On A-Rod’s ‘tunnel vision’
ByWith the Yanks in Tampa this week and A-Rod’s arrival at the Yanks’ complex yesterday, yesterday was a great day to check in on the rehabbing slugger. For the most part, A-Rod’s day was largely uneventful. The third baseman played catch, took a bunch of swings and participated in some other baseball activities.
At one point, A-Rod stopped to talk to the gaggle of reporters who gathered to watch him work out. It had, after all, been a while since A-Rod had faced the press, and outside of some gossip about A-Rod’s latest fling, his name hadn’t found its way into the press, bold-faced or otherwise.
There is, it seems, a reason for it. A-Rod is trying to put on his blinders and enact his own version of baseball tunnel vision. “In a funny way,” A-Rod said, “Colorado has been unbelievable. It’s been a blessing in disguise. Not only did I go down there to get my hip fixed, but I also got an opportunity to relax and take a time out to re-think, re-evaluate and re-focus my career and what’s important. It also gives you an opportunity to cut some of the fat. I understand my responsibility and I’m excited to face the challenge.”
There’s an initial tendency to make a lot out of this statement. After all, shouldn’t A-Rod have “cut some of the fat” a long time ago? Shouldn’t he already have baseball blinders on? Does he really need a six-week rehab to gain that tunnel vision focus?
But reality is not that simple. Like the rest of us, A-Rod is human, and over the last year, he’s been through a divorce and some fairly stunning steroid allegations. We expected a man making $280 million to be better than all of that, but it will wear down on A-Rod as much as it would wear down on the rest of us.
For eight months, professional baseball players partake in a grueling game. We call it a marathon and not a sprint, but it’s closer to a slog than anything else. It’s emotionally and physically taxing, and while we sit and enjoy it, the players life out its ups and downs every day.
I appreciate what A-Rod has to say. If he’s truly intent on focusing on just baseball this year — as Selena Roberts’ book comes out, as crowds gear up to boo him — then good for him. But with over 155 games left in the year, that’s a tough claim for anyone to make.
its hard to believe anything he says, but if “tunnel vision” in his eyes means an 07 season, then sign me up
Just get the man back in the line-up and let him rake.
Every time I see Cody Ransom play @ 3rd for our team, my mancrush on A-Rod grows a bit stronger.
Every time I see Cody Ransom play @ 3rd for our team, my mancrush on
A-RodNICK SWISHER grows a bit stronger.do you want to know the awful awful truth? Or do you want to see me hit some dingers?!
Deep down in places you don’t like to talk about at parties, you want me on that hot corner. You need me on that third corner.
Walk softly and carry an armored tank division, I always say.
You know the offense was doing so well I’d forgotten A-Rod was even on the team.
sort of.
BIG year from A-Rod.. mark it down.
Where are all the people who said they would rather not have A-Rod on their team now? huh?
Watching Cody Ransom is painful.
In a secure, undisclosed location.
they are driving away on the swisher bandwagon
cody ransom sucks so they need a different guy there i like berroa
this is the show we call doggie fizzle
what do u mean
Meh, forget it.
Not worth the effort.
Fo’ shizzle bizzle.
Writing and speaking for major media outlets. Somehow still with jobs.
Arods rehab is going well. He should be back in a Broadway show in no time.Let me see those Jazz Hands http://yankees.lhblogs.com/fil.....267219.jpg
arod is good but i just dont like him anymore this team doesnt need his act it needs more character guys like swish
This team needs 24 more Swishers, and one less Cody Ransom.
no argument!!!!!
arod is good but i just dont like him anymore this team doesnt need his act it needs more character guys like swish
I like Swish. You like Swish. We all like Swish (except for mustang).
That doesn’t change the fact that your statement is batshit insane.
We’d all love more guys like Swish, but not because they’re “character” guys, it’s because they’re good ballplayers. You know who’s an even better ballplayer than Swish?
