The October (and November) of A-Rod
ByOne of the more obvious stories this October involved the redemption of Alex Rodriguez. Unfairly labeled a choker during the Yanks’ futile playoff runs over the last five seasons, A-Rod responded with an October for the ages. He hit .365/.500/.808 over 68 plate appearances with six home runs and 18 RBIs. He was probably the overall MVP of the playoffs, and the coverage has examined A-Rod’s complex relationship with, well, everyone.
In The Times, William Rhoden penned an excellent column on the redemption of A-Rod. After some shocking steroid revelations and Spring Training hip surgery, A-Rod was the black sheep of New York. But, as the narrative goes, he put that past behind him, toned down his Me-First approach to baseball and emerged a true team player.
Rhoden though questions those assumptions and that narrative. He points fingers at his fellow writers and reporters and wonders who exactly is responsible for the rehab of A-Rod.
Some speculated that it was the finality of his divorce, others that it was the tearful February news conference in Tampa with teammates looking on. Still others said the author of Rodriguez’s renaissance was Kate Hudson.
But A-Rod is not the one who has changed. He is the same guy. The Yankees’ lineup has changed. The addition of Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher have made A-Rod more effective. The addition of the no-nonsense pitcher C. C. Sabathia and the effective A. J. Burnett has made the Yankees a tougher team over all.
The new view of Rodriguez is, on one level, a media-driven fan transformation that reached a peak heading into the postseason, when he suddenly began succeeding where he previously had failed.
Everyone loves redemption stories, but this transformation is more about fans’ desire to have a winning team than one man’s sea change. What’s troubling about the transformation story is that the root of it is winning. For all of our new, exciting ways of delivering games, one thing has remained constant: performance trumps just about everything. When it leads to profits, performance trumps everything.
Says Rhoden, “His clutch performances and now a championship have changed minds and attitudes.” He ends with quite the kicker as he wonders if A-Rod — formerly A-Fraud — was the phony or if the fans were or if the reporters were. It’s a question with no real answer, but I believe Rhoden speaks to the reporters and the talk radio hosts who kept pursuing the A-Fraud story and the fans who would boo him.
Today, Tyler Hissey at MVN’s Around the Majors began to answer Rhoden’s question. He eviscerated a Bill Madden column from February. The Daily News scribe alleged that for the Yanks to “remain true” to the organization’s “relentless pursuit of championships and the fierce protection of their brand,” in the wake of his steroid revelations, “they have no choice but to sever ties with Rodriguez.”
From an economics point of view, it never made sense to doubt A-Rod, and from a practical point of view, the Yankees weren’t going to cut ties with him. That doesn’t stop people such as Madden or Mike Francesa from blowing smoke. That doesn’t stop fans from booing him on an 0-for-4 day and toasting him after a six-home run effort en route to a World Series title.
Once upon a time, the narrative ruled A-Rod too expensive, too self-centered, too into his stats to win a World Series. Now that he has, A-Rod will just work toward his legacy. He has his ring; he has his championship; he has his great clutch October; and he has his fans. The Yankees have him now and for eight more seasons. For that, I will cheer him in redemption as I cheered him all year and since 2004.
I’ve always thought that A-Rod didn’t necessarily change (that much) as a person and that he was probably a decent guy before if not for the media. I see A-Rod admitting to being less selfish and more team-oriented. While it’s true to some point, I sometimes think he’s just purposely buying into these perhaps false narratives just to appeal to the fans/media as he doesn’t really care about admitting/saying things like that after the tumultuous spring he had. Just thinking out loud here I guess.
All that matters is that he had a great postseason and led us to #27 while repairing his image a lot. I just hope these good times continue.
No doubt in my mind that it’s the media that has changed. Once A-Rod got torn down, once he really was revealed to have done something truly wrong (or not, it wasn’t against the rules, Hank Aaron did greenies, yadda, but it was something concrete that most people agree crosses a line), instead of all these vague, unprovable accusations like being “me first” or “unclutch” or what have you they could have their big stomp all over him party and finally move on.
For my part, I don’t see a bit of change in the way that A-Rod handles the media. He’s always been eager to praise his teammates, he’s always said all he cared about was winning a championship, the media just ruled him “insincere” before, whereas now they have this great experience to point to that has “changed” him and somehow made his words true.
i think you nailed it dude…yeah, maybe he put his foot in his mouth before, but i think he IS a good dude, and has been a good teammate too….but the media just never wanted to accept it. Case in point: Bowa was on Colin Cowherd the other day and was saying how Arod is the hardest working player in the majors by far, and he took Melky and Cano under his wing. Colin’s response? “I’ve never heard that before”
Probably b/c his head is way up his own ass
A-Rod… True Champion.
hey could someone post Salty Buggah’s prediction for A-rod for the postseason that was right before the postseason? it seemed ridiculous, but i bet it was pretty sport on
I’m quite sure the prediction was 7 HRs, 22 RBIs
If the prediction had been toned down from downright ridiculous to merely insane, he might have been spot-on.
