap.

A-Rod's Game 2 Numbers: 4 for 6, a double, a HR, 2 Rs, 3 RBI. He was the only player on the team with more than one hit. He put the Yankees ahead twice, including the game winning hit in the 12th inning. Certifiably clutch performance.

Up 2-1, going into Game 4, the Yankees needed a win in order to avoid playing a deciding Game 5 in Minnesota. In the 9th inning of a 5-5 tie, Alex Rodriguez led off the inning with a double. That his teammates couldn't drive him home does not make this hit any less clutch.
Still tied in the 11th, A-Rod ripped a one out double. He then stole third base. He then scored on a wild pitch. So he single-handedly scored the winning run of Game 5. Unquestionably, Alex Rodriguez was the MVP of the 2004 ALDS, saving his best games for the two hard-fought extra-inning affairs.

"Yeah, but he sucked in the next series against the Red Sox!"
Straw man, you are making this far to easy.

The Yankees started off the 2004 ALCS up 3-0, due in no small part to the fact that A-Rod went 6 for 14 with 2 doubles, a HR, 7 runs, and 3 RBI! Then in Game 4, A-Rod hit a 2-run homer to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the game that could easily have been the game that clinched the series for them.

So at this point in his career, Alex Rodriguez had had 88 postseason at bats. All he had done was hit .375, with a .414 OBP/.670 SLG/1.084 OPS. Those numbers are slightly better than Lou f'n Gehrig's career regular season OPS of 1.079. Not too shabby.

"Fine, but he choked in Games 4 through 7".
Straw man, you clearly have shit for brains!

First, like I already said, Rodriguez hit a go-ahead homer in Game 4. Granted, he went 0 for 3 after that at bat, but he still did his part that day.

The next day, A-Rod went 0 for 4 with 2 walks. While obviously not a great performance, Game 5 was only a big game IN HINDSIGHT. The Yankees were up 3-1 in the series, with homefield awaiting in Game 6 and 7. They were still playing with the house's money at this point. You can't decide which at bats are clutch ex post facto. If nobody thought those plate appearances were crucial at the time, it's hard to make the case that Rodriguez crumbled under the pressure.

Rodriguez then went 1 for 4 in Game 6, which while not great, seems highly forgiveable, given his track record to that point. Finally A-Rod went 0 for 4 in Game 7. Not good. But what if you found out the Red Sox won 10-3 and were leading 6-0, by Rodriguez's second at bat. Had he hit 4 home runs, they still would have lost the game. In fact, if he hit a solo homer and a 2 run dinger in said game, they would probably remembered as "more meaningless A-Rod home runs".

This is where he first develops his reputation as a choke artist? In a post season in which he bats .320, with 3 HRs, 11 Rs, 8 RBI in 11 games. Absolutely ridiculous!

I can't defend the 3 for 29, Rodriguez has put up in the past two post seasons. But these things happen, even to great players. He has shown that he is capable of being brilliant in the playoffs before and he will again. Perhaps the only thing stopping him is the utter lack of support from his home fans. After hitting like Paste in Bases Loaded for 8 playoffs games, A-Rod was treated like a bumbling Fredo figure, dropping the revolver and letting the Yankees' World Series hopes get shot to shit in the last three. He must feel that he has to be super-human to please Yankees' fans. That can't be a good thing to have in your head, as you step to the plate in a big spot.

(Check www.baseballreference.com to verify all stats)

The A-Rod Apologete Vol. II (Profile of the A-Rod Hater)

In Vol. II of The A-Rod Apologete, I will create a profile of the A-Rod hating Yankees fan. Who are these people and why do they detest him so?

The A-Rod hater is a crushing failure in life. Since he is so unsuccessful in his own life, he relies on Yankees' achievements to provide him with a sense of fulfillment. The Yankees have set the bar so high that anything short of a World Series Championship is unsatisfactory. When they do not win championships, the A-Rod Hater is unable to ever experience even a sense of vicarious accomplishment in his life. Rather than confront the inadequacies in his own life, he looks for a scapegoat. Enter A-Rod.

So we have established that the A-Rod Hater is searching for a scapegoat. But why must it be Rodriguez in particular? Some would argue that his postseason failures have been a microcosm of the Yankees recent postseason play. I'll admit that this is a factor. However, there is something far deeper going on. I believe Rodriguez is a constant reminder of the A-Rod Hater's own insignificance. He is a world-class athlete, is as handsome as the day is long, and seems to be a fairly intelligent guy. In sum, he is nearly perfect male specimen. (I swear that I'm straight).

While the A-Rod Hater languished on the bench of his JV baseball team, his neighbor (the A-Rod type) who was a year younger than him was a 3-sport superstar on the varsity level. Rodriguez represents the guy, that was boning the babe, that the A-Rod Hater was secretly, madly in love with throughout high school. The "4" that the A-Rod Hater eventually decided to settle for, closed her eyes and thought of a Rodriguez-type, as he awkwardly diddled about in her unkempt pubis. Since his life has not improved much from those tortured adolescent years, those old frustrations still manifest themselves in A-Rod hatred to this day.

Before you label me a snob, let me make one point clear. I know these failures. I am these failures. The only difference between the A-Rod Hater and me is that I have the ability to look myself in the mirror and place the responsibility for my lot in life on whom it belongs; My parents.

Expect Part III of The A-Rod Apologete to be posted some time this weekend. It will feature statistical analysis that will debunk the myth that A-Rod is not a good clutch/postseason hitter. Then I will try to rehabilitate my faltering reputation as a heterosexual, by writing an article that doesn't involve defending the honor of a dashing, athletic, multi-millionaire.

The A-Rod Apologete (Vol. I)

As a Yankees fan and a pathological contrarian, Alex Rodriguez has become an obsession for me. That he is inarguably one of the 3 greatest baseball players that I've ever seen, and yet so reviled by the majority of my fellow fans, ensures that I routinely get the opportunity to pick arguments, win them, and feel superior for one moment, in an otherwise lousy existence. What more could a fella want out of life?

Had Mookie been inspired to start this blog a week ago, this article might have been seen as prophetic by the 10 people that are likely to read it. My "I told you so"s would have had that much more sting. I guess you will just have to take my word that I have been predicting a monster regular season from Rodriguez (the bum ONLY put up a .290/35/121 line last year) and a big postseason this year (he has been admittedly awful in his past 12 postseason games). As I write this, he just hit his 6th HR and raised his RBI total to 15. And it's only the seventh f'n game of the season! Since I'm about as gracious in victory as the Patriots were in the playoff game in San Diego, I plan on rubbing A-Rod's numbers in your face as often as possible this year.

For a couple of years, I have been lecturing anyone willing to listen about how unfairly A-Rod has been treated, by fans and media alike. He seems to be in a no-win situation in New York. When he hits a walk-off grand slam, with 2 outs in the 9th, he is featured on the back pages with the headline "Mr. April". If he had struck out in that spot, the same people would have used it as yet another example of how he can't get a hit in the clutch. You can't have it both ways. Either regular season games don't matter, in which case I don't want to hear another negative word about Rodriguez until October, or they do matter and you have to acknowledge that his walk-off was a huge hit.

Why do people bend over backwards to criticize A-Rod, even in his greatest moments? For many reasons, he taps into the ugliest emotions in many men. In short, Rodriguez reminds them of everything that they are not. I will further address this phenomenon in Volume II of The A-Rod Apologete, within the next 48 hours. Unless, of course, Don Imus decides to give another fairly accurate physical description of an otherwise fairly irrelevant sports team. Then I'm definitely writing about that!