It's turned into a cruel game, this constant razzing A-Rod takes from the home fans. He's expected to be perfect, or darn near close to it, and when he isn't, when he bobbles a hard-hit ball or strikes out with runners on base - and he did both in the first inning of last night's 1-0 win over Cleveland - the mood at the Stadium turns foul. You'd think he was stepping out with Ann Coulter, such is the vitriol A-Rod inspires. ...
They do need a cleanup hitter who doesn't squeeze the bat as if it were an orange. "He's booing himself, too," said Joe Torre, after A-Rod went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. "I don't have an answer for him other than patting him on the rear end. He's going to have to fight his way out of it."
-- Lisa Olson (local sports columnist)
A-Rod apparently is being booed a lot by Yankee fans of late -- I only have radio access to the games and have generally watched the Mets of late. Still, I will take the word of Mike and the Mad Dog, the core of the local sports radio station (WFAN). It is interesting though that they are so concerned about the "excessive" and "over the top" booing from the fans. No, a better way to say it is that it is stupid. I find it stupid that apparently the Yanks cannot survive with one journeyman type outfielder (left) when during the height of their run they managed with the likes of Chad Curtis. But, the crying over the current third baseman is a bit too much.
A-Rod is one of the highest baseball players today, even without taking into consideration the crazy contact the Rangers still are paying off (10yr, $250M ... he played there for only a few years, shifted to the Yanks, who only pay about 2/3 or so of his salary). The guy clearly is a top talent. The problem is that he repeatedly fails in the clutch, including in key playoff sort situations. And, this is what the Yanks are all about. Scott Brosius was no superstar ... just a steady third baseman who was clutch in various cases, including one key bottom of the ninth. You get paid the big bucks to be on the big stage, you are expected to shine in key spots. The guy also has a personality that rubs various people the wrong way. Again, fans take to players they like. This is part of the equation. Finally, the team often has been struggling this year. A-Rod had the responsibility to be among those who carry extra weight. When he makes bad plays or fails in the clutch, playing a significant role in losing games, what should fans do?
The two has been among others who rightly ridiculed claims from the Mediocre Unit on down that the Yanks paid 16M to have the guy keep the team in games and have good games now and again. Mad Dog simply doesn't like the Yanks that much, so perhaps part of this is an attempt to get on the fans. But, what is Mike's excuse? Wah wah! The fans are being mean! Wah wah! The duo says the fans put him in a no win situation. He can play great in the season, but they boo if he plays bad in the playoffs. [The team has gone to the WS once since 2001 and hasn't won since 2000 ... non-clutch play in the playoffs sort of matter.] If he was good, they would just take it as what he should be doing. I say why don't we see him be consistently good in either situation first. In fact, yeah, we need to see some "greatness" -- he is a Yankee ... a star player. It comes with the f-ing territory!
Overall, even if the fans are a bit unfair, given the dry spell they too should be given a bit of grace. Anyway, it is not like the whole ballpark is booing the guy -- sorry, all 55K fans aren't quite that into the game or emotionally tied to what he does. It is a vocal minority who has at least some case to be annoyed at the guy. And, the team in general actually ... though the true problem is lackluster pitching. Tell you what fans -- why don't you just boo Randy Johnson a bit more? The guy's record is inflated because of the bats ... and his attitude is much shittier than A-ROD's. True, it's not his fault the Yanks overpaid (including an extra year) for an aging superstar. But, it's only baseball.
We don't really have to be THAT fair. Keep that in mind boys.
[As to the Aaron Heilman situation, the Mets don't want you as a start, okay? It would take a few starts to spread you out, the replacement options for seventh inning set-up guy are mixed, and so was your brief time as a starter. So, I do not know if your recent hiccups is a result of feeling sorry for yourself (especially after Soler was called up and El Duque acquired ... both doing pretty well thus far), but snap out of it!]