ARod.
yeah, i’m pretty sure Swish’s “act” would grow thin pretty quickly if he was hitting like he did last year.
add in the HRs? the package becomes super awesome.
i know hes good but he just seems to do a lot of harm to the team too so i think we could just win without him and keep all the negativity out
“he just seems to do a lot of harm to the team too”
Wait…ARod tore Posada’s shoulder muscles, broke Wang’s foot, punched Phil Hughes in the ribs, caused Joba’s August shoulder strain and hit Matsui in the knees?
Ok, now that’s a reasonable argument! Why didn’t you say something before!?? Because that’s the only “harm” that has befallen the team in the last year.
To borrow a page from TSJC’s book, all of this is batshit insane.
i know hes good but he just seems to do a lot of harm to the team too so i think we could just win without him and keep all the negativity out
You’ve said this before but never backed it up with anything.
Please show me one, ONE instance of ARod’s “negativity” actually “doing harm to the team”.
One. I beg of you.
ARod’s “negativity” = an utter nonfactor in terms of winning and losing baseball games
his steroid stuff brought negativity to the team how can u say it didnt he also got in a fight with the red sox playrs giving them even more motivation
… none of which caused us to lose any games. None of which caused any harm to the team.
Getting his name in the papers for taking steroids, getting into fights with the Red Sox… not “harmful to the team”. No games were won nor lost because of those things.
they effect the overall mood of the team and therefore could maybe cause a loss down the line
Do you really think what ARod does has that big on an impact of the “mood” of the team, let alone have any affect on how they play? That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. These are grown men being paid a lot of $ to win. They are not hormonal teenager girls who are not going to talk to ARod becuase they are mad at him.
this is ridiculous
Even IF they did refuse to talk to ARod because they were mad at him, would they start giving away at bats because of it? Flub grounders because of all the burning anger inside? Refuse to hit-and-run with him on first base? Drop his throws? Not throw strikes because they can’t stand the feel of his eyes on their backs?
“could maybe cause a loss” clearly outweighs the 6+ wins a year A-Rod provides over a replacement player.
guys, T-Dizzle is, if i recall, 13. just sayin’…take it with a grain of sand.
guys, T-Dizzle is, if i recall, 13. just sayin’…take it with a grain of sand.
That’s no excuse. He’s 13, he should be inquisitive and have an exploratory mind rather than simply parroting the lowest-common-denominator of the quasi-journalists in the NYC sportsmedia.
The fact that he’s 13 makes me more concerned that he’s developing poor critical thinking skills habits.
But yes, I’ll try to take it with a grain of sand.
I’m 13. Do you take whatever I say with a grain of salt?
Nope, with a grain of sand.
“We’d all love more guys like Swish, but not because they’re “character” guys, it’s because they’re good ballplayers.”
To be fair, I mean, obviously we like Swisher right now because he’s been playing so well, but I think it’s silly to pretend people only like him because he’s been playing so well. I’d like more players like Swish, obviously (and most importantly) because he’s a good player, but also because he’s a pretty easy guy to root for. I wish we had a team full of (good) players as likeable as Swisher has been lately.
(So far. Watch, next week he’ll be getting a man-boob rub-down from Biff Henderson.)
Oh, absolutely, I’m not saying that his personality is irrelevant. It’s just not all that important.
There’s a reason we’re all showing man-love for Swish (who’s red hot) and less man-love for Cano (who’s also red-hot).
But the personality is what, 10, 15% of it at most and the production is 85%? Is that a fair breakdown?
And I stand by my statement: the reason we’d all like more guys like Swish is because he’s good. If he was a lovable miscreant who dabbled in LOOGY work but was only hitting .203/.298/.376, nobody would be saying “I want more Nick Swishers!” They’d be saying “What a goofball that guy is.” And then they’d move on with their lives.
Unfortunately, there probably would be some people wanting more Nick Swishers even if he was hitting .203/.298/.376. But yeah, I hear you.
