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A-Rod
Apr 18, 2007 22:00:12 GMT -5
Post by philinla on Apr 18, 2007 22:00:12 GMT -5
I think ARod has passed Manny on the all time homer list this week.
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A-Rod
Apr 18, 2007 22:02:05 GMT -5
Post by sinctybldh on Apr 18, 2007 22:02:05 GMT -5
yeah he is ahead of Manny. Just behind Thome and Musial now.
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A-Rod
Apr 18, 2007 22:14:56 GMT -5
Post by philinla on Apr 18, 2007 22:14:56 GMT -5
He started the season 7 behind Manny.
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A-Rod
Apr 19, 2007 15:52:08 GMT -5
Post by HomerSimpson on Apr 19, 2007 15:52:08 GMT -5
What can you say? Two walkoffs in the stadium in two weeks? A hit in every game so far? 10 HR's in 13 games?
Fuck...
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A-Rod
Apr 19, 2007 16:09:05 GMT -5
Post by daveinbayonne on Apr 19, 2007 16:09:05 GMT -5
Un f'n believable!!!
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chaka
Junior Member
Posts: 60
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A-Rod
Apr 21, 2007 11:19:47 GMT -5
Post by chaka on Apr 21, 2007 11:19:47 GMT -5
arod ops YTD 1.479 Barry Bonds age 39 season opas 1.421
bonds did this for the entire season.
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A-Rod
Apr 21, 2007 11:30:23 GMT -5
Post by philinla on Apr 21, 2007 11:30:23 GMT -5
but ARod's trying it clean.
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A-Rod
Apr 21, 2007 11:39:50 GMT -5
Post by sinctybldh on Apr 21, 2007 11:39:50 GMT -5
another amazing stat. arod has 23 hits. 5 are singles, 6 doubles and 12 home runs. he has 18 extra base hits as opposed to 5 singles.
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A-Rod
Apr 21, 2007 12:10:41 GMT -5
Post by pemoco on Apr 21, 2007 12:10:41 GMT -5
The night A-Rod became a Yankee On Baseball , Rob Bradford Salem News
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"We don't want him to hit homers. If I have my druthers, he won't get hits. He's about the best hitter in baseball right now. Saying that, if you walk him, the guy on deck is going to hurt you. At some point, you have to get people out, whether they're hot, not hot, or in between."
- Red Sox manager Terry Francona before last night's game on facing Alex Rodriguez
BOSTON - What should we make of this scene?
It was Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees at Fenway Park. The air was thick with anticipation. Johnny Damon got booed in his first trip to the plate. All of which were commonplace for this type of event, no matter the day, month or year.
So what was different? Two words: Alex Rodriguez.
A smattering of interesting intricacies took place last night before the Sox mounted a shocking, five-run rally in the eighth against New York closer Mariano Rivera to pull out a thrilling 7-6 victory.
First, Jason Varitek hit two-run homer to tie the game at 2-2, becoming just the third Red Sox to go deep against Yankees starter Andy Pettitte at Fenway Park. In the pitcher's previous 531/3 innings in Boston, only Jose Canseco and David Ortiz had accomplished the feat.
J.D. Drew was caught stealing in his first attempt as a member of the Red Sox. It wasn't even close.
New York catcher Jorge Posada was hurt simply catching a Pettitte pitch. He was diagnosed with a bruised thumb.
And the home team did bust out its green uniforms in honor of Red Auerbach. The Sox also added a one-time-only black "VT" in honor of the victims at Virginia Tech.
But it was Rodriguez who made this night unique, a habit he has mastered through his team's first 15 games.
For the 46th time in his career, the Yankees third baseman put on a multiple home run showcase, this time coming in the form of a solo job over the left-field wall and a three-run, Boston back-breaker into the home team's bullpen.
The highest paid player in major league history became the first player in major league history to notch 12 home runs in a season's initial 15 games. In other words, Rodriguez is somehow actually earning his money.
The prevailing opinion entering the three-game set between the teams was that Boston could afford some sense of bravado considering it was sending out three starters - Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka - who were all among the best in the business thus far this season.
And on most nights, Schilling wouldn't have disappointed in fulfilling the local fans' prophecy. The Sox starter went seven innings, allowing eight hits, while striking out five and walking one. His first mistake was allowing back-to-back, third-inning singles to Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera, which ultimately led to an RBI ground out by Damon.
His second, and last, miscue? Giving Rodriguez a pitch to hit.
It wasn't as if Rodriguez hadn't had success in Fenway Park in his previous 70 games in Boston. He had accumulated a .278 batting average to go with 16 home runs. But since becoming a Yankee, the average had stood at an unspectacular .257 in 19 appearances, to go along with a constant chorus of jeers and subsequent cheers upon any kind of failure.
Last night presented a far different image.
Schilling initially presented the game's hottest hitter with a different look in Rodriguez's first at-bat, throwing him three 73 mph curveballs before inducing a fly out to center field on a 93 mph heater.
From then on, there was no fooling Rodriguez.