The lad is simply maturing. A bit late, but that would be natural with someone of his accomplishments in the spotlight since he was a teenager. But time itself, and probably some decent people around him, have helped him to grow out of that “must-be-hero” thing that dogged him for so long here in NY.
Great read, Ben.
“…the reporters and the talk radio hosts who kept pursuing the A-Fraud story and the fans who would boo him.”
Some of my least fave people, right there.
He’s always been a good guy. Anyone familiar with the Yankees has heard stories of A-Rod being the first to openly welcome a new teammate, whether it was a star free agent or a lowly rookie donning the pinstripes. The perception of the media—not to mention some fans and even Yankee haters—may have changed, but he’s always been a talented, hard-working player with a desire to win it all. One who even switched positions so he could better fit on a team with the same goal.
Spot on post, Ben. I too, have been cheering him on since ‘04 and feel my having faith in him has been amply rewarded despite the setbacks.
Cheers to you.
I’ve never boo’d Arod because I’ve never boo’d anyone in pinstripes but I know other people who have and who spent this post season saying “If he does x, I’ll never boo him again.” And I’m keeping them to their word. Because in every single case, he did x plus more. The people I’m talking about are long-time Yankee fans who have never enjoyed having Arod on the team, but they’ve changed their tune now. For good. Hopefully.
But then there are those random idiots who will boo over any thing. I was at the Stadium during a losing effort and the guys behind me were so obnoxious and they were booing everyone because the Yankees were losing and they paid a lot of money for their seats (I don’t know why the Yankees don’t know they are responsible for what fans pay over the face value.).
As the got drunker, the only person they were booing LOUDLY was Arod and got some other idiots to go along with them. I think Arod was the first in the lineup to get a hit and they were booing him. FOR NO REASON.
So now when I hear a smattering of boos at the Stadium I’ll chalk it up to morons like that and not actual fans of the team. Keep a positive thought.
I do think he has a good relationship with Teix and that has made all the difference in the world. You get the feeling they have talked about “stuff” and that Teix has his back. That’s probably a good feeling for him.
Tex and A-Rod definitely have a good relationship. As soon as Tex caught the final out, he made a b-line right to A-Rod, which was kinda cool.
It did seem sort of odd that he blew right past Jeter.
I think it was because Tiex and Arod have never won before, and they definitely had conversations about winning it leading up to the WS and what it would be like.
I honestly think he has changed, and i think why makes perfect sense. Previously he tried to be appear perfect. Anyone who tries to appear perect naturally comes across as a phoney. Once the steriod thing broke, he appearing perfect ceased to be an option and he could be himself, which really isn’t that bad.
Did that help him this post season? Maybe maybe not, however just one observation…
A-Rod scored 15 runs and got 18 RBI’s for a combined total of 33 trailing only Barry Bonds in 2002 (18+16) and Carlos Beltran 2004 (21+14). He wasn’t just good – he was amazing. Actually when he tried not to be perfect, he came pretty darned close…
My bad, “when he didn’t try to be perfect, he came pretty darned close”
The idea that a man’s personality could prevent him from achieving his goals in a team sport — and the fact that people believed it — always infuriated me more than words can express. A-Rod’s delivery on “The Big Stage” is a big part of what has helped make this championship so satisfying for me.
What are Arod’s Yankee post season stats since he arrived in New York ? I don’t think classifying him as a choker prior to his proving he isn’t was unfair. We all remember Miguel Cairo on third with one out against Boston with Arod at bat and a chance to put Boston away. He failed and the rest is history.
I’m curious to see the stats as well, because it’s really unfair to classify him as a choker based on one at-bat. Heck, he had an at-bat in Game 6 2009 with a runner on 3rd and didn’t get him home (granted, the call was ridiculous, but still).
That being said, we managed to win a World Series this year with one of the top 3 hitters on our team (Teix) hitting about .100. I’ve always thought that blaming A-Rod for the Yankees lack of postseason success was stupid … if you’re relying so much on one guy, you’re not a Championship team.
I think alot of it depends on whether or not you believe in the concept of “choking”. If you do then there is no doubt Arod was a choker in Yankee post season play until this years post season. I believe in the concept of choking caused by the pressure of situation, and I believe in other player’s ability to rise to the pressure of the situation, ala Thurman Munson and Carlos Ruiz.