I just… I don’t know. I don’t have the energy to get into this conversation again. But some of what’s being discussed isn’t so black and white. Like… Do I think A-Rod is the best player on the Yankees and wish we had 9 A-Rods in the lineup? Of course, he’s an amazing player. Does that change the fact that I think A-Rod is supremely f*cking annoying and frustrating sometimes? No. Sometimes these things are just so subjective, you just have to let people have their opinions on them. Clearly, as you’ve pointed out, the more important question is whether his personality matters. I just don’t even see the point of touching that issue. Chemistry doesn’t help anyone hit a baseball. If someone wants to think it does, we’re probably not going to convince them otherwise.
But yeah, saying you wish the Yankees “should stay away from him,” a la T Dizzle, is indefensible.
“
But yeah,saying you wish the Yankees “should stay away from him,” a la T Dizzle, is indefensible.”Those marked-out words were extraneous, I wasn’t disagreeing with you. My bad.
exactly…talent and david eckstein win baseball games
The thing about Swish is his unique personality. Of course if we had 24 more of him, I think we’d be more gritty than the Red Sox on a rainy day. That and his act would be no longer unique and would get old fast.
If we had 24 more Swishers, the stock for Skoal would skyrocket and Kim Jones would need a new job.
More like with 24 more Swishers, Kim Jones wouldn’t walk straight for days.
Just wanted to say I love this site. Also, I wanted to admit that I panicked too early about Joba’s velocity. You guys had way more information than me, and were right. As to A-Rod, I get the feeling he will be A-Rod as usual. He will put up numbers and tabloid headlines at record paces.
He could live in a bunker and not talk to anyone for the rest of the season, and he’d still generate more tabloid headlines than anyone else on the team.
THAT IS HOW YOU DEBATE!!!!
You live, you learn. We all do.
Just remember for the future… spring training is rarely a time for panic. There are always certain cases, but for the most part, it is what it is – a tune up.
You need a nice mix of all characters, in my opinion. Having A-Rod back will help not only in the lineup, but in the clubhouse as well. I think guys like Swisher will help A-Rod relax more. Hell, A-Rod can relax right now knowing that Swisher’s starting off the ‘09 season like A-Rod started off the ‘07 season. Once A-Rod comes back, the Yankees lineup will be a true murderer’s row.
i dont think he helps in the clubhouse at all guys i dont think like him all that much
WHO CARES IF THEY LIKE HIM!?!?!? Playing baseball is their job. Have you never had to work with someone you’re not friends with? He’s weird! He’s insecure! SO WHAT!??!?! He’s also great at baseball. If a guy can’t play baseball well because someone else in the same room is a weird guy who tries to hard to get people to like him…then maybe that’s not the weird guy’s problem.
i dont think arod is weird i think he brings a lot of negativity to a team that doesnt need bad stuff going on around it
ARod brings negativity? How? Many, many, many baseball players cheat on their wives. Many have gone through divorces while playing ball. They go to strip clubs, they visit hookers, etc etc etc. We just don’t hear about it DOES NOT MATTER.
We only hear about it with ARod because people like you YEARN to hear the next bit of juicy ARod news to feed your belief that he’s somehow bad and negative.
What, did he use steroids back when he was on the Rangers so that it would come back to haunt the Yankees now??
You think that someone making so much money should have single-handedly brought the Yanks a championship by now, and he hasn’t, so you use all this other stuff to justify not liking him and thinking he’s bad for the team, when really that has nothing to do with anything.
its not about how i feel about him its about how his teammates feel about him and i get the feeling theyre not crazy about all the stuff he does away from the field its that simple
Your only access to his teammates is gated by the media. You have no clue what his teammates think about him.
Even so, if anyone on the team plays worse because of what A-Rod does away from the field, they don’t deserve to play baseball at the highest level.
thats good point but joseph but i still bet we all agree that it would be better for everyone if arod had a better personality or behavior that other peeps liked more
It’d be better because then we wouldn’t have to listen to all the inane, meaningless “news” stories about how nobody likes him. Other than that…I really don’t care. Just don’t care. Let the man do his rehab and hit the baseball. Media, start publishing insightful analyses of what’s wrong with Wang, why managers insist on defining a “closer” role, and what’s up with Jeter’s swing right now, and stop talking to me about all this bull that doesn’t matter on whit on the baseball field.
i get the feeling theyre not crazy about all the stuff he does away from the field its that simple
Yes, they probably aren’t crazy about all the stuff he does away from the field.