After giving New York a 2-0 lead by depositing Schilling's second pitch of the fourth inning at-bat into the Green Monster seats, Rodriguez supplied his own shock and awe in the fifth. The Yankees' cleanup man rocketed the Schilling's fourth offering the opposite way, just over the glove of Boston Coco Crisp, who would tumble backward over the wall into his own team's bullpen.
Take away Rodriguez, and Schilling might have his third straight win. Luckily for the Boston ace, Rivera bailed him out with his eighth-inning meltdown, giving up five runs highlighted by a two-run triple by Crisp.
Just goes to show you, A-Rod can't do it alone. But Joe Torre must be wondering if he can pitch.
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
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chaka
Junior Member
Posts: 60
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A-Rod
Apr 21, 2007 13:55:38 GMT -5
Post by chaka on Apr 21, 2007 13:55:38 GMT -5
but ARod's trying it clean. i know . . . really puts that season in perspective though wow
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A-Rod
Apr 21, 2007 21:40:15 GMT -5
Post by jumbo on Apr 21, 2007 21:40:15 GMT -5
April 22, 2007 Sports of The Times All Those Who Wanted A-Rod Gone, Raise Your Hand By GEORGE VECSEY BOSTON
The moral to the story is, don’t make rash judgments. It was only six months ago that Joe Torre batted Alex Rodriguez in the embarrassing eighth spot in the lineup during the final game in Detroit.
Some fans and sportswriters (let us not name names) were screaming that maybe it was time for Torre to go, or Rodriguez, or even both, since obviously something wasn’t working out with this expensive talent.
Now Rodriguez is on a tear that could match any one season that Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris or Jackson ever had. Maybe he will even do Major League Baseball a huge favor by taking attention away from Barry Bonds.
A-Rod did not hit anything out yesterday as the Red Sox beat the Yankees, 7-5 , in sun-drenched Fenway Park, but he did drive in his 31st run and had a single and double, after his two home runs Friday gave him 12 for the season.
“I may have seen a player this hot,” Torre said earlier, “but never with this ability.”
Rodriguez is not some fluke, some Shane Spencer or Hurricane Hazle just arrived from the bushes, having a hot week. This is a great player, living up to his potential
At the same time, the suddenly relaxed A-Rod is adding some joy and excitement to accompany Balco Barry’s inexorable drive toward Hank Aaron’s career-record 755 homers. To his credit, Bonds, is not dragging out his chase. Three months short of 43 years old, he whacked his fifth home run yesterday, giving him 739 for his career.
•
But what if A-Rod gets there first? After all, he does have 476 home runs, heading toward 500 by July 4, doing what people have expected of him. When A-Rod came up with Seattle in 1994, just turned 18, his teammate, Ken Griffey Jr., was the viable (and popular) choice to catch Aaron.
However, injuries slowed down Junior. And something or other got into Bonds in athletic middle age, turning him into one of the great home run sluggers, not merely the superb all-around player he had been. Now here comes A-Rod, having already won two games with home runs after his abject failure last October, when he had one weak hit in 14 at-bats.
When reporters, none too subtly, suggested that Rodriguez was permanently damaged after Torre had batted him eighth, Brian Cashman, the owlish-looking general manager, stood in the silent corridor outside the stunned Yankees clubhouse in Detroit and insisted that Rodriguez was going nowhere, and if Cashman had anything to say about it, neither was Torre.
Nothing much changed with the Yankees. The portion of the faithful that wants Don Mattingly to manage as soon as possible is currently upset at Torre for using Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning Friday night as the Red Sox caught the Yankees, 7-6. But if Torre can be blamed for managing decisions that go wrong, does he get any credit for the spurt by A-Rod?
Asked yesterday if he thought he had lost Rodriguez that grim day in Detroit, Torre said, “I never thought it would have an effect on him adversely.”
Torre added that he and Rodriguez discussed the move when the Yankees’ flight landed in New York last October, and that they hugged before parting. The bluster to move A-Rod now seems like knee-jerk punditry, if not temporary insanity. Whatever Rodriguez did for himself in the off-season — and it was clearly more than his normally obsessive physical workout — he has come back with a new nuts-to-everybody attitude, not that he would say so.
Did Torre ever give Rodriguez any advice on how to loosen up? “I said to him, ‘Take what comes,’ ” Torre said. “He gets in his own way sometimes. But I sensed in spring training that he was having more fun.
“His approach is so much softer,” Torre said. “A year ago, you didn’t see the fluidity.”
During his career, Rodriguez seems to have tried too hard to please everybody, stemming from a need to be loved. In February, he showed up for camp and started blabbing about his cooled-off friendship with Derek Jeter, and a lot of people wondered when A-Rod would give up this touchy-feely stuff. Still, that admission may have been cathartic, helping him adopt some personal mantra, some psychological stance, that put him on a tear.
Does Torre have any theory why Rodriguez is so comfortable this year?
“No — and don’t ask him,” Torre commanded with a smile.
Naturally, we do ask him, on the hour. But he’s not giving much away. And that’s a good sign.
The Red Sox fans roasted A-Rod on his return to Fenway, as they have since he joined the Yanks in 2004. Of course, if Rodriguez should take advantage of the opening in his contract — his price probably went up a few more million this weekend — the Sox’ fans would instantly adore him for his good taste in moving to Fenway.
