The A-Rod Chronology Project

[mikeymussina35]

-------------------------

[Mattingly]

I`m pretty sure he was just kidding

Hopefully. I'm a bit tired of all the player haters out there.

I think yesterday was a big moment because it could actually have defined the season for A-Rod. If he went up there and say struck out (and he had two strikes on him) to end the game, and all the fans got on him, the pressure may have started to mount on him to come through like last year and something may have gotten into his head like last year causing him to press throughout the season. But since he came through, he may have actually gotten a hughe monkey off his back and can continue to be free and easy this year, and perhaps even confident when he goes up there.

It's silly to say it, but ever since he came to spring training this year down a few a pounds, sporting the high socks, and was forthcoming about Jeter, you could tell something was different about A-Rod this year, that he was more comfortable. I think the place you can see it the most is in his fielding. I dare say that he's actually played a good 3B so far this year, and with the exception of that foul pop, he's made all the plays so far and has shown a great and accurate arm.

Now, the best thing A-Rod can do is have a monster year, a good postseason, and come back to the Yankees. It would be ashame for him to finally breakthrough with the fans and then bolt. A showing of loyalty could be the ultimate gesture by him.

Like I said before (perhaps in the A-Rod thread stuck to this forum), it was his "slam in the rain" day like what Giambi had. Except Giambi's came in his first season, whereas Rodriguez' came in this 4th season. Weird, but stuff happens.

I'll agree that he'd have been far too self-suspecting and self-doubting. He may have put lots of pressure upon himself to "go out there and get the big hit", whereas that thought pattern may have been counter to actually doing this. Instead, I'd rather him worry about his mechanics and go out there and use his sweet and powerful swing to get there. Somehow I feel that "go out and get the big hit" doesn't seem to work.

Interestingly, despite the differences between himself and Jeter, it was Jeter on 2B that was cheering for Alex to get a hit. Seems that the old adage that "friendship doesn't breed winning; winning breeds friendship" must be true. People don't need to have to be friends, but they all want to win, regardless of who's the one taking credit for the final run being scored.

If Alex is on a mission, I'll take it. He wants to be the best version of Alex Rodriguez he cans. To me, that's a very worthy thing.

I do hope that he stays. I'd hate to see him have a career year and turn this into his walk year. Just think, he'd have been booed in 2006 when he was here, then booed again in 2008 if he leaves. I'd rather not have this. If he has a great year, especially in October, I've love him to stay here. Let him be ours and ours only.

[TonyStarks]

Not to get all mushy....

But watching ARod hit that shot and then running around the bases..just gave me chills.

The guy really needed that, I feel. The way he ran the bases and was just elated man....it musta been a great feeling!

[ChrisLDuncan]

Not to get all mushy....

But watching ARod hit that shot and then running around the bases..just gave me chills.

The guy really needed that, I feel. The way he ran the bases and was just elated man....it musta been a great feeling!

And getting kicked out of the Dugout by Jeter must of sucked But that was a huge moment for Alex, and even Jeter as a teammate showing that they're willing to be teammates and work together for bringing home #27. But it's nice to see A-Rod finally sticking it to the haters. I'd hate to be 'that guy' but for the older Yankees fans here does anyone remember something like this happening for Dave Winfield? Not that I think A-Rod is Winfield. However I'm also liking A-Rod's yard work today too.

[ChrisLDuncan]

let This Be A Reminder To Every Hackjob Columnist Out There Right Now A-rod Is Carrying The Yankees He Is Responsible For Both Of The Yankee Victories

[monkey333]

I laugh at all of you who took my last post as anything other than a joke...

[ChrisLDuncan]

Well in all fairness they have played what? Four games?

[I'm_A_Shark]

He hit his 4th HR today to have the MLB lead.

[DoubleX]

let This Be A Reminder To Every Hackjob Columnist Out There Right Now A-rod Is Carrying The Yankees He Is Responsible For Both Of The Yankee Victories

It's kind of reminiscent of 2005. Other than that two week stretch where Tino Martinez was really hot, A-Rod almost single-handedly carried the team in the first half of that season.

[Yankee Legend]

Hopefully his recent success will give him confidence down the road. We'll have to see how he does away from Yankee Stadium. By the way, I was at the game Saturday and saw the grand slam!! I was a row behind the bullpen in the bleachers.

[JordanDL3891]

He hit his 4th HR today to have the MLB lead.

Make it 5 bombs, three games in a row he has hit a homerun. It is also 5 bombs in the last 6 games.