But no, it’s not remotely that simple. Not at all.
Baseball players want to win. ARod is an awesome player who does awesome things on the field to help teams win. Thus, baseball players want to play with ARod even in spite of all this extraneous shit because he helps teams win.
I don’t get why you(by you i mean everyone) bother with TDizzle. He’s obviously a young kid who doesn’t know much but likes to make these comments about ARod. Who cares, don’t jump on him, because in the end, it won’t change how he thinks. Just a waste of time.
T-Dizzle says:
April 14th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
they effect the overall mood of the team and therefore could maybe cause a loss down the line
Meh, I guess you’re right.
Fine. I wash my hands of this non-debate.
I think the issue is, as young as T-Dizzle may be, there is a contingent of Yankee fans, sports writers, and baseball fans in general, who proliferate this type of argument. It is the “conventional wisdom” of the majority of sports media/fans. I actually heard Adam Shine say that A-Rod is and always will be a “losing ballplayer” and until the Yankees “wrest(sp?)” themselves away from him they will be relegated to postseason futility.
It’s just extremely frustrating for those of us who can see through the insanity of such an invented theory. The fact that it dominates arguments about player prowess, and HOF canidacy, amongst other things, drives many reasonable sports fans insane.
Oh, without question it is frustrating but I just feel like it is so pointless. I bet T-Dizzle read this comment
http://riveraveblues.com/2009/.....ent-330851
and then said to himself, a team cannot win a world series without chemistry. I am in no way trying to personally attack him but just from what I’ve seen here on this thread…. Oh Man.
So what you’re saying is that Wang stunk to high heaven last night because he hates ARod’s guts? Is ARod the reason Cody Ransom can’t catch a friggin’ popup?
Who cares if the guys like him or not? I don’t give a rat’s ass if he and Jeter hug it out before and after every game, or if he takes Gardner and Melky out for ice cream. The “guys in the clubhouse” know perfectly well that their chances of winning are much higher with ARod than with Cody Ransom. And winning’s the only thing they should care about.
the 90s team i heard got along great a lot better than this team does and look what happened they need good players duh but they also need to have good guys and guys like swisher bring both but arod only brings half the equation
And the 70s teams of Bronx Zoo fame all hated each other, yet somehow manged to win anyway. Your point?
The 90’s teams were FRIGGING STACKED WITH AMAZINGLY GOOD PLAYERS.
That’s why they won. “Clubhouse chemistry” had nothing to do with it. They had the most talented 25-man roster in baseball for 5 years straight.
chemistry is good when you win, bad when you lose…it’s that simple
this isnt basketball, where the interaction between players actually matters…baseball is an individual sport disguised as a team sport…it’s nice for us fans when we see players yucking it up and getting along…but in the end, these guys are professionals, and as long as they go out and do their job, chemistry doesnt mean jackshit
You know what really helps clubhouse chemistry? Winning.
Agreed.
You know what really helps winning? Having good players.
Having good players = winning = good clubhouse chemistry
no its haveing good players + good clubhouse chemistry = winning
You know what would be awesome? If one of the players would come out and say this:
“Clubhouse chemistry for the most part is related to winning. If you win you get along. Otherwise its just an invention of the media, playing on the basist human emotion of trying to idealize athletes into something more human than human, best friends, arm-in-arm who play for the love of the sun and green grass, and the admiration of my four year old. Men who chug ginger ale after each game, banging glasses together and singing celebratory songs while a 14 year-old dressed as a moose does the charleston. And they enjoy weekend team barbecues with cheeseburgers, and waffle fries, noodle salad and miso soup, and hold hands and sing about rainbows and sunflowers, and rain soaked driveways.”