•
Yankees fans, note that until Rodriguez has a really good October, none of this matters. He left Seattle for Texas, saying it really wasn’t about the money, but of course it was. He came to Yankee Stadium for a championship. If he had left after last October, he would have been a failure, and he knew it.
What if this dedicated athlete catches Ruth and Maris, then chases down Sosa and McGwire? What if this quite decent human, with no trace of scandal to his name, roars right past Bonds’s six-year-old record of 73 home runs in a season? He couldn’t pick a better year for it.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
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A-Rod
Apr 23, 2007 21:46:25 GMT -5
Post by HomerSimpson on Apr 23, 2007 21:46:25 GMT -5
His SLG is 1.053 His OPS is over 1.500
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A-Rod
Apr 23, 2007 21:55:40 GMT -5
Post by philinla on Apr 23, 2007 21:55:40 GMT -5
This is the best player I've ever seen.
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A-Rod
Apr 23, 2007 22:22:06 GMT -5
Post by philinla on Apr 23, 2007 22:22:06 GMT -5
These Hawk Dawson team results have to stop. Gotta start winning for the MVP.
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A-Rod
Apr 23, 2007 22:45:02 GMT -5
Post by daveinbayonne on Apr 23, 2007 22:45:02 GMT -5
ARod leads the league in HRs, RBIS, runs scored, OPS, SLG. Unreal.
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A-Rod
Apr 24, 2007 19:13:45 GMT -5
Post by philinla on Apr 24, 2007 19:13:45 GMT -5
Before the Game tonight ARod told the media he is staying in New York.
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A-Rod
Apr 24, 2007 21:29:53 GMT -5
Post by jumbo on Apr 24, 2007 21:29:53 GMT -5
Before the Game tonight ARod told the media he is staying in New York. A-Rod wants to stay in N.Y., ‘no matter what’ Slugger says he has no plans to opt of out current contract after ’07 season The Associated Press Updated: 10:20 p.m. ET April 24, 2007 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Alex Rodriguez’s torrid start has reaffirmed his intentions for after this season: He wants to stay in pinstripes. Rodriguez, whose 14 homers are tied for the most ever in April, said Tuesday that he has no plans to leave the New York Yankees after the season, when the third baseman can opt of his contract. “I want to stay in New York, no matter what,” Rodriguez said in the Yankees’ third-base dugout before Tuesday night’s game at Tampa Bay. “I love New York. It’s the greatest place for me to play.” Rodriguez is entering the seventh season of his $252 million, 10-year contract, a deal he signed with the Texas Rangers. He can terminate the agreement after the season, forfeit the $81 million owed in the final three years and become a free agent. “Abilitywise, we certainly want him here,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “Sitting in the middle of our lineup and making the statement he is right now, we certainly don’t want him to go anywhere. That’s without question. I’d like to believe he’s going to be here.” Rodriguez entered Tuesday night’s game at Tampa Bay hitting .400 with a league-leading 34 RBIs in 18 games, and he’s already matched the record for April homers set by Albert Pujols last year. When asked if he could explain his start, Rodriguez said simply, “No.” “I know you guys are looking for some profound answers, but I don’t have them,” Rodriguez said. “I’m having as much fun as I can. I’m trying to keep it simple. Just try to prolong it as long as possible and enjoy it.” © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. URL: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18298213/
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A-Rod
Apr 24, 2007 21:31:44 GMT -5
Post by philinla on Apr 24, 2007 21:31:44 GMT -5
He'll be back to kicking ass at home tomorrow.
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A-Rod
Apr 26, 2007 13:54:33 GMT -5
Post by jumbo on Apr 26, 2007 13:54:33 GMT -5
Last Year is History ... So, too, is this April, but of a much happier kind for Alex Rodriguez, whose overhauled swing has reestablished him as baseball's most feared hitter By Tom Verducci SI.com
Bathed in the glow of three television screens and one laptop computer, Scott Boras, briefly without a phone to his ear or baseball owner beneath his thumb, reposed on a black leather sofa in his two-room, field-level suite last Friday at Angel Stadium. The über-agent, dressed in a black wool overcoat and gray mock turtleneck, had the look of a contented day trader, a master of the hardball universe tracking his properties -- in this case, his clients -- in real time. On the main big-screen, flat-panel TV appeared his Berkshire Hathaway, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid and most-deconstructed player in baseball.
It was late on the East Coast, in Boston, no less, in a one-run game -- exactly the type of situation that a season ago exposed Rodriguez's vulnerability, even his anxiety, as a ballplayer. This year? Boras watched calmly, knowing better than just about anybody other than Rodriguez himself that A-Rod, in body and soul, is a changed man.
Entering this at bat, Rodriguez, 31, had already blasted his way to one of the greatest starts in baseball history. By the following Tuesday, with a week still left in the month, he would join Albert Pujols (2006) as the only players to smack 14 home runs in April, become the first player ever with a walk-off grand slam and a walk-off three-run homer in the month, and threaten the April record for RBIs (35, by Juan Gonzalez in 1998). He had at least one hit in each of the Yankees' first 18 games, and, through Monday, New York had yet to win a game without a home run from Rodriguez, who in name only is the same guy so hopelessly lost at the plate at the end of 2006 that manager Joe Torre batted him eighth in the Yankees' playoff elimination game in Detroit.