[mikesty]

Aaaaaa-Roooood!

[DoubleX]

Interesting how quickly things change. On ESPN.com, the clip is titled, "A-Rod Leads Yankees Past Twins." It's interesting because the Yankees were already ahead like 6-1 and A-Rod was 0-3 at that time. A week ago, ESPN and all the other morons would just be chucking that homer up to meaningless stat padding.

[tommybaseball]

Make it 5 bombs, three games in a row he has hit a homerun. It is also 5 bombs in the last 6 games.

Great. But it's April. If you've been a Yankee fan for a while then you know what Reggie said: "They don't pay you in New York for the 162 games during the season, they pay you to win the 11 in October." Reggie heard his share of boos during his tenure with the Yankees, especially from the fans who loved the gritty, pinstripe blooded and psychotic Billy Martin. He turned all those boos into cheers in October of 1977.
A-Rod could hit 80 homeruns this year, break Hack Wilsons RBI record and bat .410, but if he goes 1-14 in the post season and the Yanks get bounced in the first round again, he'll be the kicking dog. It's unfair, but that's just the way it is in da Bronx. By the same token, he could go oh-for-the playoffs and games 1-6 of the World Series, but if he wins game 7 with a single, he'll be a hero. Ridiculous. I hope he finally realizes just how ridiculous, accepts the absurdity of the situation, laughs it off and relaxes.
Dave Winfield is in the Hall, but you don't see #31 on "The Wall", and you never will. All he's remembered for here is his one meaningless single in the '81 World Series, and the ridiculous gesture of asking for the ball. Oh yeah, and the seagull he murdered. Nice.
He's loved in Toronto though.

[Mariano_Rivera]

Great. But it's April. If you've been a Yankee fan for a while then you know what Reggie said: "They don't pay you in New York for the 162 games during the season, they pay you to win the 11 in October." Reggie heard his share of boos during his tenure with the Yankees, especially from the fans who loved the gritty, pinstripe blooded and psychotic Billy Martin. He turned all those boos into cheers in October of 1977.
A-Rod could hit 80 homeruns this year, break Hack Wilsons RBI record and bat .410, but if he goes 1-14 in the post season and the Yanks get bounced in the first round again, he'll be the kicking dog. It's unfair, but that's just the way it is in da Bronx. By the same token, he could go oh-for-the playoffs and games 1-6 of the World Series, but if he wins game 7 with a single, he'll be a hero. Ridiculous. I hope he finally realizes just how ridiculous, accepts the absurdity of the situation, laughs it off and relaxes.
Dave Winfield is in the Hall, but you don't see #31 on "The Wall", and you never will. All he's remembered for here is his one meaningless single in the '81 World Series, and the ridiculous gesture of asking for the ball. Oh yeah, and the seagull he murdered. Nice.
He's loved in Toronto though.

I`m not going to even reply to this post

[Mariano_Rivera]

Interesting how quickly things change. On ESPN.com, the clip is titled, "A-Rod Leads Yankees Past Twins." It's interesting because the Yankees were already ahead like 6-1 and A-Rod was 0-3 at that time. A week ago, ESPN and all the other morons would just be chucking that homer up to meaningless stat padding.

Was that an important HR though?

It gave the Yankees a bigger lead and prevented them from being forced to use Proctor. Without the HR the final score is 6-2 and maybe you have to manage the game more carefully then. I`m not saying it was huge but it wasn't stat-padding

[clipper]

Great. But it's April. If you've been a Yankee fan for a while then you know what Reggie said: "They don't pay you in New York for the 162 games during the season, they pay you to win the 11 in October." Reggie heard his share of boos during his tenure with the Yankees, especially from the fans who loved the gritty, pinstripe blooded and psychotic Billy Martin. He turned all those boos into cheers in October of 1977.
A-Rod could hit 80 homeruns this year, break Hack Wilsons RBI record and bat .410, but if he goes 1-14 in the post season and the Yanks get bounced in the first round again, he'll be the kicking dog. It's unfair, but that's just the way it is in da Bronx. By the same token, he could go oh-for-the playoffs and games 1-6 of the World Series, but if he wins game 7 with a single, he'll be a hero. Ridiculous. I hope he finally realizes just how ridiculous, accepts the absurdity of the situation, laughs it off and relaxes.
Dave Winfield is in the Hall, but you don't see #31 on "The Wall", and you never will. All he's remembered for here is his one meaningless single in the '81 World Series, and the ridiculous gesture of asking for the ball. Oh yeah, and the seagull he murdered. Nice.
He's loved in Toronto though.