Okay maybe he shouldn’t say all of that, but the point is these guys don’t have to love each other. Honestly the people I work with, who want to be everyone’s friend annoy the shit out of me. If the job on the field gets done, cheemistry tensds to be a natural side effect, or at least perceived as so in the media. I just wish we had one player, who would be frank and honest, and let some of these reporters know that these invented concepts to fill column space are hogwash. Hogwash I say!
its not hogwash its important having good players is also very important too duh but chemistry in the dugout is something that can build dynastyss you need both
Your arguments are tautological.
You ASSUME that chemistry in the dugout “can build dynasties”, and thus any data or line of reasoning that contradicts that assumption must be wrong…because it violates your initial assumption. That doesn’t stand up, and it’s why your argument holds no water. We KNOW that teams can win in baseball without good clubhouse chemistry. We’ve seen it happen.
but it helps the probabiblity
Sigh. No, it doesn’t. There is a correlation between winning and good, happy ballplayers. We know this. We don’t know which direction the causality flows in. However, we also have data points of teams winning WITHOUT LIKING EACH OTHER. Thus, we conclude that, since good players can win without a happy clubhouse, it is winning that leads to happy ballplayers, and not happy ballplayers that lead to winning.
The ‘77-’78 Yankees had zero chemistry and won the WS both years.
The ‘72-’74 Oakland A’s had no chemistry and won 3 straight WS.
Fans think chemistry matters, but players know better.
Ask any player on the Yankees if they would rather have Alex and his baggage or Cody and his no baggage and the answer would be unanimous.
Ask any player on the Yankees if they would rather have Alex and his baggage or Cody and his no baggage and the answer would be unanimous.
I have nothing to add, I just wanted to repeat that to make sure everyone heard it.
can we just stop responding to this guy?
“Fans think chemistry matters, but players know better.”
Ok I was out of the conversation for a while and it looks like it’s over, but I’d like to add one thing to the record. It doesn’t even matter if players know better. Until recently Jorge Posada wanted Joba in the bullpen. They’re on the team and they’re paid to play baseball, not to know what’s best/intelligent/rational. If Derek Jeter comes out tomorrow and says “you know, we’d be better off without A-Rod, his poor personality outweighs his on-field contributions,” that does NOTHING to bolster the argument that personality/chemistry matter. Whether the players know better or not is irrelevant.
wOBA produced on the field >>>>>>>>>>>>> “character” or “chemistry”
Say it with me: Swish is not a great player because he’s a good “chemistry” guy or has “character”. He’s a good player because he’s good at hitting the baseball, hitting the baseball for power, catching the baseball, throwing the baseball, and running. That’s why he’s good.
That’s also why ARod is good. When we win the World Series this year it won’t be because Swisher is a good clubhouse guy or ARod learned “character” lessons from him or anyone else. It will be because our team is full of incredibly talented baseball players who produce winning results on the field.
On the field.
i never said he wasnt good on the field im just saying if hes gonna keep being a distraction with steroids or other personal life stuff then the team should stay away from him
He is not a distraction. The Yankee players don’t give a flying fuck. The only people who care are mediots not in the clubhouse. The team clubhouse has been serene and calm for the past month, but every single member of the organization would probably blow one of ARod’s tranny hookers personally if it would make him comeback today, because they all want ARod’s bat in the lineup much more than they want distraction-free but talentless Cody Ransom at third base.
NOBODY CARES ABOUT THIS. DISTRACTION IS A NON-STORY ABOUT NOTHINGNESS. IT DOESN’T IMPACT THE GAMES, WHICH IS THE ONLY THING PLAYERS REALLY CARE ABOUT.
“Distraction” = meaningless bullshit
“He is not a distraction. The Yankee players don’t give a flying fuck.”
You’re right, but I’m not sure you’re right for the right reason. It doesn’t matter if the players care or not.
if hes gonna keep being a distraction with steroids or other personal life stuff then the team should stay away from him
The team “staying away from ARod because of the distractions he causes” would be one of the dumbest decisions in the history of team sports.
It would be akin to the Indianapolis Colts saying that they didn’t want to let Peyton Manning be their quarterback because he’s kinda goofy and makes bad commercials.
It’s meaningless. You don’t “stay away from” one of the top 5-10 players in baseball history because he’s an attention-seeker who runs his mouth too much and poses for homoerotic magazine layouts. That’s incredibly stupid teambuilding strategy.
