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Reason No. 5,294 why it sucks to be a professional athlete in New York, courtesy of George A. King III of the New York Post:

Because every move he makes is under a huge spotlight, Alex Rodriguez was asked last night why he doesn't shake hands, exchange fist knuckles or acknowledge Bobby Abreu when Abreu homers in front of him. As Abreu approaches the plate Rodriguez is off to the left side going through his preparation to hit, a program that includes a violent practice swing.

"I have always done that because I don't like celebrating on the field," Rodriguez said before last night's 7-5 loss to the Red Sox in which he went 1-for-4 and 0-for-1 in the clutch to lower his batting average to .067 (1-for-15) with runners in scoring position. "When the hitter in front of me strikes out, I don't go over and pat him on the shoulder."

You can't please New York's media machine. Just to recap, Joba Chamberlain and Jose Reyes are routinely taken to task in the papers for celebrating too much, and now Alex Rodriguez is being ripped for not celebrating enough. What's the appropriate amount, George? Fist pumps are excessive but fist bumps are mandatory? Give me a break.

The most offensive bit from the quote above actually has nothing to do with celebrating or ignoring teammates -- it's the passive aggressive insertion of trite stats in an effort to degrade A-Rod's production this year. Seriously, George, even even Joe Morgan and Murray Chass are laughing at you for spouting averages with a sample size of 15 freaking at-bats. Rodriguez leads the Yankees in hits, doubles, home runs and runs scored, and if you want to talk averages, he's hitting .309 on the year and .345 (29 at-bats) with runners on. No matter how you spin the numbers, he's been the Yankees most productive hitter. Suggesting otherwise is petty.