One, I am very very happy for ARod. He just got the AL Player of the Week. I don't know how long this can continue but that grand slam was one of those moments. I am enjoying it now. Being a older Yankee fan. You are correct. For me the year is how we do in post season. Joe talks about winning the AL East (OK) But we lose in first and second round so for me the season was NOT successful. Your two examples are Great. Reggie is always be Mr October and Dave who. ARod must win WS and have some decent numbers. I want 11 straight games in post season (no loses) with ARod hitting 11 hrs, zero errors, and BA 0.400. Then give him the keys to the city, sign him for life, have him run for president.

DX: I see the Arod articles with many writers. It like a catch line for these guys. If ARod is in the title or first line - they think more people will read it. I don't like it but I agree with you. (It's like - Arod has one SO and that's the reason we lost or his HR last night was the reason for the win). Sometimes, I feel these writers don't even watch the game like you do.


Clipper

[rustyray]

I'm happy that ARod is off to a hot start and is a major contributor to the offensive attack. However, I am noticing that the majority of his hits have been homers. Its a bit of a concern to me because its either he hits a homer or he makes an out. That is not a very good percentage.

[Mariano_Rivera]

I'm happy that ARod is off to a hot start and is a major contributor to the offensive attack. However, I am noticing that the majority of his hits have been homers. Its a bit of a concern to me because its either he hits a homer or he makes an out. That is not a very good percentage.

He's also batting some thing like .380

[rustyray]

It should be "Mans up," not "Man's up."



An RBI to put your team two runs ahead when the other team has already scored ten runs is hardly "padding." Of course Jeter's hit was more noteworthy, but that doesn't mean A-Rod's was worthless. Come on, use your common sense here.



That's only the beginning. We also have antennae, walk on all fours and eat our young. Let me know if you need help getting off that high horse of yours.



What are you talking about? A-Rod already won an MVP in New York. He's already performed well in the postseason at least a couple of times; that's the thing that's so bizarre about all this. Are Yankee fans' memories really so bad that I need to remind you about the 2004 postseason, or was that so scarring that you've just all blocked it out of your minds completely?

In 2 out of the 3 Yankee wins in the 2004 ALDS against the Twins, Rodriguez was directly involved in the process of driving in the winning run.

Game 2:
Bottom of the ninth, 1 out, Cairo is on second, Jeter on first, and the Yankees are down 6-5. Can everyone here agree this is a clutch situation for A-Rod? Yes? OK, good.

A-Rod doubled in that at-bat, scoring Cairo (hence, tying the game) and sending Jeter to third with only one out. That set up a Matsui sac fly and ended the game.

Game 4:
Top of the ninth, none on, none out, score tied 5-5. A run would obviously give the Yankees the lead, which if they manage to hold in the bottom of the ninth, would clinch the series. Would everyone agree this is a clutch situation for A-Rod?

A-Rod doubled in that at-bat too, putting the Yankees in pretty freakin' good position to win the series, considering Sheffield, Matsui and Williams were coming up. The Yankees didn't score; 2 strikeouts and a pop out to second followed.

Top of the eleventh, none on, one out (Jeter, who K'ed), score still tied 5-5. Again, a clutch situation.

A-Rod doubled yet again, and stole third base for good measure, scoring on a wild pitch. The Yankees behind him quickly went down in order; pop out to second and strikeout. They held the lead and won the series. Rodriguez hit .421 in that series with 4 extra-base hits.

That's A-Rod's best performance in the postseason, granted, but he hasn't been a complete zero besides that. He had a .378 OBP and .516 slugging percent in the ALCS that year, both exceeding the team average (compared to Jeter's .333 OBP and .233 slugging). In the bottom of the 8th of game 1, with the Yankees only ahead 8-7 and the game still in doubt, A-Rod singled to start a 2-run rally which put the game away. In game 3 of that series, he homered in the 3rd to tie the game 4-4. Granted it's only the third, but how many game tying HRs do you have to hit in the postseason before people stop calling you a choker?

And he's had other good postseason series not with the Yankees too. You say he can't perform with the Yankees in the postseason; well, if the pressure of the Yankees is so great, why did he perform so well against the Yankees in the 2000 ALCS? In that series, he hit .409 and had a .773 slugging percentage, driving in 5 of the Mariners 18 total runs. They (the Mariners) lost that series, but then again, it's hard to win a postseason series when your teammates hit .189 collectively, and your pitchers have a team ERA of 5.37.