Plaxico.
Manny.
but other than that, I think the kid is on the right strategy for life, even if he couldnt replace Ca$hman.
Plaxico plays football. A team sport where team cohesion is much more important than the quasi-team sport of baseball. Moreover, ARod didn’t shoot himself in the leg and thus, get himself taken out of game action for an extended period of time. Up until that point, Plaxico’s on-field contributions still drastically outweighed his off-field distractions in that more-distraction-centric sport of football.
Manny, unlike ARod, is a REAL distraction, but I seem to remember a couple of rings won up there recently.
Two bad arguments.
They’re only bad because they’re wrong…
Anybody or anything that makes an environment less than perfect detracts to it. The question, or his point, is that Arod’s behaviour (back page strippers, front page madonna’s, back page divorce, front page ha!, back page glove swiping, front page steroids) DOESNT HELP!
arod w/o ‘eccentricities > arod w/eccentricities
plus he’s 13, and maybe he doesnt know what VORP means but understands what it means to have a jerk on your team
And one of your ‘aces’ posting a 23+ ERA doesn’t help either.
I’m going to the game on Saturday where Wang is scheduled to pitch. I hope either he gets his act together or the rotation gets switched around. I don’t want to be sitting at the new Stadium in the 3rd inning looking at the scoreboard and seeing something like ‘Indians 12 Yankees 0′.
C’mon now, Wang! What’s wrong with you?
Maybe Wang needs an energy patch?
wang is generally pretty awesome at home fwiw
Man I hope so. Here’s to his first two starts being flukes. Get that ball down. I think two things are wrong.. he’s not throwing over the top enough and his arm is dragging behind his body, causing the ball to stay high and not sink.
Get it fixed, Wanger!
he is, but he looked pretty shitty against the Cubs…
I’m heading to the Sunday game so I get A.J. Burnett; me > you.
I’ll be there too. Plus, we get the return of Pavano, an added bonus (depending on how you look at it).
Holy fuck, are you serious? Hah, that’s gonna be awesome. Where are you sitting? I’m gonna be sitting in the Main Outfield section (left field; section 229).
Serious as a heart attack. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say he’s not going to get the warmest ovation. I’ll be in the Grandstand in left, either section 426 or 430. Gotta double check my seats.
Burnett v. Pavano: They should pass out commemorative 2002 Florida Marlins caps.
woo i’m gonna be there too! if we don’t beat carl pavano, i’m gonna flip a shit…haha
Is it possible that Wang’s troubles are simply because he came back too soon from his injury?
Or that his mechanics changed because the way he pushes off his injured foot changed?
I dont think hes throwing as hard as he used too. Wang has always had bad sinker mechanics days but this seems different. I really hope they dont send him out there again until they know for sure he can pitch. I cant watch that again.
Like any other baseball player Alex says what he thinks you and the media want to hear. With Alex now though even if he does say the right thing it gets twisted into a negative.
This isnt Carl Pavano saying this. Its our best player. Alex always focuses on baseball. He wouldnt be where he is if he didnt.
that’s how he gets in trouble. by obsessively trying to gauge what the press/fans want him to say, everything he says comes off as contrived
only a-rod could make headlines with his announcement that he will no longer make headlines
i love him on the field, but listening to him talk makes me cringe
He sounds just like every other ball player to me.
he’s smarter and more self-conscious than most ball players, but you’re right
I think he is more insecure and self-conscious than a lot of people, but I don’t know that he’s smarter. Here’s the thing…other than a preternatural ability to play baseball, he’s still just the star athlete from your high school all grown up. This does not make him immune to all the failings that other people have.
Joba drove drunk. ARod did steroids six years ago. And HE is the one who gets crucified in the media? HE is the one that Bud Selig makes noise about trying to suspend?
UGUETH URBINA KILLED SEVERAL PEOPLE WITH A MACHETE! And we’re worried about AROD!?!?!
Ty Cobb stabbed a guy.
DAMNIT Tommie!
