Posts tagged AlexRodriguez at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Everybody likes to pick on Alex Rodriguez. Talk radio hosts do it, fans do it, opposing managers do it -- heck, even his wife does it -- so I guess I'm not surprised to see Donald Trump join the fun:

Trump was in Arkansas on Thursday to speak at the Economics Arkansas luncheon. According to arkansasbusiness.com, Trump talked about Rodriguez, a three-time AL MVP who has been criticized for his perceived inability to come through in important situations.

"He always plays bad under pressure," Trump was quoted as saying. "Derek Jeter, he's the greatest. People love Derek Jeter. Are those cameras on? This is going to get broadcast back home. Oh, now he'll leave my building."

This seems like a good place to remind everybody that Jeter hit just .176/.176/.176 in the playoffs last year, has a .699 OPS thus far this season and hasn't hit a home run in nearly eight months. A-Rod, meanwhile, OPS'd .820 in the playoffs last year .913 in close and late situations the last three years. But shucks, Jeter's the greatest! If I want advice about real estate (or picking up women half my age), I'll listen to Trump. But when it comes to baseball (and hair), take his comments with a grain of salt.

Ozzie Guillen isn't known for his apologies. In all, he actually refuses to apologize about most things, whether they be foul, self-pitying outbursts, or this blow-up doll nonsense. Guillen is not a man of few words. It's just that those words are never "I'm sorry."

But! In a sheer plot twist, Guillen does want to confess one thing he's sorry about: questioning Alex Rodriguez's national ties before the World Baseball Classic (via BBTF):

"I don't feel guilty about anything,'' Guillen said Wednesday. "The only regret I have was A-Rod (Yankees star Alex Rodriguez), making that kid suffer. I was telling the truth, but I didn't have the right to put that kid on the spot,'' Guillen said Wednesday. "That was a (bleep) thing on my part; that was low-class. That's why I apologized. I never start anything. I started it with Alex, and that's why I regret it. Everything else, (heck), no, because I know I was right.''

Judging by this timeframe, Carol Slezak can expect an apology for the blow-up doll shenanigans in approximately 2010. Chicago, for the accusation that they treat the White Sox like a female dog, will probably have to wait until 2011 or 2012; more than one apology every two years is not feasible. Sorry. (Whoops.)

THIS

IS WHERE THE POWER LIIIIIIES

Join host Mel Allen as he takes a look back at the stories that mattered in the world of Major League Baseball this week on "This Week in Baseball," conveniently presented in the form of a chatroom transcript for those of you reading AOL Sports' "Fanhouse" blog, and presented in HD on certain cable systems you live nowhere even close to getting.

/TWIB opening music

The Yankees are riding out a stretch without two key bats in the middle of the order. Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are linchpins to the team's plans and without either one of them a return trip to the playoffs seems unlikely. But if you had to choose one or the other to be in the lineup, it would have to be A-Rod. Whatever his problems in the hospital, he's a more productive hitter than Posada and more able to make a singular impact on a pennant race.

Since they're still playing baseball with nine a side, though, they'd be much better off with both of them. Phil Pepe, writing for the YES Network's web site, disagrees. He's under the impression that the team misses Posada more than Rodriguez.
Note to Pepe: Posada was on every one of those teams with A-Rod. By that reasoning, the guy they really miss is Luis Sojo, with whom the Yankees won four World Series and six pennants. Pepe's transitive reasoning isn't his only foray into bold, nonsensical statements.


Simply put, neither of those dogs is gonna hunt.

Alex Rodriguez isn't clutch. Regardless of truth, the preceding has been trademarked by baseball fans everywhere.

Old news, at least until we find out that his issues under pressure seep into the off-field parts of his life. According to his wife, Cynthia, A-Rod's issues in the ninth inning have nothing on his performance during the birth of their daughter. She spoke to the YES Network and Peter Abraham has the transcript about how Rodriguez responded to the onset of labor.

"Uh, and the color came back to his face when I told him he could call my mom. And then forget it. I was like not even having a baby; he was the one. The one nurse had a cold cloth on his head. The other nurse had the blood pressure on his arm. And my mother was like rubbing his back. And he is passed out on a couch. And I am there, in the middle of labor. And really, I am not being paid much attention to besides the doctor and a couple of nurses. And he is there moaning. In between pushing, I am going, 'Honey, are you OK?' And are you breathing? Are you OK?' "

Sheez, imagine what she might have said if he hadn't ponied up with some ice after that muscular she-male incident in Toronto.