Dalelama, no doubt pressure would impact a person’s ability to hit a baseball. But do you think “playoff pressure” is really that materially different than the kind of pressure these guys have been hitting under their entire lives?
Think about it. You are a 17 year old kid whose mom is a waitress. There are eight scouts in the stands at your high school baseball game. You play well, you will become a millionaire and your mom will never have to wait another table again. You don’t think that’s pressure?
You don’t think there is pressure to try and play well in the minors so you can make it to “The Show”?
My point is, we already know how a major league player will handle pressure by the time he has made it to the playoffs. Especially veteran players. It’s not a new factor.
Consequently, over a large enough sample size, a player’s playoff numbers will come incredibly close to that player’s career averages. The only new factors are that they will be going up against better competition and it will be slightly colder.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Look up the playoff numbers for guys who have had a ton of post-season at bats. The consistency is astounding.
It’s fun to try and find deeper meaning from small sample sizes. But its also wrong.
I’m curious to see the stats…
I checked a bunch of ARod stats over the weekend. For his career, his playoff stats mirror his regular season stats. Overall, he’s as good in playoffs as in the regular season. However, what he basically has had are many spectacular postseasons, and 4 lousy ones. His 05-07 postseasons, as well as 04 to a degree, were really pretty bad, while all the ones before and since have been very, very good.
Which, in the end, kinda mirrors having a good two weeks at the end of may, a bad two weeks at the beginning of june, and a good two weeks at the endo of June.
In other words, it mirrors the ebb and flow a normal season.
In other words, it mirrors the ebb and flow a normal season.
Maybe, but I think his lows were so low that it was a bit more than just ebb and flow. I mean, yes, players go through streaks, but in this specific case, we’re talking about a guy who had OPS or 1.2 or so in many series, and and OPS as low as .230 in another. In his first season, 2004, he was spectacular in the Minnesota ALDS. His overall stats for the Boston series are good, but like most of the Yankees in that series, his performance in those final 4 games of the ALCS was bad. 2005 was bad, and 2006 was easily his worst series. He was a bit better in the 2007 ALDS, but still well below his standard.
So basically from game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, until the 2009 ALDS, he was, both by his standards and even replacement player standards, he was awful in the playoffs.
That’s why fans soured on him, why he got branded a choker, etc.
It was a tough streak to be on. Fans were entitled to be really upset about it. I personally don’t think it was due to any character flaw or “A-Fraud” or anything on that order. I’m sure he was just putting too much pressure on himself or overthinking. Maybe he got some bad BABIP luck accounting for some of it, who knows.
But whatever the case, he’s successfully ‘rehabbed’ himself from this lowest of lows, which is an incredible accomplishment in and of itself.
he almost took too our chance for 2000 rings away as well, almost single handedly
A-Rod’s line as a Yankee: .288/.420/.568/.988
Before this year, he was at .245/.372/.436/.808
I assume these are well below his regular season stats.
Actually, except for his batting average having a slight dip that is more than made up for in an increase in OBP, his overall Yankeee playoff numbers are ver similar to his career averages, which are: .302/409/.568/.977. That’s right, he has the exact same slugging percentage in the post-season as a Yankee as his career slugging percentage. The difference between his Yankee post-season OPS and his career OPS is .011. He is the same hitter he has always been, whether its regular season or post-season. This debate is almost too easy.
Look, hitters are going to 2 for 15 and hitters are going to go 7 for 15. It doesn’t mean they were “choking” when they went 2 for 15. It doesn’t they “found themself” when they went 7 for 15. It just means that in a small sample size, they were cold. And in another small sample size, they were hot.
How we really judge a player is by adding up all the small sample sizes, not cherry picking the ones that help us make our argument.
In his Yankee years prior to this one A-Rod put up a line of .245/.381/.436 for an OPS of 0.817
As a comparision, I used Jeter as a baseline OPS and then calculated the OPS+ for recent Yankees (I used they career postseason numbers, not just Yankee numbers)
OPS+ compared to Jeter
ARod 91
Teixiera 60
Posada 72
Cano 47
Melky 74
Abreu 90
Damon 81
Matsui 115
Sheffield 88
Giambi 112
ARod(Career) 125
Therefore, ARod was the fourth best Yankee hitter in the postseason in his tenure until this year.
fans just have to take the good with the bad, otherwise they ain’t no fans of my team. He’s not the real phony; that be bonds, ortiz, sosa, mcguire, etc
my prediction, assuming healthy hip/season and to a lesser (degree) healthy teammates, he gets triple crown with 40-40-40 at age 34. Boom.
40-40-40? dream on!