Jaun Marichal hit Johnny Roseboro over the head with a bat. Roseboro needed 14 stitches.
Ty Cobb stabbed a guy.
UGUETH URBINA KILLED SEVERAL PEOPLE WITH A MACHETE!
Ugueth Urbina >>>>>>>> Ty Cobb!
Another player could say the exact same thing in the exact same way, and because he’s not ARod, it wouldn’t make headlines. It gets reported like it does because of who he is, not what he says. ARod being controversial sells papers, so no matter what he does, it will be spun as controversial. Not talking to the papers? HE’S AFRAID OF THE MEDIA!!! Saying inane bullshit? HE’S SOOOOOO IMAGE CONSCIOUS!!!!!! Speaking openly and honestly? OMG HIS HANDLERS NEED TO TAKE HIM IN HAND AND MAKE HIM STOP SAYING SUCH CONTROVERSIAL THINGS AS “JOSE REYES IS GOOD AT BASEBALL”!
https://mathwithmrflisak.wikispaces.com/file/view/catch_22.jpg
exactly. another player “is not a-rod” because that other player doesn’t have a clinton-esque need to be liked by everyone/hasn’t used up his credibility with years of tone-deaf comments to the press
FALSE!
Another player “is not a-rod” because he doesn’t have the contract of ARod, doesn’t have the expectations that ARod faces, and doesn’t play in NY.
Nothing that ARod has said has EVER sounded more inane to me than anything that other players say. You think Derek Jeter doesn’t need/want to be liked? He just was, because his teams won four rings in five years.
i agree that derek jeter’s “true yankee” persona is just as contrived, and his passive-aggressive refusal to have a-rods back is just another form of jerkiness, but a-rod is not “a-rod” just because of his contract/where he plays. if hanley ramirez signed with the yanks, he would have all the expectations and still wouldn’t “be a-rod”
i love and root for a-rod because he’s a yankee and because an insanely gifted athlete who can’t get out of his head is compelling to watch, i just don’t like him much as a human being
does anyone remember the Bronx Zoo?????
For crying out loud, not everyone is a Derek Jeter.
Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Billy Martin etc.
If I recall correctly THOSE Yankees managed to win a couple of W.S.
Leave the guy alone,last year was not his best…….how many players would take his 08 stats
LET HIM PLAY!!!
Leave the guy alone,last year was not his best……
… And he still led the American League in VORP for the second straight season.
Better stat to judge a player’s season: wOBA or VORP?
Without question it’s VORP. If Albert Pujols leads the Majors in wOBA, yeah, that’s nice; but if he leads the Majors in VORP (as he did in 2008) then you get the full effect of his season as a fucking first basemen leads the Majors in VORP when a short stop had a 30+ HR season (Hanley Ramirez). VORP takes into account leverage and the different replacement levels for the eight positions.
Okay, just wondering what you stat fellas would go by. I’m used to just the triple slash but I’ve been getting better.
Triple-slash stats are fine, just minus the BA.
Doubleslash stats?
Better tripleslash stats: OBP/SLG/VORP?
Or: L/D%? G/F%? K/BB?
Or, reinvent the wheel:
IsoD/IsoP/wOBA?
Right now I’d go with OBP/SLG/VORP… but that’s probably because i feel those are the easiest statistics for everyone to understand while still painting a great pitcher of performance.
Great point.
Nails at his shittiest >>>> normal players at their best
NOT SCOTTY BRO, BRO!!!
Watching Phil Coke pitch last night remind me of Sean henn how affective he was in spring and in the season being a bust so far.
Is tha picture of that “housewife” or is she really that wierd looking?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdF2zqs1bxQ
the last Yankee to allow 15 runs or more in the first two starts of the season was David Cone in 1998.
are you trying to say that this might be the best team in the history of baseball?!
Cone still managed to finish 4th in the Cy Young voting…. impressive.
The human head weighs eight pounds.
(See RAB Commenting Guideline #5.)
http://riveraveblues.com/river.....uidelines/
Dear Alex,
batting stats > words
Love,
Rich