Nice to see the Stadium crowd react with a loud ovation for Alex Rodriguez's first at-bat of the homestand. And it was nicer still for A-Rod that he delivered an RBI single on the first pitch.
There were even some chants of "A-Rod! A-Rod!" during his four-pitch walk with two on in the fourth, an encouraging sign that perhaps the fans are, finally, realizing the folly of their actions.
No one, other than A-Rod himself, will enjoy a hot streak more than A-Rod's friend Gary Sheffield. The Yankees' rightfielder has experienced plenty of fan abuse during his career and had conversations on the topic with A-Rod during their time together with the Yankees.
Because of his injury, Sheffield hasn't been around for the recent verbal abuse A-Rod has absorbed, and wished he could have provided some support. "It's good to have someone around who's dealt with it," Sheffield said. "He'll get better from this. It'll make him stronger. New York is a tough place, but he's a tough guy. People don't give him enough credit for that. And he's still putting up awesome numbers."
Not awesome enough for many irrational Yankee fans, who have inexplicably – has his 48-homer, MVP season of 2005 been forgotten so quickly? -- placed A-Rod in a can't-win situation.
Comments (12)
That's why I always laugh when people say New York has the smartest fans. No way.
Wang was terrific.
Still wondering why "captain" Derek Jeter, who defended Giambi last year, hasn't spoken up in defense of A-Rod !
I agree that the fans are irrational. But keep in mind Yankee fans booed Mickey Mantle...
I think A-Rod puts himself in a tough position, when his performance gets worse as the boos get louder. New Yorkers don't like rooting for players that are brittle either physically or emotionally. They don't like being dictated to. With A-Rod it almost becomes a form of unintentional extortion. You cheer me, I play well, you boo me and I can't guarantee anything. The home fans will cheer A-Rod for now, but should we fall out of the race, or fail to win a championship, the boos will be defeaning once again.
"New Yorkers don't like rooting for players that are brittle either physically or emotionally."
Huh? Then why is Sheffield so admired?
Why does every media person lump all Yankee fans with those Yankee fans that are booing. My estimates are far from a majority of the fans echoing boos at A-rod. There are many true Yankee fans who know his worth and the upside when he starts rolling which will be soon. As far as Jeter coming to his defense, this would be a no no. It would show a weakness on A-rod's part. How could the best player in baseball not deal with such a think as booing. This Yankee team absent some stars has been a pleasure to watch. I know Cano can go with the flow of aggressive running but Matsui and Sheffield are not of this ilk and the addition of the two of them could be problematic. This may sound nuts but I would prefer just Matsui back. What are your thoughts on a full scale return of all injured players.
Sheff is not admired by most Yankee fans and will not be missed when the Yanks allow him to leave at seasons end. He is basically considered a mercenary, and really took a PR beating over his spring training "flare-up" with Cashman concerning his contract opotion. Though he is a great hitter, money is always the primary concern with Sheff.
A-Rod- unintentional extortionist
Gary Sheffield - mercenary
Way to support your Yankees, man.
Yeah, that good will lasted until A-Rod grounded out with the bases loaded yesterday. Never mind that the best hitters in that situation get a hit maybe 3.5 times out of 10. Nevermind that Randy and the Pen blew the game up to ugly proportions. It's A-Rod's fault the Yanks lost, because he didn't hit a grand slam that would have put the team three runs down, so they would have lost 17-9 or 17-10. This is just ridiculous. Oh, and way to go Newsday, specifically Wallace Matthews, for writing that inspired column today about A-Rod. Way to take a topic run far into the ground and pile it on some more, because nobody's sick of the whole "A-Rod's Shortcomings" angle, and we want to read about it 24-7.
I heard Cashman talk on ESPN radio yesterday, and he made a great point, that Yankees fans always want to trade for bigtime players, but if they boo one of the top players in the game--and a surefire hall of famer--what kind of message is that sending to other players who aren't nearly as good as A-Rod?
I repeat again, name ONE other AL third baseman you'd rather have than Rodriguez. Hell, name another third baseman, period. And don't give me David Wright, because his stats are nearly identical to A-Rod's save for average, and he's done it for half a season, not 10.
Well lets get past yesterday and move on! I get a real kick out of the two stories posted by Wallace Matthews and Ray Sanchez of Newsday. First, Sanchez states ,"its evident that the yanks need starting and relief pitching". "Hello", we need confirmation from a reporter of something so evident all season. I appreciate the digging involved in this informative bit of Yankee news. Now, Mr. Wallace does his bit to keep the flames going by comparing Tampa's Perez and A-rod in salary and production yesterday. Placing in the story the reaction of the crowd to A-rod's ineffective RBI production. It appears Wallace's non objective reporting or laziness to dig for more newsworthy Yankee stories and inflames media hype onthe on-going A-Rod situation .Wallace's story is in line for a Bronx cheer. If, I was to venture a guess. Wallace is not a Yankee fan more like a small market type, National Leaguer.
I would have appreciated any bit of news about trade situations.
As a Yankee fan, I'm embarrassed when I hear people putting A-Rod down. Bottom line, he's a great ballplayer. The guy still has the numbers, and forget all the garbage about him not coming through in the clutch. I really wonder what the 'fly by night' fans would say if MLB players stopped wanting to be Yankees BECAUSE of the fans. What if Abreu turned around and said, "no way man... the fans are out of their minds and I don't need that." There might come a day when that attitude might be a reality, and then what...who ya gonna boo then ya losers!!! Be a fan and SUPPORT the team, not tear them down to see how mentally tough they are!! I'm sick of the "you have to be tough to play in NY mentality." Instead it should be labeled as "you have to deal with ignorant audience members (I won't use the term FANS for them)if you want to play in NY!!" Get a clue!! It's kind of ironic when I hear the applause after AROD doubles last night in the 4th, tying the game and putting Giambi on 3rd. Save your cheers losers!!! If you can't cheer him on when things are not going good, don't cheer him on when he DOES come through!! Nobody saying nothing about clutch hitting today huh? LOSERS!!!!
I find it odd that so many reporters make it seem as if all the same people who cheer A-Rod are also booing him. Every Yankees fan I know and most everyone I read on all the blogs think booing him is ridiculous. Booing by its nature has a tendency to project. I don't think it takes that many people booing (maybe hundreds only) to create the reaction we sometimes hear to A-Rod's supposed "failures." (like not hitting a five-run HR in every AB). I understand there is a story to report here. But this idea that that he's beeing cheered and booed by all the same people or that Yankees fans in general don't like A-Rod is silly.