Scott Brosius, on the other hand, delivered all of his kids at home, cut the cord and then, while breast feeding, hit a three-run homer to beat the Red Sox. That's why he's a true Yankee.

The Yankees are treading water in the AL East, sitting in fourth place with a .500 record. They're only two games out of first place, but their quest to catch up to the Red Sox became a bit more difficult today following the news that Alex Rodriguez's strained quad was serious enough to require a trip to the 15-day disabled list.

For the Yankees, bad luck is nothing new: Jorge Posada's shoulder recently put him on the DL for the first time in his career, and setup man Brian Bruney was (most likely) lost for the season after injuring his foot.

Unlike when the team suffered a rash of muscle injuries a year ago, there's not really a common link to the Yankees' bad luck right now. It's the type of stuff that happens to every team sooner or later, just usually not all at the same time. As much as Yankees fans harp on A-Rod, they'll probably start to appreciate him a little more now that they're expected to get a steady dose of Morgan Ensberg and his .569 OPS over the next couple of weeks.

So Kyle Farnsworth can't get enough of the violent video games, huh? I certainly wouldn't have guessed. I had him pegged as an Animal Crossing sort of guy. Or actually, I think I see the reflection of Madden '93 in his glasses.

This news couldn't have come at a better time. Today, of course, is the day Grand Theft Auto IV launches. They call it "Grand Theft Auto IV" because it's packaged with an intravenous drip so you don't have to move from the couch while playing. I'm about to go over to a friend's house and play it. I'm just going to jack a motorcycle, ride it straight until it hits something, die, and repeat for the next few hours. If I want a story, I'll read a book, and I wager that Mr. Farnsworth would agree with my sentiment.

Today's Dugout is after the jump.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

The season is still very young, but the Cubs look very good. Two rookies -- right fielder Kosuke Fukudome and catcher Geovany Soto -- have them looking more like a 90-win team than the 85-win version that won the NL Central last year.

Fukudome arrived with great fanfare, hitting a game-tying three-run home run in the ninth inning on Opening Day at Wrigley Field. Soto, though less heralded, has been even better than Fukudome. He has more home runs and RBI than his Japanese counterpart, as well as a higher batting average and slugging percentage.

Chicago manager Lou Piniella, speaking with reporters before Friday night's game against the Nationals, made no secret of who he would pick for NL Rookie of the Year if it ends up coming down to Fukudome and Soto (and even though that's a long way off, it's a very real possibility.)

"I don't consider Fukudome a rookie. I didn't really consider Ichiro a rookie when I was in Seattle either," said Piniella. "It'd be like sending Alex Rodriguez to play in Japan and having him win Rookie of the Year over there. ... [Fukudome's] a seasoned professional baseball player."

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Chicago White Sox (11-9) vs. New York Yankees (12-10) - 8:11PM Est.

Any minute now, Hank Steinbrenner is going to be on a New York radio station demanding that Brian Cashman trade Alex Rodriguez as soon as possible, because "that overpaid bastard has been holding us back! Anybody that would keep him on their team is an idiot! Joba Chamberlain should be playing third! Now bow down before me and kiss the rings, bitches."

Then when Brian Cashman says that Alex is a great player, and that there's no way the Yankees will trade him, Hank will have him shot in Times Square while hundreds of teenagers who were just there hoping to catch a glimpse of Miley Cyrus in the TRL studios or something will scream in horror. It's going to be pretty awesome.

The reason for all this? Well, the Yankees are looking to complete their first three-game sweep of the season, and they've won the first two games of their series against the White Sox without Alex Rodriguez in the lineup. He won't be back today either.

As tough as Boston's early stretch this season was, the Yankees have had it nearly as bad. They're in the midst of a stretch where they play two games in 20 at home, they've lost their top two catchers to injury, and while their young pitching struggles, they've had to play the last week without dominant setup man Joba Chamberlain as he tends to his ailing father in Nebraska.

That's forced manager Joe Girardi to tinker constantly with the bullpen and the lineup (see below). The good news is that Chamberlain has returned. His father was taken off the ventilator last night and he flew back today to rejoin the team. He received a warm welcome from the horde of Yankee fans assembled here at Camden Yards.