More than the "Doubleday ball" in Cooperstown, alleged to have been used in baseball's mythic first game in 1839, or Babe Ruth's 1932 World Series called shot, the sport's greatest source of debate might be what's going on inside A-Rod's head. Each operatic turn of his career invites, often with assistance from A-Rod's own words, armchair psychoanalysis. His current molten-hot streak is no different. Among the popular theories to explain it: He's more relaxed; he's mentally unburdened after admitting on his first day of spring training that his friendship with teammate Derek Jeter has waned; he's motivated by the possibility of becoming a free agent, should he exercise the opt-out clause in his contract after this season. This time, however, Rodriguez's change of fortune can be explained almost entirely by real physical changes, most notably a substantial reduction in his body fat and a rebuilt swing for which some of the credit goes to a guy who didn't make it out of the minors during his first 18 seasons as a player and coach.
"Before spring training," Boras says, "he told me, 'You know, Scott, I've got it. I feel like I have a very repeatable swing.' Everything else -- the confidence, the way he carries himself -- came because of the swing. The swing came first."
The remaking of A-Rod actually began late last summer when Boras and his team of fitness experts suggested to Rodriguez that he might improve his defense, which had suddenly become unreliable last season, if he lost some weight. In his three years since moving from shortstop to third base after his trade from Texas to New York, Rodriguez had grown increasingly thick through his chest and rear.
Rodriguez dropped 15 pounds over the winter and reduced his body fat from 18% to 10%. That he was sleeker and more nimble was immediately apparent on Opening Day, when he set up the winning run against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays by stealing second base on his own. "Last year? No way I even try," Rodriguez says of the theft. "Why? Because I would have been out by two feet."
Becoming more fit improved his hitting, too, as Rodriguez overhauled what last year had degenerated into a long, overly muscled swing. The work began with the purchase and installation of a state-of-the-art batting cage in his Miami home, complete with multiple cameras, video monitors, mirrors and a pitching machine. "It's the first one he's owned," Boras says.
Meanwhile, less than three weeks after their playoff ouster in the Division Series, the Yankees replaced bench coach Lee Mazzilli with hitting coach Don Mattingly, who in turn was succeeded by Kevin Long. It was Long's first major league job. A 31st-round pick by the Royals in 1989, the 40-year-old Long spent the previous three seasons as New York's Triple A hitting coach. Long says that Rodriguez was "one of the first people to congratulate me," and A-Rod quickly flew to Arizona to meet with Long. Over lunch at a Scottsdale restaurant in November, Rodriguez appealed to Long for help. "I want you to come to Miami," Rodriguez told him. "I want you to look at film with me, and let's come up with a game plan for the off-season."
Long studied videotape of Rodriguez's swing and in December flew to Miami to work with the third baseman. For five days Long rarely left Rodriguez's side. They would work out at the University of Miami early each morning, eat breakfast, then work on hitting for several hours at a time in Rodriguez's cage. Long would even accompany Rodriguez to his business meetings and charity work in the afternoons. "I was living the life of Alex Rodriguez," Long says.
Rodriguez's once-graceful swing had come to resemble the ugly hack of a carnival customer swinging a too-heavy sledgehammer at one of those ring-the-bell-and-win-a-prize booths. The more he pressed, the worse the results were. Long identified three major flaws:
• Rodriguez would sometimes drag his back foot forward rather than leave it in place as he began his swing, which decreased his leverage.
• He would let his hands drift too far from his body during the swing, making it longer and "looser."
• His front leg kick, a trigger mechanism, had become grossly exaggerated. Rodriguez would sometimes lift his left knee as high as his waist, then step toward the pitcher with that leg -- a maneuver that would cause him to bring his front foot down late and violently, which created a tightness and imbalance in his swing.
"His leg kick was getting to a point where it wasn't getting down on time," Long says. "Your front foot has to land when the ball is about halfway to the plate. His was coming down much later than that. When that happens, you have to catch up a lot. You rush, and your body tends to drift [toward the pitcher]."
Long drastically cut the height of Rodriguez's leg kick and virtually eliminated the stride, instructing him to simply move his left foot up and down, not toward the pitcher. Now Rodriguez's left foot lands much softer and earlier, which gets him into a loaded, better-balanced position to hit. The changes also eliminated his drift and allowed him to keep his hands in tighter to his body, improving his core rotation. Think of a spinning figure skater: The closer the hands are to the body and the more stable the axis, the faster the skater spins. For Rodriguez, a faster, tighter spin has created better bat speed and power.
Rodriguez grooved his rebuilt swing through the winter to hit balls on a line into the back of the cage's net, an approach that de-emphasized lift and the temptation to pull the ball. Whereas Rodriguez actually fretted last season about how many home runs he hit in batting practice, Long has encouraged Rodriguez to maintain his line-drive approach in batting practice this year. Indeed, A-Rod did not hit one batting practice home run on Friday at cozy Fenway Park.
