Thank You for Smoking divx Last night, Alex Rodriguez had a fairly rough game. After an RBI single in the 1st, he grounded into a DP with the bases loaded to end the 3rd, struck out with one out and a runner at 3rd in the 6th, and K’d with a runner on first in the 8th. After each of the last three at bats, Alex got booed. Quite frankly, the Yankees fans in the Stadium booing him and the ones cursing him out on message boards last night should be ashamed of themselves. The club has gone on a tear since his return. While some would point to the fact that the pitching has improved, it is hard to deny the fact that as Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano slowed down, the Yankees did not miss a beat. In regard to last night’s game in particular, Alex drove in the first run, yet got booed in his next at bat. And Pettitte was awful last night and Derek Jeter went 0-4, yet they heard no such reaction.
Yankees fans are incredibly fickle when it comes to Alex, taking the “what have you done for me lately” nature of the current fan culture to a ridiculous extreme. Every at bat that comes with runners on is an opportunity for the fans to sharpen their axes and prepare to rip Alex should he fail. Since returning, he has been excellent in high leverage situations, but to no avail. He has no margin for error with the fans, an impossible standard in a sport where great players fail all the time.
If Alex fails once again in the postseason, boo all you want. He is here to win titles, and he has not come through in the postseason thus far. But to boo him now, when he has been a significant force in driving this club to the top of the AL East, seems petty and vindictive. It is time to treat Alex Rodriguez like a Yankee.
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18 Responses to The Booing Of A-Rod
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TIQ IQ
With the streak we’re on now, we shouldn’t be booing anyone
Agree 100% Moshe.
I am happy with the way the Yankees have played and all but come on Moshe he should be able to get at least one of the runners in in those situations. The Yankees are playing well but they cannot afford to let down not with Boston playing well and Tampa in for four over the weekend. Arod has to come through in those moments because that game last night could have been won-and now we would be seeking a sweep-I know nobody is perfect all the time but Scott Feldman is a guy AROD SHOULD handle. I was disapointed with the loss last night because the rangers looked so beatable.
Of course he should be able to. He played poorly, no one is denying that. But if Jeter has the same game, he would not be booed. I just want some consistency.
That agree with there is a double standard no doubt-My only conerce is the team winning I dont care who comes through-I just hate that it was a 3-2 pitch that was ball four that he swung at-I also have to blame Pettite he totally sucked in the early innings and you cant do that against the rangers or any decent hitting ball club. I am certainly concened with wang facing Blalock and young and kinsler and cruz but lets hope for th e best
I think fans that are booing Arod right now are a pretty clueless bunch. There’s really no excuse for it anymore. (Not that there really ever was.)
I disagree. I’m sorry, he’s developed a reputation in his time with the Yankees of not coming through in the clutch, whether deserved or not. So, in the game yesterday, with them behind and 1 out and the bases loaded, especially with Tex out of the lineup, he gets an opportunity to overcome that reputation and hits into a double play. You could argue that was the difference in the game considering the fact that they lost by 2 runs. I believe any booing after that point was really residual from the double play with the bases loaded. The reason why Jeter et al. don’t get that treatment is that they haven’t don’t have that reputation for not being clutch. It’s plain and simple. I know this is a generalization, but Yankees fans are far more accepting of A-Rod today than they were back before the 2007 season when he was very clutch in the regular season. But until A-Rod consistently demonstrates an ability to deliver in the clutch, I feel he fully deserves to boo when he does not in a tight game. That’s the right of a fan. Something taht I was just reflecting on yesterday was how invisible A-Rod has been the past several games. As far as I’m concerned, he’s become a complimentary player on the team, but Tex is the superstar of the team now and A-Rod is no more an integral part of the team now than the other guys around him, which is saying a lot given how much he’s getting paid.
You make me embarrassed to say I am a Yankee fan, thanks.
Seriously? My comments make you embarrassed to be a Yankee fan? That says volumes about you as a Yankee fan. By the way, I never even said that I would have boo’d A-Rod (I wouldn’t have), I was just defending the fans right to boo.
Nope still embarrassed, but not by you if you won’t boo him as you claim. I jumped the gun there in reading your comment so for that I apologize to you. But I’m embarrassed by the “fans” who think its cool or its their God given right to boo a guy for not producing.
If you want to boo him in the playoffs, or in September, fine, I guess I could fathom that. But a random game in June against Texas? C’mon. Every mistake he makes gets turned into this huge deal, it is beyond typical harsh NY treatment. The guy’s numbers in close and late spots this year are good. Only NY can chew up stars like A-Rod, Beltran, and Wright.
Bet they weren’t booing when he delivered the RBI single early in the game. Guess that wasn’t clutch though.
I’m sorry, but that is ridiculous.
Let me clarify. When I was writing that, I started to type that he was no more a critical member of the team than Jeter or Posada, making a distinction offensively between how I feel Tex is now the offensive superstar of the team and the other guys around him compliment him. I certainly wasn’t comparing A-Rod to Gardner, but the Yankees have so many strong offensive players that saying he is complimentary as a Yankee is far different than if he were on the Nationals. Until A-Rod starts hitting like he did in one of his superstar years, which he hasn’t thus far, he’s not contributing offensively any more than Nick Swisher, is he? If I’m wrong there, please provide some statistics that might support that argument.
Arod’s 2009 Stats:
AB: 88
Hits: 22
2B: 4
HR: 7
OBP: 400
SlG: 534
OPS: 934
OPS+: 143
Sure the average isn’t where he wants it (.250) but this is coming from a guy who had basically no spring training and is probably playing at 75% right now. Those numbers are astronomical for semi-healthy player with just 88 at bats.
Also Swisher is a better player than people give him credit for (OBP-380 & SLG-512). Granted those numbers were helped by his hot April, but for a guy who didn’t hit at all for much of March, that’s impressive. I’ll take the guys who don’t make outs on my team over the guys who get a few more singles.
He is clearly not healthy, has been around only a month, yet is third on the team in OPS.
Another way to look at my comments about A-Rod actually I’m hoping will produce positive results. I think that by signing Texeira, which I was a huge proponent of, it takes so much pressure off of A-Rod to have to be “the guy”, that hopefully it will allow him to relax more in pressure situations (which I truly believe he is not relaxed when the game is on the line) and let his natural ability take over so that when the Yankees next reach the post season he can put all of those horrendous post season performances behind him. Even though Tex has only been a Yankee for a couple of months now, I already feel far more confident when he is at bat in a crucial game situation than I ever did with A-Rod.
Dan I agree with you that Alex can at times press himself in “clutch” situations, or at least it appears that way. Possibly he overthinks the situation and outsmarts himself. Still going by the numbers he’s had a pretty good career in the big spots.