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Curtis Granderson blogs over at Yahoo Sports, and put forth an eloquent post about Alex Rodriguez:
When people ask about Alex, I just remain truthful. He is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. His drive and passion to win are above any individual accomplishments he could achieve. On top of all that, he is an amazing teammate. After the trade, he called me within minutes to welcome me to the team. Other players followed, but he made that first phone call and made me feel welcome. When I came to New York for my press conference to be announced as a Yankee a week later, Alex flew in from Florida to show his support. He has helped me with everything else in New York from hitting to which route is the best to take home after a game.
I think it’s easier for people to get caught up and judge people based on what they see on “SportsCenter,” or read on Page 6 or even here on Big League Stew, but just remember that you don’t always get the whole story that way. I’ve had a lot of teammates in my career when you consider my time in the minor leagues, in Detroit and here in New York. But there is no doubt that Alex Rodriguez is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.
Granderson seems like a pretty straightforward fellow, and I have absolutely no reason to doubt him when he says that Alex Rodriguez is an excellent teammate. As I say every single time I highlight a story like this, Alex is not perfect, and I am certain that he has had some poor relationships with teammates in the past. But everything we hear from the players themselves seems to contradict the media driven narrative that “he will never quite fit in.” That is one storyline that simply needs to disappear.
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12 Responses to Granderson: A-Rod Is An Amazing Teammate
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TIQ IQ
I don’t doubt Curtis either, but it’s also unreasonable to expect him to say anything bad about the guy since they’re currently teammates. More reliable sources would be ex-teammates who are retired, since you figure they would feel free to be honest without burning any bridges. What those opinions are, I honestly don’t know, whether good or bad.
But even putting all that aside, I can’t remember hearing anyone even bringing this up in the past year or two. It’s almost as if Alex’s supporters feel the need to defend him against all charges at all times, even those that are 2-3 years old. He’s a complicated guy, many great athletes (or businessmen/politicians/actors etc) are, and I wonder why people just can’t accept that without having a reflexive reaction.
What doesn’t wash with me is (I think childish) defense that his accusers are all just ‘jealous’ of him. The defense goes that fans and ex-players get all over him because he’s rich, handsome and famous. This is an utterly bogus argument. Derek Jeter is equally rich, equally handsome and equally famous, yet he is almost universally admired among his peers and the public. Efforts to claim ill will on the part of his critics is a weak attempt to distract from his own actions where the criticisms originated. The “Ha!” incident, the glove slap, the World Series post game FA announcement. Those were all on Alex, and if he took responsibility, rather than act like some victimized diva, maybe people would view him differently.
All that being said, he’s been a model citizen since the steroid admission last year. No more awkward, facepalm-inducing quotes. No more imploring fans or teammates to love him and/or accept him. He’s just gone about his business, quietly and professionally, and as far as I’m concerned that’s all I ever wanted from him.
I cant find it right now, but it was brought up by one of the local beat guys last week. It comes up among the fans all the time. It came up when he missed the photo, for one. You may not read it, but I certainly do. Its often a throwaway line in a longer column. If you must see an example, see Lombardi’s reaction to this story in the comments to his blog.
As for Curtis, he volunteered this info. Its not like he was asked, interview style about this. He didnt have to raise Arod’s status as a teammate, but did and spoke glowingly. Means a lot to me.
If you aren’t seeing widespread ARod disdain from many angles on an almost constant basis then you really aren’t looking very hard at all.
Or maybe I don’t view fair criticisms of him as “disdain” as you do. If anyone though Alex was going to hit #600 (or 700, 715, 756) without having columnists bring up steroids, then their expectations are simply unrealistic. If you’re seeing it on “a constant basis” then maybe you’re reading stuff into articles that isn’t there.
Look, if the “OMG STEROIDS!!1″ and “24+1, everyone hates Alex” memes are enlightening and informative for you, then by all means enjoy. I simply happen to find them ignorant, self-righteous and boring. But that’s just me.
Why would ex-teammates be any more reliable? We all seem to think Johnny Damon was a swell guy but if you ask Randy Johnson, he probably wouldn’t say many nice things about his ex-teammate.
Don’t confuse distance with honesty or the absence of an agenda.
ex-teammates (plural)
Obviously, individuals here and there won’t get along. It would have to be something of a consensus. In all honesty, I thought that goes without saying.
I think comparing DJ to Arod in this discussion makes zero sense:
ESPN decided to make Arod persona non grata right after Hicks gave him all that money to go to Texas. It didn’t help that those beloved Metsies were dissing him every chance they had (CYA at its finest). Ever since then-and especially since he went to NY instead of Boston-nobody has had a problem taking a cheap shot at him.
Meanwhile, Jeter is the chosen one, unable to do wrong and beyond criticism. How many people would dare say anything negative about him? Once again-especially after Arod came to NY.
OK, fine. You have the floor, say something negative about Derek. The things that nobody else has the guts to say, according to you.
I think every Yankee fan knows A-Rod is a good teammate. All other fans don’t because of the media. It’s well known to us A-Rod always takes in the young and new players, especially the Dominican ones. He’s been a huge influence on RC, Melky, and many others.
Yeah, I really don’t understand how people don’t see the camaraderie that he and Robbie Cano has during games. That’s something I’ve always noticed in games. It’s just one of the things I guess never dies like Burnett/Posada hate each other. Torre’s book also didn’t help.
I wasn’t talking about here. I was talking about writers and teammates and especially talking heads. Is it your position that the sports media treat them equally?