"He's hitting a lot of balls straightaway, and I think it's a good indication that he's not in any rush," Torre says. "Last year he seemed more anxious at the plate. He's not trying to pull the ball. When you are trying to pull the ball as a hitter, you are much easier to pitch to. When you are thinking of hitting it through the middle, you get that split second longer to watch the ball and react to movement."
Rodriguez hit both of his walk-off homers this month to centerfield, the second coming last Thursday off Cleveland closer Joe Borowski with first base open and two outs, a situation Rodriguez admits would have caused him to "outthink" himself last year. "I'll tell you what," says eight-time batting champ Tony Gwynn, "his swing this year compared to last is night and day. Last year he was kind of trying to force through the zone. Now it looks like he's just swinging ... no effort, just getting into position."
"He's got a whole different look about him now," San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds says. "You can see it in his eyes, even on TV."
Bonds ended last week with 740 home runs, 15 short of Hank Aaron's record. With his quick start and 478 career homers -- 180 more than Bonds had at the same age -- Rodriguez has regenerated discussion that he could be the heir not only to Bonds's final career total but also to his single-season record of 73. "I hope he hits a hundred," Bonds says. "With A-Rod's talent he has a chance to do anything he wants to do, anything he has a mind to do."
Oh, yes: that head again. Rodriguez has maintained a much lower public profile this year, with the notable exception of a spring training lapse in which he suggested on a popular New York radio show that this could be the year, if he doesn't produce, that New York fans run him out of town -- a slip that brought him a tongue-lashing from third base coach Larry Bowa. "Vanilla is the word we use a lot," Bowa says. "Keep it simple."
Rodriguez keeps his iPod headphones on before games while the media has access to the clubhouse, avoiding comment. Where once he tried to be expansive and clever after games, now his postgame responses are cordial but clipped.
"A-Rod is like Picasso," Boras says. "He's like a great artist or performer. When the level of your performance is so great, whatever you do to present yourself to society is never going to match the same level of your performance. So what you say in explaining yourself and your performance will be held against you by others. So you realize that what represents you the best is simply the beauty of your performance. Leave it at that."
In his suite Boras watched on the big-screen TV as Rodriguez, already with two home runs and a double on Friday, fell short in the ninth this time around, lining out softly to second base off Boston reliever Hideki Okajima. (Similarly, Rodriguez would end a Boston series sweep on Sunday by grounding out with the tying run on base.)
"You know what they'll be saying now in New York," Boras said. "'A-Rod can't hit in the clutch.'"
Boras said it with a smile and added a small, knowing laugh. Like Rodriguez, he knows that New York can measure with an egg timer both sides of its love-hate relationships with ballplayers. But he knows, too, that Rodriguez is, in Torre's words, "in a good place and has been ever since spring training." It's a good place, known to few others, that is miles and miles from last season.
Issue date: April 30, 2007
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A-Rod
Apr 28, 2007 21:14:44 GMT -5
Post by David Goodman on Apr 28, 2007 21:14:44 GMT -5
He's cooled off a little, but his defensive play today may have saved the game.
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A-Rod
May 8, 2007 22:10:56 GMT -5
Post by philinla on May 8, 2007 22:10:56 GMT -5
he's heated back up. This should be fun, cause we finally have some pitching.
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A-Rod
May 10, 2007 22:03:18 GMT -5
Post by sinctybldh on May 10, 2007 22:03:18 GMT -5
The end is near!By Buster Olney ESPN The Magazine
Editor's Note: This story appears in the May 21 edition of ESPN The Magazine.
Alex Rodriguez dropped 12 pounds during the off-season, making it easier for him to attack fastballs, range for grounders and dodge reporters. He stood in a corner of the dugout at Yankee Stadium during the last week of April as a sportswriter closed in, looking to ask the kinds of introspective questions that A-Rod now understandably avoids.
When you're hitting a home run every six at-bats, the last thing you want to contemplate is why.
With a peripheral glance, Rodriguez spotted the notebook-wielding predator and sprinted away, bouncing onto the field. These days, he is all-seeing, all-hitting, all-world. And in April, he almost single-handedly propped up the last vestiges of a Yankee dynasty that effectively ended on Nov. 4, 2001, the night Luis González looped a broken-bat single over Derek Jeter's head to win the World Series for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
ESPN the Magazine Click here to subscribe to the magazine.Since then, powerful forces have converged, perhaps inevitably, to make the Yankees so dependent on the most expensive player in sports, a guy who as recently as last October was nearly run out of town. The ironies are compelling. As A-Rod became the first man ever to hit 14 homers in his first 18 games, finally achieving the kind of success and critical acclaim he undoubtedly envisioned when he came to New York three years ago, baseball's flagship franchise was swimming with the AL East bottom-feeders. The better A-Rod performs, the more likely it is that he'll opt out of his contract after this season. And most significantly, the better he plays, the more games these Yankees win, which will allow GM Brian Cashman to keep his job and continue the steady but laborious construction of what could be the next Yankees dynasty.
All this plays out as the new Yankee Stadium rises on the other side of 161st Street. The retro palace, set to open in 2009, should secure the franchise's future, for which A-Rod, at least for now, holds the key.