You could make a ton of $$ in Vegas betting on that, if somehow it did come true.
Arod was not labeled a choker, he failed in several key situations, in the playoffs in particular. Given his large salary and odd personality the criticism was warranted and should have been expected.
Now did it get out of control, yes it did. Arod was never as bad as some made him out to be. But opposite result was that at times people (including this site) were so ecstatic he would get a single that it was also ridiculous. A person making 300 million dollars should get big hits, it should not be a surprise.
That said I’m happy that arod produced because it helped the yanks win, that’s all I personally care about. Arod does not care about me, I don’t know him personally so I could care less about him as a person. He’s demanded the contract he has so he justifiably will get the lion share of criticism when he or the yanks fail, which is totally fair. Reasonable people do not expect perfection, he simply has to be good more than he’s not. He did that this year, it was about time and that’s all that matters.
I think the addition of Teixera helped a lot. With another big, expensive bat, the expectations of A-Rod to carry the team offensively were lowered a bit.
A-rod is the type of player who can carry a team offensively but he can’t do it all by himself all year around. Other guys in the lineup needed to step up and eventually did. In past post-seasons when he was slumping, I recall the entire lineup had been slumping pretty much but all the blame for the team’s lack of hitting fell on A-Rod.
This year’s post-season was different because of guys like Damon and Matsui stepping up and the added expectation of Teixera to step up.
It’s nice (and refreshing) to see writers call other writers out for things like that. I realize that A-Rod has been a polarizing figure because of his successes on the field and his gaffes off the field. At the same time, the constant negativity that has been perpetuated for his tenure as a member of the Yanks was something that just spiraled incessantly. Let’s hope that we see more of this from other writers. At the same time, it certainly has continued to show just how poor some of the writers are (i.e. Lupica, Madden, etc.). My list of folks not to read grew quite substantially over the last few years.
Bottom line, A-Rod’s playoff performance has nullified the “choker” mantra. At least, it has to normal, sane, level-headed Yankee writers and supporters (who actually thought that in the first place, that is).
SSS be damned.
I think fans have a right to be upset with a player who fails in playoff games, Super Bowls, etc., even if they are MVP type players during regular seasons. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a player who is a star during the regular season to perform like one during playoffs.
Doesn’t mean we aren’t aware that playoffs are short series, small sample sizes, etc. Even if a playoff failure is simply variance and not a “character flaw” as some media accounts of ARod have suggested, fans still have the right to be upset about how he played in the latter part of the ‘04 playoffs, as well as in ‘05-’07. If you wanted to call him a playoff choker, that’s fine with me, to describe those series. Results are what count.
However, overall, ARod has been unfairly treated by the media, and unfairly villified. He was unfaithful to his wife? Well, I’m not going to applaud that, but lots of people have marital problems, and for the media to get on him about that reminds me of something about people living in glass houses. When he gets busted for having 10 kilos of cocaine or trafficking sex slaves, then I want to know. Otherwise, just shut up about his married life. Steroids? Again…I’m not happy about the PED issue in baseball, but how many guys were using? What was baseball management doing about it? Wasn’t there at least some confusion as to how “illegal” it was? Haven’t athletes ALWAYS done whatever they felt they could to obtain an edge? Willie Mays took uppers, right? Again, the press drooled all over McGwire and Sosa in 1998, and then as soon as the PED shit hits the fan, they turn on these guys like a pack of wolves. Making ARod a villian over his admission of PED use is ridiculous.
The guy performs on the field better than 99.9999% of baseball players in history. He works incredibly hard. He has never stopped trying, and he had a fantastic postseason this year. He should be celebrated and called a hero. He’s not a choker anymore. (In fact, it’s interesting that Jeter “choked” more than once in this postseason, at least by standards previously applied to ARod, and it hardly gets mentioned other than in blogs like this one.) It’s time to turn the page and recognize ARod as a true Yankee, a great Yankee, and right now, the best Yankee.
Great piece Ben!
I am guilty of having been quick to boo Alex in the past, skeptical of his clutchness in light of his big contract and not-so-stellar playoff track record prior to this year.
After what he provided the team this past year and the playoffs though, based on all he went through personally and physically this season, I can only applaud and extend him the respect he rightly deserves. Well done, A Rod…
To me this is the litmus test that determines whether someone actually follows the sport, or follows talk radio. The line of reasoning that can ignore his carrying the entire team with his offense in April of 07, which is the difference between the team winning the wildcard and going home at the end of the year, yet makes him the goat for the team’s inability to advance in the postseason, has always astounded me. There are a handful of players in the history of the game that can do what he did that spring; a baseball fan recognizes that, the casual observer cannot.