In the 1997 ALDS against the Orioles, A-Rod hit .312 and had a .562 slugging percentage. Essentially the same story as the 2000 ALDS. The Mariners dropped the series, but I would say the collective batting average of A-Rod's teammates (.205), and the Mariners' team ERA (5.91) had a lot more to do with it than he did.

So there you go; that's 3 very good postseason series (1997 ALDS, 2000 ALDS, 2004 ALDS), and one that's good but not great (2004 ALCS). To say this guy can't play in the playoffs is just flat out factually wrong. We know it's factually wrong, because he has performed well in the playoffs, as a Yankee, as a non-Yankee playing the Yankees, and as a non-Yankee not playing the Yankees.

The fact that he had two consecutive postseason series that were very bad tells you very, very little in reality. Derek Jeter, for example, has had 2 consecutive poor series on 2 separate occasions:

1998 ALDS: .111 .273 .111
1998 ALCS: .200 .259 .320

2001 ALCS: .118 .200 .118
2001 WS: .148 .179 .259

Plus he's had 2 other bad series, the 2000 ALDS vs Oakland, and (already mentioned) the 2004 ALCS against Boston.

The 2005 ALDS is when this all really gained momentum, especially game 5, the ninth inning. It was just this perfect image, of the saintly Jeter singling and the false prophet Rodriguez doubling the two of them off, essentially ending the Yankees' season and capping off a terrible series. But why was A-Rod blamed for that loss and not Mike Mussina, who got knocked out in the 3rd inning? I would say getting your starting pitcher knocked out in the third is more damaging than one of your hitters going 0-4. Why not Hideki Matsui, who went 0-5 and had 8 LOB to A-Rod's 3?

More generally, why is that series blamed on A-Rod? Yes, he performed terribly. But so did a lot of Yankees. In Rodriguez's favor he did have a .381 OBP; he was getting on base that series, even if his BA was only .133. Bernie Williams didn't hit much better, .211, but his OBP was .250, well below A-Rod's. Randy Johnson pitched terribly in 2 games out of that series. Mike Mussina essentially put the Yankees in position to lose game 5.

Why is it that A-Rod is the one said to cause these failures? Because he's paid the most. But that doesn't make sense. If your pitcher gives up 5 runs in 2.2 innings, he's clearly the one who caused the failure, regardless of who gets paid what. People are confusing the two ideas.

Which leads me to my next point, which is that to the Yankees, A-Rod's contract really isn't that ridiculous, nor is it preventing the Yankees from going out and getting other players. The "A-Rod is our guy and for the money we're giving him he has to perform for us" argument is one that we non-Yankee fans will tolerate because if we were paying him that much money, he would cripple our team's financial flexibility to the point where we wouldn't have other dependable players. We just don't think about it further than that. But on the Yankees, it's an irrelevant argument. A-Rod is only barely the Yankees' top paid player. 2006 salaries:

Alex Rodriguez $ 21,680,727
Derek Jeter $ 20,600,000
Jason Giambi $ 20,428,571
Mike Mussina $ 19,000,000
Randy Johnson $ 15,661,427
Johnny Damon $ 13,000,000
Hideki Matsui $ 13,000,000
Jorge Posada $ 12,000,000
Gary Sheffield $ 10,756,171
Mariano Rivera $ 10,500,000

The Yankees are paying Jason Giambi and Mike Mussina essentially exactly the same amount of money as they are paying Alex Rodriguez. Where were the outcries after Mussina coughed up the season on October 10, 2005? "Mussina's gotta pitch the big games if he's going to earn the money we're paying him! The Yankees don't care about anything but championships!" Nowhere, that's where they were. Why? It's more fun to pretend how smart and perceptive we all are by making wild accusations like "A-Rod is a choker."

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, I suppose.

I agree with everything that you say. I would just like to add this bit about his salary. Texas is paying about 40% of his salary so the Yankees are paying around $14-15 million.

[TonyStarks]

Great. But it's April. If you've been a Yankee fan for a while then you know what Reggie said: "They don't pay you in New York for the 162 games during the season, they pay you to win the 11 in October." Reggie heard his share of boos during his tenure with the Yankees, especially from the fans who loved the gritty, pinstripe blooded and psychotic Billy Martin. He turned all those boos into cheers in October of 1977.
A-Rod could hit 80 homeruns this year, break Hack Wilsons RBI record and bat .410, but if he goes 1-14 in the post season and the Yanks get bounced in the first round again, he'll be the kicking dog. It's unfair, but that's just the way it is in da Bronx. By the same token, he could go oh-for-the playoffs and games 1-6 of the World Series, but if he wins game 7 with a single, he'll be a hero. Ridiculous. I hope he finally realizes just how ridiculous, accepts the absurdity of the situation, laughs it off and relaxes.
Dave Winfield is in the Hall, but you don't see #31 on "The Wall", and you never will. All he's remembered for here is his one meaningless single in the '81 World Series, and the ridiculous gesture of asking for the ball. Oh yeah, and the seagull he murdered. Nice.
He's loved in Toronto though.