IN THE FIRST few minutes after Mariano Rivera blew that save six years ago, George Steinbrenner walked through the Yankee clubhouse, saying, "There are going to be changes." As usual, The Boss made good on his promise.
In an effort to keep winning titles, the organization lurched impetuously, throwing huge money at the marquee free agents of the moment -- Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Carl Pavano -- without regard to whether they truly fit the club. As they did in the 1980s and early '90s, the darkest period in Steinbrenner's 34 years as owner, the Yankees have learned that you can win games, and maybe even a pennant now and then, with mercenaries, but you can't build a dynasty that way.
Ultimately, it was the fertile farm system fostered by former GM Gene Michael (while The Boss was suspended for trying to smear Dave Winfield) that produced the core of the team that won four World Series in five years: Jeter, Rivera, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. Michael stressed patient development of the team's best young prospects and careful investment in personalities suited for New York, such as Paul O'Neill. But Michael eased into semiretirement, and patience was replaced, at The Boss' behest, by haste.
Alex Rodriguez Third Base New York Yankees
Profile 2007 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R OBP AVG 32 15 39 35 .428 .352
Steinbrenner is now 76, visibly diminished, and his succession plan is muddled. Two seasons after engineering the trade that brought A-Rod from Texas, Cashman won a power struggle with Steinbrenner's Tampa-based cronies, receiving carte blanche to oversee the draft and player development. Cashman's argument to Steinbrenner after the 2005 season was that the Yankees can be more successful, and also more profitable, by aggressively investing in younger, cheaper players, rather than relying on aging stars with eight-figure salaries that cost the team tens of millions more in luxury tax.
Cashman did, however, expect the Yankees to keep winning as he pursued a better business plan. This year, he thought the offense would be so strong and the bullpen so deep that the Yankees would make the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. Meanwhile, the team's best prospects would be given time to mature in the minor leagues. But the Yankees' lousy showing in April set off a five-alarm crisis. After they lost five of their first six games to the Red Sox, Steinbrenner targeted Cashman for public admonition, and the carefully crafted plans were shoved aside.
So into the vortex stepped 20-year-old Phil Hughes, a 6'5" righthander with overpowering stuff who was the crown jewel of the farm system. On May 1, in his second big league appearance, Hughes walked Rangers leadoff man Kenny Lofton after starting him off with a couple of strikes. The kid called Posada out to the mound. "If I walk another hitter after starting out 0-2, punch me in the mouth," Hughes told the veteran catcher. The Rangers did not get a hit off him for the next 6-plus innings. But in the seventh, Hughes' left leg seemed to shudder as he finished a pitch, and he limped onto the disabled list with a strained hamstring. For at least the next month, no one will ask him to prop up a fractured monolith.
After trying to rush young arms like Hughes and Chase Wright, the Yankees have turned to old warhorse Roger Clemens, who on May 6 agreed to pitch the rest of the season for $18 million. They desperately needed him. The team closed April 6¬ games below the Red Sox, the first time New York was that far behind Boston after the first month since 1912. But it could have been even worse, far worse, if not for A-Rod's magic bat.
YANKEES THIRD BASE COACH Larry Bowa smiles slightly when asked about Rodriguez's recovery from his clueless 2006 postseason. "Confidence," Bowa says. "Alex's start shows you the importance of confidence."
At the center of the tabloid-driven media bubble that surrounds him, A-Rod finds comfort in work. And he made some mechanical changes before the season. His leg kick was so dramatic last year that it altered his line of vision. His head would descend as he began his swing. Imagine trying to hit a pitch as you travel the downslope of a roller coaster.
"The eyes control the barrel of the bat," says Padres hitting coach Merv Rettenmund. "If the head is going down, the barrel of the bat is going down." So A-Rod was beaten constantly by pitches in the upper half of the strike zone. Not anymore.
On defense, the 31-year-old Rodriguez is still trying to get comfortable. After making a couple of awkward throws from third in late April, he asked the coaching staff for some extra infield practice. At 3 p.m. the next day, hours before a home game against the Blue Jays, there he was, dressed in a black top, engaged in a drill unique to him. As coach Rob Thomson hit each grounder, he'd call out a hitter's name, even imitating that hitter's stance. This way, Rodriguez could visualize how much time he had to make a throw to first or second base.
"Frank Thomas," Thomson called out, then hit a ball toward third. After A-Rod gloved the grounder, he took a little crow hop, settling himself, taking his time -- Thomas is slow, of course -- and then flipping to first. "Vernon Wells," Thomson shouted, and this time A-Rod jabbed his glove to backhand a grounder and fired quickly, to beat the imaginary Wells busting it down the line.
Two hours later, batting practice began. Most teams hit in groups of three or four, according to the batting order, but cleanup man A-Rod didn't join the first group of Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu; he hit in the second group, laughing and joking with childhood friend Doug Mientkiewicz and second baseman Robinson Canó until he stepped in the box. And then A-Rod focused on hitting every pitch through the middle of the diamond, placing the ball in that lane with precision. "He looks like a guy completely sure of what he's doing," says Rettenmund, who's a fan.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez's market value soars. This is the seventh year of the 10-year, $252 million contract he originally signed with the Rangers, which gives him the right to become a free agent in the fall. But Cashman didn't bid on any of the stars on the market this past winter: Barry Zito, Alfonso Soriano or Carlos Lee. Unless Steinbrenner steps in and orders a change of course, it's all but certain the Yankees won't come within scores of millions of re-signing their third baseman.
