By Adam Abramson
Driving into work on Thursday, I heard about A-Rod’s day in the Yankees' 6-4 rubber-game win over Detroit: 3-4, two runs, two RBIs and a home run. Not a bad day at the ballpark. However, Rodriguez filled two lines of the stat sheet that won’t appear on the page: one plate appearance littered with boos and one plate appearance that ended with a curtain call.
As an outsider, I don’t get the A-Rod barrage of insults. I’m not from New York, so maybe that’s the problem. But it has gotten out of hand.
The guy won an MVP award last year and fans have been throwing him under the bus driven by Carl Pavano. I’ve been to Yankee Stadium six or seven times this summer and each time I wished I had a bullhorn so I could yell "IT’LL GET BETTER, ALEX."
It wasn’t long ago that I was part of a fan base with a golden child like Alex Rodriguez. My senior year at Virginia Tech was filled with hopes of the school’s first national championship with Marcus Vick at quarterback. My beloved Hokies jumped out to an 8-0 start and boasted a No. 3 national ranking. The fate of Tech rested on the shoulders of one of the top passers in the country.
When the mighty Miami Hurricanes came to town on Nov. 5, 2005, our prodigal son turned the ball over six times (four fumbles, two picks) in a 27-7 loss. Sure, we were all enraged as passionate fans and many were quick to place the blame on Marcus, but in the coming days we rallied around our quarterback and team knowing much more football was left to be played.
Vick ended up leading Tech to an 11-2 mark and a Gator Bowl victory, which was some solace for a season gone awry.
This is what I don’t understand. The Yanks’ season hasn’t gone awry and everyone is up in arms over a slump. If the entire Tech community had turned its back on Vick after his ... mishap… a berth to the Klondike Bowl in Vancouver could have been very possible.
Considering we’re not talking about peewee leagues, it’s safe to say sports are about winning, not having fun. And because it’s about winning, you need to keep in mind there’s plenty of baseball left to be won.
I guess I am just in awe at the fickleness of so many Yankee fans who are jumping all over a .280 hitter with 27 home runs and 96 RBIs. I know what you’re thinking, "His home runs come at meaningless points in ball games." Do all 96 of his RBIs (which rank in the Top 10 of the AL, by the way)?
The guy is a vital part of the lineup when he’s not slumping and the unnecessary pressure put on him every time a fastball is coming his way or a ground ball is hit to him isn’t helping. I heard someone on TV the other day say "A-Rod has always motivated himself by the fear of failure."
I’ve thought about that a lot lately, and I truly believe it. It’s almost the same thing that fueled the younger Vick. I always believed what motivated him in Blacksburg was the fear that he wouldn’t live up to his brother, Michael.
If A-Rod is a normal human being, like I think he is, the curtain call he took after his home run on Thursday didn’t mean much to him. The cheers from the Yankee faithful don’t mean anything now because the steady stream of intense criticism resonates inside of him, just like it would with any of you.
You better hope that tune isn’t ringing in his ears come October when the Yankees really need him.
The bottom line is this: your open season of insults at A-Rod don’t help the situation. In the three months I’ve lived in New York I have seen that sports fans here are among the best in the world. I understand that much of the anger people carry comes from the passion that makes them such great fans, but sometimes people need to fill the proverbial chip on the shoulder with some humility because it’s actually better off that way.
Then again, maybe you don’t and that’s the problem. Maybe it’s just a New York thing and I don’t understand. At least you still have hopes for a championship.
Comments (9)
It's great to read something like this, and I fully agree. Although a huge contract brings huge expectations and little room for flaws, Arod is a great player who works hard and cares about what he does. Every cascade of boos makes things worse for this guy who probably is much harder on himself than the fans are anyway. Maybe if fans encouraged him (and any other slumping player who isn't a malcontent or slacker) rather than crucifying him, we'd have less slump and more thump.
Years ago, I remember when your team lost, you felt sad, bummed out, dejected etc. Now those feelings have been replaced with anger and rage. I believe it's a society issue. There seems to be a lot of anger and rage in people today, especially the 20 somethings. Just look at the difference between Woodstock I and Woodstock II.
A-Rod's biggest problem is his big mouth...As the Nike ad suggests..."Just Do It"...A-Rod has to have a Derek Jeter moment in the playoffs or World Series before he's truly accepted by Yankee fans !
Poppy wrote:
"A-Rod has to have a Derek Jeter moment in the playoffs before he's truly accepted by Yankee fans!"
Speaking of Jeter, he should suck it up and support A-Rod to the press. Who cares what he said about Jeter in the past, be the better man and take one for the team. He looks just a bit selfish here.
All the way I was reading through this, I thought about what I saw Thursday night as one of the world's greatest athletes struggled to maintain composure because of back pain.
But then something amazing happened. Everytime he fell, or made a mistake, or winced in pain, the crowd around him would just cheer louder and louder, as if willing him to win.
I realize tennis is not the same as baseball -- even if both are taking place in New York. But it's hard not to get overwhelmed when you look at the relationship between Andre Agassi and the crowd that is watching him play.
Nice article. Very well put.
a-rod is the best shortstop in the game playing 3rd. all this nonsense about him not being a true yankee reminds me of a guy named roger maris going up against mickey. this time its jeter the true yankee and a-rod the goat who might just go down as The "goat" (GREATEST OF ALL TIME) the problem being jeter is half the player a-rod is and i think his MVP proves hes a yankee remember donnie baseball never won a ring that means hes not a true yankee. its just all silly rich fans who think they know this sport and have the right to boo. shut up and watch the game cheer when we win and say better luck next time if we lose.
Great article Adam. I agree A-rod needs to do as the song says "A little less talk and a lot more action"
Great article Adam. With what the Yankees are paying him they can demand his best. And that is exactly what he is giving them. Everyday. He plays the game like a true professional day in and day out. He's not a Manny. He doesn’t play when he feels like it. He plays every day to the best of his ability but what people seem to forget is that he is human. He has ups and downs just like everybody else. Its great that someone in New York has the guts go against the crowd and show compassion to a star athlete when he is vulnerable
I think that A-Rod is treated unfairly. Sure he makes 250 million over 10 years. So what! Sure he has had difficulty in the past few post seasons. This is too small a sample size though to say much. He looked really good in previous post seasons to that. Have people forgotten about them?
let's look at the positives. He wins MVPs. He switched from SS to 3rd to an inferior player just to help the team out. He never complains. He never gets in trouble with the law. He is rarely hurt, unlike Sheffield and others. He doesn't take Steroids, unlike Giambi.
So he has a quirky personaltiy and rubs his teammates in the wrong way. His teammates are in the wrong. They need to show him VOCAL support and ask the fans to do the same. Maybe then, the decreased pressure would help A-Rod help the Yankees win another title.