Mighty Quiet at the A-Rod Haters Club

A-Rod's on fire, but both of Schillings pitches might have gone out if Luis Soto was hitting. He was all over the place.
By the way, beware of A-Rod, he gave a very classy and professional interview last night to all reporters, and that may be a sign that our little boy is growing up.

Interesting Note: The NY press did not get on AROD for not getting the big hit in the 9th---they are all over Torre and Mariano


Perhaps the tide has begun to turn for AROD


By the way it was one heck of a baseball game

quote:

and that may be asign that our little boy is growing up.

.....but he still misses those sleep-overs at the Jeters house.

Interesting thought---AROD is certainly putting up MVP numbers but are you a MVP when your team is 2 games below 500 and losing games they should win


I am not a great AROD fan but the man is showing something with this start except that they are not winning


Thoughts ---------

TR - the Yankees are winning imho. I believe last night they were 8-10 and without A-Rod they might be 0 and 10.

CD


Their record is 8-10---that is losing

Arod is the MVP if the voting is done today....No one is even a close 2nd...
Yanks have a pathetic staff right now. They are fortunate Arod has piggy backed them to only 2 games below 500, without him they would have the worst record in baseball.

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Originally posted by TRhit:
Interesting thought---AROD is certainly putting up MVP numbers but are you a MVP when your team is 2 games below 500 and losing games they should win

I didn't know it was awarded in April?

I chopped off some words for brevity - but where would the Yankees be without him?

Watching A-Rod has convinced me more than ever that the major hurdle for ball players at the higher levels is mental. Throw A-Rod a curve, he hits it out. Throw him an inside fastball, het hits it out to left. Throw him an outside pitch, he hits it out to right. His swing seems perfect right now and more importantly, his confidence must be at an all time high. He could hit this way in October as well IF his confidence were the same as it is now imho. There is no denying he is one of the most talented players to ever play the game.

Anybody remember Dave Winfield's post season numbers btw

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
His swing seems perfect right now and more importantly, his confidence must be at an all time high.

Lil Beezer has been keeping a VERY close eye on every swing A-Rod makes. He (LB) changed his swing over the winter and has worked very hard so he appreciates the power and balance of A-Rod's swing.

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
Anybody remember Dave Winfield's post season numbers btw

A-Rod haters? Not me. Wanted him a couple of years ago but the Player's union wouldn't let it happen even though it was A-Rod's wish to come here. He'll look good in a Sox uni next season as Mike Lowell's contract is up at the end of this year. That's IF he is willing to stay at 3rd base, which I'm told he's not.

quote:

Interesting thought---AROD is certainly putting up MVP numbers but are you a MVP when your team is 2 games below 500 and losing games they should win

Baseball is a team game. One player can't do it all. The MVP is an individual award. IMO as of right now Arod is the MVP and no one else is even close.

Frank


For me the MVP is the player who helps is team the most in getting to the "top"

I am not knocking what AROD is doing because he is unconcious right now and who knows how long it will last--everything he hits is a laser

A-Rod won the MVP with the LAST PLACE Rangers a couple of years ago, no?

CD,

I looked it up...

Dave Winfield hit .216 in League Championship Series.

He hit .136 in World Series appearances. Overall, his stats are very similiar to Barry Bonds in Post Season. .208 batting average and 2 HRs in 101 ABs.

Seems like I recall some playoff/series game where A-Rod grounded out and used his hand to try to knock the ball out of the 1st baseman's glove as he went by the bag then, later, denied that attempt. Wasn't that him? Personally, I thought that was pretty classless (both the hit AND the denial) and can't warm-up to him no matter how well he plays.

At least, I THOUGHT it was him...