That doesn't, of course, diminish the importance of A-Rod's colossal production, which is buying time for Cashman. Unlike the decline of the old dynasty, the rise of a new one is far from inevitable.
Love him or hate him, the Yankees need A-Rod now, more than ever.
Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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A-Rod
May 10, 2007 22:53:45 GMT -5
Post by philinla on May 10, 2007 22:53:45 GMT -5
The Dynasty never ended. The layers of playoffs made the sort of Dynasty they have from `39-`64 extinct.
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A-Rod
May 10, 2007 23:11:08 GMT -5
Post by sinctybldh on May 10, 2007 23:11:08 GMT -5
buster is seriously jumping to conclusions. what does not going after free agents last year have to do with next year, especially to keep one of our own players?
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A-Rod
May 11, 2007 10:32:32 GMT -5
Post by sinctybldh on May 11, 2007 10:32:32 GMT -5
An odd start to season for A-Rodposted: Friday, May 11, 2007 | Print Entry
On the morning of April 24, Alex Rodriguez had played 18 games. In those 18 games, he'd batted .400, hit 14 home runs and driven in 34 runs. It was widely held that he'd put together the greatest April in major league history. There were seven days left in April.
The pundits were asked -- were compelled, really -- to explain why Rodriguez was doing so well, and they came up with plenty of explanations, most of them involving his improved swing and his improved psyche.
But Rodriguez didn't hit any more homers in April, or drive in any more runs. May hasn't been much kinder. In the 15 games since the morning of April 24, he's batted .264, hit one home run, and driven in five runs.
So which is the real Alex Rodriguez? Both of them.
I mean, that's what I would say, if anybody asked. But that's one of the (many) reasons you don't see me on TV. Everybody wants a reason, and they're not happy if you say there might not be a reason, other than garden-variety randomness.
Here's what I wrote in this space on April 26:
I don't watch every Yankees game, nor have I spoken to Mr. Rodriguez this season (or for that matter, ever). I certainly would acknowledge the possibilities that he has made some technical adjustment, and that he does have a different attitude this spring, and that one or both of these changes have contributed to his amazing start. But I would like to suggest another possibility. Alex Rodriguez is one of the greatest players we've ever seen. Great players, purely as a function of basic probability, occasionally will put together phenomenal three- and four-week stretches. In 2002, from Aug. 11 through Sept. 8, Rodriguez hit 16 homers and drove in 33 runs. In 2005, from July 5 through Aug. 5, Rodriguez hit 16 homers and drove in 30 runs. Of course, his current run -- 14 homers and 39 RBI in 19 games -- must dwarf anything he's done before. But we're not talking about Neifi Perez here. Great players will sometimes do things that seem amazing, even by their own lofty standards.
What's particularly odd wasn't Rodriguez's incredible start, or his power outage since then. What's particularly odd is that one's come immediately after the other. But odd things happen. Which in itself isn't odd. What's odd is that we're so surprised by them. And by now we should know better.
4 comments on "An odd start to season for A-Rod"
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A-Rod
May 12, 2007 1:05:17 GMT -5
Post by pemoco on May 12, 2007 1:05:17 GMT -5
A-Rod has changed, but M's fans haven't Seven years after he left, boo-birds still come out at Safeco By GREG JOHNS P-I REPORTER
The throng of teenage girls lined the front row, waving and screaming and ogling as always when Alex Rodriguez is in the house. But a funny thing happened Friday night at Safeco Field.
This time they weren't pining for A-Rod, instead professing far more interest in national anthem singer Blake Lewis, the American Idol from Bothell.
At 31, Rodriguez isn't yesterday's news just yet, but even when no singing Idol was in sight, the eager group of Yankees fans crowded behind the visiting dugout during batting practice focused far more on Derek Jeter.
That flock included one hopeful young woman with a "Marry Me Jeter" sign and a young boy with a "Mr. Jeter, 1 Minute Please" poster designed to help his autograph pursuits. Rodriguez, meanwhile, fetched nary a note from the Yankee faithful.
His message came more in the verbal form from Mariners fans who once again voiced considerable displeasure every time Rodriguez stepped into the batter's box during Seattle's 3-0 victory.
For Rodriguez, the boos are as familiar now as his pinstriped uniform. He's seven years removed from his Seattle service, having spent as many seasons in Texas and New York as he did in the Pacific Northwest. Yet Safeco's fans have derided him from the day he first returned toting a $252 million contract with the Rangers in 2001.
In a rare pregame interview this season, Rodriguez said he still loves coming to Seattle and remains appreciative of the organization that spawned his big-league career.
"I have some of my fondest memories from Seattle," he said. "I came here as a kid and left as a man, so I'm very grateful to the organization."
The familiar cavalcade of catcalls now seems more of a tradition than anything else. Rodriguez says when he's out on the streets of Seattle, he's never met any such opposition.