Really irks me when people say things like this.

[tommybaseball]

This post lacks any common sense whatsoever and is completely moronic.

I`m not even going to explain why.

Only a complete moron would surmise that his opinion and only those who think like him are the only ones who could be right. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Differing from your opinion does not make the post moronic, but your response certainly makes you sound moronic, especially since you yourself cannot explain yourself. Got it dummy? Deep in Yankeeland? Hmmmmmmm. That may explain everything.

[tommybaseball]

I`m not going to even reply to this post

But you did, with your typical and usual nothingness.

[DoubleX]

Only a complete moron would surmise that his opinion and only those who think like him are the only ones who could be right. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Differing from your opinion does not make the post moronic, but your response certainly makes you sound moronic, especially since you yourself cannot explain yourself. Got it dummy? Deep in Yankeeland? Hmmmmmmm. That may explain everything.

Everyone, let's calm down please. No need at all to call each other names. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, so let's all be respectful of each other.

I understand where Tommybaseball is coming from and I agree to a large degree with his underlying to point. There is a reason why Dave Winfield is called Mr. May, for example. A-Rod could have a monster year, heck he did in 2005, but if he comes up empty in the playoffs and the team is bounced in the first round again, it will all be for nil and just reinforce the idea that A-Rod comes up small on the big stages. I think if that were to happen again, for the third straight year, I'd probably even have to start seriously questioning A-Rod. For the Yankees, the bar is set ridiculously high, and for most, failure to attain that height is a disgrace. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. We Yankee fans are spoiled brats en masse.

But let's live in the moment for now. A-Rod is off to a great start, he seems to be enjoying himself and he is enjoyable to watch. So let's deal with that and save any criticism for what might happen in the postseason until after it actually does happen. It's just really counterproductive, out of the way, and silly to start criticizing things that haven't happened yet. So let's enjoy. A-Rod is one of the very best baseball talents ever, and we should embrace and enjoy that. Even though we Yankee fans have been blessed by having a number of these great players already, they don't come around that often.

[TonyStarks]

Everyone, let's calm down please. No need at all to call each other names. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, so let's all be respectful of each other.

I understand where Tommybaseball is coming from and I agree to a large degree with his underlying to point. There is a reason why Dave Winfield is called Mr. May, for example. A-Rod could have a monster year, heck he did in 2005, but if he comes up empty in the playoffs and the team is bounced in the first round again, it will all be for nil and just reinforce the idea that A-Rod comes up small on the big stages. I think if that were to happen again, for the third straight year, I'd probably even have to start seriously questioning A-Rod. For the Yankees, the bar is set ridiculously high, and for most, failure to attain that height is a disgrace. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. We Yankee fans are spoiled brats en masse.

But let's live in the moment for now. A-Rod is off to a great start, he seems to be enjoying himself and he is enjoyable to watch. So let's deal with that and save any criticism for what might happen in the postseason until after it actually does happen. It's just really counterproductive, out of the way, and silly to start criticizing things that haven't happened yet. So let's enjoy. A-Rod is one of the very best baseball talents ever, and we should embrace and enjoy that. Even though we Yankee fans have been blessed by having a number of these great players already, they don't come around that often.

DX,
I understand what TB was saying...but still. This "IS" Jeter's team. So why is it that if the Yanks fail to get it done in the playoffs why does it ARod automatically become the scapegoat?

There is plenty of blames to go around for playoff bounces from 04 where the entire team just stopped hitting and the pitching just ran into a brick wall.
Then in '05 I would place the blame on Matsui and Sheff for failing to drive in about 16 RISP between the both of them. Then last year only Jeet and Posada played well.

So I don't get how this is all ARod's fault. Not saying that your saying that...but I don't know where fanboys get the notion that it's ARod's job to take the Yanks to the Promised land? It's just a piece of the puzzle. In '05 he didn't hit well during October, but he was still getting on base....yet it was all his fault according to Lupica and others.

I just don't get it...and it's incredibly frustrating.