Yes, that was him knocking the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove in the 2004 ALCS. Classless is strong. Desperate perhaps, but they were in an unusual situation.

kb, far be it from me to defend a Yankee, but have you ever done something reflexively, without really thinking? I think that's what happened there. It was against either Bronson Arroyo or Derek Lowe (one of those blondes!) and the Redsox during the playoffs in '04. I'll admit, it looked stupid when he stood there with his arms out denying it. I think in A-Rod we are watching possibly one of the greatest players of all time. I'm sorry you can't warm up to him, I guess that means you won't get a mention in his speeches when he breaks Bond's single season HR record and Aaron/Bond's career HR record, not to mention his entry into the HOF.

I am not an ARod fan, nor a Yankees fan, but it is hard not to tune in and hard not to root for him.

I thought that Krukie made an interesting point the other night that the Yankee pitchers did not protect him after Dice K hit him with the first pitch. Seemed to have cooled him off a little that game, obviously it had no lasting effects. I wonder what teams will do to slow him down. If you pitch around him you have to deal with Giambi and Matsui. If you throw at him you have to deal with the Yankee pitchers and the way they can hit bats you know they can hit batters.

Okay, I'm prepared to accept the "reflex" explanation for the hit, but are you also offering that to explain his later denial?

Seems too similar to the guy who gets caught on video-tape ripping off the ATM, "That's not me, it's my evil twin, Skippy!"

I'm not disputing his baseball ability and, unless he bets on baseball, he'll likely make the HOF. I'll just have to learn to live w/o a mention in his acceptance speech.

quote:

Originally posted by kb2610:
Personally, I thought that was pretty classless (both the hit AND the denial) and can't warm-up to him no matter how well he plays.

So was Varitek "classy" when he jacked-up A-Rod?

1) I didn't see that (Varitek), so I don't know.

2) I'm not pretending A-Rod's behavior stands alone...I'm sure he's been outdone. So, I'm not understanding your point.

3) It's JMHO.

I don't fault him for it, although I did at the time. He was dead meat at first, knew it and tried to help his team, which was behind in game 6 after losing games 4 and 5. Tek hit Arod AFTER ARod bowed up on Tek over close pitches, after Pedro plunked Karim Garcia I think. Actually the history of bad blood goes back about three or four generations and the subject of numerous books. Neither are bad people. Things happen in games, though. They all kid around behind the batting cage in BP but play tough for 9 innings.

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1) I didn't see that (Varitek), so I don't know.

The future:
Arod in 2007

.355 55hr 160rbi...MVP....LCS MVP...WS MVP...Tells NY press,NYY and NY fan to go S@#$ in thier hat while opting out and inking a very lucrative new deal with the Bosox...Returns to being the best shortstop the game has ever seen instead of being the best shortstop on his team while playing 3b.

I dont understand how this guy can be so hated by some folks in nyc. Aren't wins just as important in the beginning of the season as they are at the end of the season? Even more so in the end of the season when the pitchers are starting to wear down.

quote:

Originally posted by deemax:
The future:
Arod in 2007

.355 55hr 160rbi...MVP....LCS MVP...WS MVP...Tells NY press,NYY and NY fan to go S@#$ in thier hat while opting out and inking a very lucrative new deal with the Bosox...Returns to being the best shortstop the game has ever seen instead of being the best shortstop on his team while playing 3b.

I noticed the boos for Arod at Fenway this weekend were muted and brief compared to the past two years.

Varitek was doing his job, protecting his pitcher by getting in between. Read A-rod's lips. "Bleep you mother bleeper" he said to Tek. I would have slugged him too.

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Originally posted by PopTime:
Varitek was doing his job, protecting his pitcher by getting in between. Read A-rod's lips. "Bleep you mother bleeper" he said to Tek. I would have slugged him too.

The caption I found says He was hit. He was talking very tough before getting a taste of "Heart of the Hide"

I read up on the Varitek incident cited above as illustrative of A-Rod's character. Very impressive...a veritable prince of a guy! Gives me goosebumps to think about it...

He could play on my team anytime!

