They say baseball is a game of failure, which explains why Alex Rodriguez is the highest-paid player in the game.
For the remainder of the season, I will do my best to chronicle the failures of A-Rod. As the Yankees win, it will undoubtedly be in spite of his efforts.
Last night, riding a wave of stellar starting pitching, the Yankees were cruising yet again, up 5-1 on the strength of another solid, seven-inning start from AJ Burnett.
In his first first four at-bats, A-Rod grounded into a force play to end an inning; walked; went down looking with two on and one out (he argued the call but it's where to ball crosses, not where it's caught, jerk) and flew out to right with two on and two out, ending another inning.
When Rodriguez took his fifth at-bat (fourth official) the Yanks were in cruise control and any more scoring was insurance. And so, A-Rod doubles in two runs. Which were immediately answered in the bottom of the inning.
Of course, the Yanks tacked on four more in their ninth, making the game a rout, but it was over in the sixth.
Once again, A-Rod's failures were overshadowed by brilliant pitching, and frankly, a Tampa team playing to its potential.
Last year was a fluke. James Shields, "Big Game James" indeed, pitched the way he should. Nine hits and five runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Final thought about the Rays: Check out the S.I. article about Carl Crawford and his "phonebook" thighs. Really? Went with "phonebook" as the adjective ... I would have gone in a different direction.
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From the New York Post....
July 23, 2009
A-Rod clutch this year
By JUSTIN TERRANOVA
"It's an A-Bomb! From A-Rod! And the Yankees now lead 13-2."
That's not an exact John Sterling quote, but for sure the Yankees' play-by-play man has uttered something similar to that many times. A lot has been made of Alex Rodriguez's penchant for coming through when the Yankees need it least.
But this year has been a different story for the Yankees slugger, who missed the first 28 games of the season with a hip injury.
Ten of A-Rod's 19 home runs have either put the Yankees ahead or tied the game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Twelve of those 19 home runs have come in one-run games, and one has come in a game where the margin has been greater than four runs.
With two outs and runners in scoring in position, Rodriguez is hitting .265, which is not great but is eight points higher than his .257 overall average. And his on base percentage in those situations is .479, which shows trust in his teammates and to not put all the pressure on his own, much-maligned shoulders.
In those 28 games played without Rodriguez, the Yankees were 13-15. Since he joined them in Baltimore on May 8, the Bombers are 44-22, the best record in baseball, which has pushed the Yankees past the Red Sox to the top of the AL East.
Yeah, I read that too.
You know what they say: "Lies, damn and statistics."
I can think of a recent home run that tied the game for the Yanks, that blooper to rightfield off Verlander, tying the game at 1-1. The Yanks won that game, 2-1 I think.
This story smacks of A-Rod apology. He's making $27 million per, is a total cancer, but look, look at this stat. See this justifies his salary.
Fact is, he fails, and he fails in big spots. And for him, every at-bat is a big spot, fair or not.
The Yanks tallied that first-inning run last night. A-Rod came up with one on and one out. To the wife says I, looking over my book, "Oh, here comes a groundball double play." And lo, 5-4-3. Wish I had been specific.
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