"People are great to me here. They're better here to me than probably any other city in the world. It's just collectively, they're not quite as good," Rodriguez said with a smile.
Rodriguez clearly has taken a different approach to this season. His normal open access to the media has disappeared, apparently a victim of the intense New York feeding frenzy.
After spending many years worrying about his public image, A-Rod isn't concerned about that side of things at the moment. Instead, he's focused on being friendlier with peers on the team and less aware of jeers on the field.
He brushed off most reporters prior to Friday's game, instead laughing and talking at length with teammates Mariano Rivera, Johnny Damon and Luis Vizcaino on a couch in the center of the clubhouse.
Once the game started he went 1-for-4 with a sharp single. One night doesn't indicate much, but Rodriguez has succeeded this year by relaxing.
Hard arguing with the initial results, given the .341 batting average and major league-leading 15 home runs, 35 runs and 39 RBIs through 34 games.
His improved approach?
"Just keeping it simple," he said, simply.
Yankees manager Joe Torre expounded a bit more on his star's rearranged demeanor.
"He seems to be having more fun," Torre said. "It started in spring training. And I can't say the reason he's having fun is because he's hitting better, because he didn't have a particularly great spring. But he seemed to be enjoying himself more. And to me, that's the key.
"He's so talented. But I think in the past he's tried to be everything to everybody. He really spread himself thin and put a lot of pressure on himself in situations. But as far as I'm concerned, he's in a good place right now as far as getting up at the plate and when he has a bad at-bat or something, he lets it go. I think last year, it stayed with him awhile."
Indeed, Rodriguez seemingly twisted himself into knots last year, particularly in the postseason. Even now, critics contend he hasn't proven anything until he does it in October.
But those who know Rodriguez best figure he'll fare just fine, given time to set things straight. The man is too good, too talented, too driven toward success to fail over the long run.
Edgar Martinez, one of Rodriguez's main mentors in his years in Seattle, looks at the .290 average, 35 home runs and 121 RBIs in 2006 and figures there are a whole lot of big leaguers who'd take that season and run with it.
"He actually put up good numbers, but it's unfortunate for him the expectations are so high from everyone," Martinez said. "He realizes, I'm sure, that he has to put it behind him and go and perform and do the best he can every year.
"One thing Alex does really well, he doesn't get himself down with any troubles around him. He just goes and prepares better for next time. He's improved this year. It's been an amazing start. He looks great at the plate."\
Martinez, Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. These are the greatest Mariners of all time. Yet A-Rod continues to be booed at every Safeco appearance and Griffey's return for the first time next month figures to be interesting as well.
Rodriguez, for one, figures Junior shouldn't have to worry about a thing.
"He's a great player who helped build this place," Rodriguez said.
Of course, the same might be said in part for A-Rod. But he was younger when he left, just 25 and filled with promise. Now he returns older, wiser, a little less of the pop icon as a married man with a 2-year-old daughter, but more of a finished product.
So much has changed for Alex Rodriguez.
Except for the boos.
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A-Rod
May 14, 2007 11:23:53 GMT -5
Post by jumbo on May 14, 2007 11:23:53 GMT -5
A-Rod's Chicago trip peek into future? Posted: Monday May 14, 2007 08:42AM ET Under certain circumstances, Alex Rodriguez could be a fit for both the Cubs and the White Sox, who host the Yankees in a three-game series starting Tuesday night. Given the five-year commitment to third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who has a full no-trade clause, the Cubs' interest in Rodriguez would hinge on their belief he still can play shortstop.--Chicago Tribune
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A-Rod
May 14, 2007 13:16:38 GMT -5
Post by shockman on May 14, 2007 13:16:38 GMT -5
haha - the tribune can suck my left nut. they are not getting a-rod. They should worry about keeping their only reliable starter
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A-Rod
May 14, 2007 14:49:36 GMT -5
Post by sinctybldh on May 14, 2007 14:49:36 GMT -5
Eddie (Hoboken,NJ): Buster, is this Dr. Phil day? Looks like everyone around here needs a hug. Do you think the Yanks will extend A-Rod so Hicks will still be on the hook and A-Rod will stay with the Yanks?
Buster Olney: Eddie: Sorry, I was worried about Jack, felt like he was on the ledge a bit. Here's the thing about A-Rod -- he'll be in position to get an 8-year deal for about 200 to $220 million when this season is over, and if Brian Cashman is still in power and running the Yankees' baseball ops, I don't think he'll give that to A-Rod. In that context, the Texas money really is not as big of a deal -- the Yankees would still have to come up with $200 million (plus the $27 million the Rangers' owe), and they definitely won't be compelled to even consider that that unless A-Rod actually declares free agency and starts a bidding war -- and in that case, the Rangers' portion will be voided. Imagine how this will play out: A-Rod will ask the Yankees for an extension, and they will almost certainly say no. His next move will have to be to declare himself a free agent, to get the Angels and Dodgers and Giants and Cubs and White Sox (or whoever) involved. And the moment he does that, the Rangers are off the hook.
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A-Rod
May 14, 2007 17:52:57 GMT -5
Post by philinla on May 14, 2007 17:52:57 GMT -5
Olney's dumb.
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