Give the guy his due. He's on top of his game right now. Tr said it best about MVP. Its takes a whole season and the team should be on top. This is only april, so if the guy slumps later, will many come back and say, "it figures". He's a ball player, he's doing his job to the best of his ability right now and putting on a great show doing it. Because we are inundated with it thanks to ESPNY, we may as well enjoy it. As the season goes on, Pujols and some others will catch up to him, and then the subject will change.

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He is absolutely crushing the ball. His swing looks better than ever, smooth, balanced with batspeed to spare.

ARod worked on two things in the offseason. First, getting his front foot down earlier. Second, he worked everyday on what is commonly referred to as the fence drill. You stand facing the fence, put the knob of the bat against your gut and the end of the barrel against the fence, then swing without hitting the fence. The purpose, so I understand, is to improve the hand path and stay inside the ball. Obviously, whatever it has done for ARod has worked.

Jon

quote:

Originally posted by kb2610:
So, I'm not understanding your point.

My point is pretty simple; don't call him classless yet ignore actions of others.

quote:

Originally posted by PopTime:
Varitek was doing his job, protecting his pitcher by getting in between. Read A-rod's lips. "Bleep you mother bleeper" he said to Tek. I would have slugged him too.

So let me get this straight....

1) Tek says something most likely not-so-nice to A-Rod (I wasn't there, didn't hear it, don't know).

2) A-Rod responds with "Bleep you mother bleeper"

3) Tek jacks him.

So according to some people, it's ok for Tek to talk smack, but not ok for A-Rod to call him on it?



FWIW - I admire Tek as a player and didn't flinch when the altercation took place because it's part of the game. But I didn't go around and call Tek "classless" either.

A-Rod will have his detractors no matter how far he can walk on water, especially since he's wearing pinstripes. It simply amuses me.

quote:

Originally posted by Coachric:
This is only april, so if the guy slumps later, will many come back and say, "it figures".

That's the best-case scenario. Most likely it will be a chorus of "He s*ucks".

What Tek said was "just get your @ss down to first base" after ARod started barking and acting like a tough guy. Not really anything I'd call talking smack, just a catcher taking control of the game as they are trained to and protecting his pitcher.

Not looking to get into the middle of anything, and correct me if I'm wrong, but KB's 'classless' comment had nothing to do with the Tek/ARod incident. It was directly related to the bush league slapping the ball out of Arroyo's hand on the play at first base in the ALCS, which was several months after the Tek thing. Certainly in some people's minds bush league stuff like that is classless, while a simple altercation after a hit batsman is not.

quote:

Originally posted by dad10:
Not looking to get into the middle of anything, and correct me if I'm wrong, but KB's 'classless' comment had nothing to do with the Tek/ARod incident.

Might as well join the fray. You're correct, KB's "classless" comment had absolutely nothing to do with the Varitek incident. Likewise, KB's comments of what transpired in the past have no bearing on A-Rod's current performance (you know...the thread topic). Everybody's entitled to their opinion and KB shared his based on a past incident. I merely responded citing another potentially classless act by somebody else.

Seeing as how there's no right or wrong answer here, I'll let you guys continue your A-Rod bashing without me.

quote:

My point is pretty simple; don't call him classless yet ignore actions of others.

Sorry, Beezer, your "point" is weak. How is it that I've "ignore[d] the actions of others?" I acknowledged that A-Rod's not alone in the department of boorish behavior, that he can be (and likely has been) outdone. So, how does Varitek's behavior factor into this equation...what did you offer it to prove...that somebody's worse? In the final game of the last World-Cup, a Frenchman head-butted an Italian who "bad-mouthed" his sister...I didn't mention that either...so what? Are you looking for some sort of "ranking?" Maybe, they're both jerks.

It's A-Rod's behavior that I can't warm-up to, not his play. I fully allow he's an immensely talented ballplayer likely destined for the HOF...I still think he acts like a jerk. At least, when he's in, he won't be lonely.