The bad news is that Girardi might be down another reliever soon. He was incensed by Major League Baseball's three-game suspension of reliever Kyle Farnsworth, who threw -- intentionally or not -- behind Manny Ramirez's head Thursday night. Girardi told me and the other reporters assembled during the Yankees' pre-grame stretch that he was "shocked" by the decision to discipline Farnsworth, adding "I just don't understand why he was suspended to begin with."

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.

Last night, the New York Times reported the feds would ask Jose Canseco who this "Max" character was -- the dude in Jose's latest book he linked as a steroid supplier to Alex Rodriguez. The meeting is slated for Tuesday. However, according to Sports Illustrated, they've already tracked down "Max." His name? Joseph Dion.

And he's not buying what Canseco is selling.

"That's really, really funny because I am the one person that hates steroids," Dion said. "I'm against it 100 percent. And, A-Rod, at the time that I trained him -- and this I swear to God -- was 100 percent against steroids. He was one of the hardest working guys, and most natural guy, that I've met in my life. He hated steroids. We talked about it."

[ ... ]

On Friday, Canseco returned a call from SI regarding Dion's claim but said, "Ask him to call me. I want to talk to him before I comment on it." An associate close to Canseco confirmed that Dion is "Max" in the book.

When Jose Canseco rush delivered his second juicy, gossipy, hey-everyone-look-I'm relevant-again steroid book, Alex Rodriguez was his biggest name implicated in some naughty PED business. Canseco didn't necessarily say he saw Rodriguez take anything, or that he himself injected Rodriguez -- just that he referred A-Rod to a dude named Max who had the hookup.

That's all we got: Max. (Probably not the dude's real first name.) No last name. No nothing, really. But that might all change Tuesday when federal agents have a nice little chat with Jose.

In particular, federal authorities want to know the identity of a steroid distributor that Canseco said he introduced to Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, according to a lawyer familiar with the matter.

It will be of interest o see just what Canseco reveals. Who knows if it will amount to anything. But think of this: what if Canseco provides a name of this dude and he corroborates Canseco's claims? And then the feds go to A-Rod next?

Could get interesting. Could get dicey. Yessir, it certainly could.

A New York personal injury firm obtained the domain name HomeRunLegal.com and claimed they were the official legal sponsor of the Yankees. The online ABA Journal shows a screen shot of how the website used to look like and says:

The site featured a photo of Yankee Stadium, a baseball emblazoned with the firm's name, and a clipboard listing "Today's Lineup" with such power hitters as "Mesothelioma & Asbestos Injuries," "Car and Motorcycle Accident Claims," and "Construction Accidents."

Clever. I guess horrible illnesses and disfiguring accidents hit behind A-Rod.

After hearing about the website, the team got the firm to take the Yankee name off of it. (Hey, that's relatively tasteful personal injury law firm advertising. Compare it to the YouTube above. Yup, that's from an actual attorney).

The firm claimed that they mistakenly believed that they had the rights to put the Yankees information on their website due to a radio station advertising deal. The article notes that though the Yankees do not sponsor personal service firms, they are sponsored by China's largest dairy. Funny where the Yankees draw their sponsorship lines.

Who do you think the perfect sponsor for the Yankees would be?

In the wake of Derek Jeter's quad injury and subsequent necessary bench time, there has been plenty of discussion about who should replace him while he's out. Since Wilson Betemit and Morgan Ensberg are both capable of playing third base there was some speculation of whether Alex Rodriguez might see some playing time in his old SS post, which brought up the question/debate over whether Jeet of MVP-Rod is the better shortstop. In the posty I wrote about the situation I contended that A-Rod is the better of the two by a miles, a view commenter Ben did not agree with:

A Rod is an excellent fielder but he is not now nor was he ever as good a shortstop as Jeter. To suggest that he is only means that you have not been watching them play.

I disagree.

So do the stat-heads... and pretty much anyone that has ever watched A-Rod play shortstop.

Yes, Jeter makes some pretty plays; the famous leap-twirl-throw-in-the-air move is always fun to watch. The problem is, he has no range. As Sarah from UmpBump explained:

Last year, Derek Jeter ranked in the bottom half of major-league shortstops in fielding percentage, put-outs, and assists. He ranked second-to-last in range factor. He was dead last-in all of baseball-in zone rating. In fact, the only stat in which Derek Jeter even ranked in the top ten of MLB shortstops was double plays.

So I ask of thee, Ben and other Jeter supporters, defend yourselves! Show me some proof... and not just a YouTube video of Jeter making that running grab into the stands to get the foul ball a couple years ago.