Big Mike: The Silver Lining

AJ, I’m as disappointed as you surely are that the Yanks won the Series last night. But I’m a lifelong depressive who has learned to seek out positives, no matter how small they may be, in any discouraging situation. So I’ll say this — I’m really happy for Alex Rodriguez.

He may be the most misunderstood player in the bigs since…, hell, I don’t know…, since I became a fan in 1967. All he ever did wrong was sign a contract for a quarter of a billion dollars back in 2001. That is, that was his only sin before he was outed in the steroid witch hunt just this past spring.

Yankees fans have treated him as if he’s the guy who mutated the Swine Flu into a human malady. Or as if he implied that Iraq was a half hour away from blowing up Manhattan with one of its ghost nukes.

He’s been portrayed as selfish and a choker. Puh-leaze!

From reasons I can’t fathom, New Yorkers have compared him unfavorably to Saint Derek Jeter. Guys like Tim McCarver have watered and fertilized the Jeter myth that he’s some kind of uber-human, a player who transcends the game with his grit, his desire, his smarts, his devotion to his team and so on ad nauseum. Don’t get me wrong, I think Jeter’s a Hall of Famer-in-waiting. But he can’t now nor could he ever hold either A-Rod’s bat or his glove.

When Brian Cashman brought Rodriguez and his wheelbarrow of cash over from Texas in 2004, he was already the greatest shortstop in the history of the game. Not Wagner, not Ripken, not Banks, not Smith — Alex Rodriguez.

Unfortunately, the beatification of Jeter had begun years before that. But Jeter, although the second-best shortstop in the game at the time, already was seen as lacking in range  by us stat geeks of the world. The right move — and, no doubt, the move Cashman had in mind — was for Jeter, then aged 30, to switch to second base and together with A-Rod form the best double play combination ever.

Did Jeter do that? Hell no! I’m the captain of this team, Jeter hollered, as Rodriguez was  modeling pinstripes for the media. This is my team. I’m not moving for anybody!

Hell of a team player, no? What did A-Rod do? Did he bitch and moan and say, Hell, I’ve won Gold Gloves, I’ve won an MVP (for a last place team, no less), I hit 50 homers a year, I oughta be the shortstop of the New York Yankees? Uh uh. He moved to third base. He had to learn a new position and didn’t complain about it. He struggled a bit but finally got the hang of it. Four years later he only turned in the greatest season any third baseman ever has.

For that New Yorkers have branded him selfish and a choker. Dopes.

Let’s take a quick look at this purported choker’s post-season production. After all, the playoffs is when the real men shine, right? That’s what they say about Saint Derek.

Over 54 post-season games, Rodriguez has smacked 13 homers, driven in 35 runs, batted .302, and posted a .568 slugging percentage and a .409 on-base percentage for a robust .977 OPS. Yeee-owww! That’s in October (and, this year, November), when the eyes of the world are upon him and he’s facing the best pitchers.

Derek Jeter? Mr. November? The god of clutch? The greatest man ever to stride the Earth? In his 138 post-season games, he has batted .313, slugged .479, gotten on base at a 38 percent clip. Good numbers…, no, great numbers, especially for a shortstop. Still, they’re not A-Rod numbers.

So what’s the problem with Rodriguez? Nothing. But as long as the Yanks failed year after year to win the World Series, spoiled and demanding New Yorkers had to blame someone. May as well have been the guy with the quarter-billion-dollar contract.

No more. He’s now a champion. Of course, in my mind he’s always been.

AJ: Ten (Of Many) Reasons I Hate the Yankees

(I cannot express – in one blog – how and why I hate the Yankees.  It’d require a book to describe the Bombers’ traumatic impact on me.  So, I’m limiting this to a few snapshots as I try to endure the 2009 Yankees, who I dread, will win it all).

1.  Let’s start with the uniforms.    That’s right.  I HATE the home Pinstripes.  They symbolize the corporate, serious, dull, businesslike nature of the NY Yankees.

2.  The Yankees are a monopoly.    The Yankees are Exxon, Mobil, GM, Lockheed. THE BANK of Major League Baseball.  They’re the only team that ALWAYS has unlimited resources to get what they need to win a championship.  The Yanks are the ONLY team that could go out and spend a guaranteed $423.5 million to sign three players prior to the 2009 season:  C.C. Sabathia – 7 years, $161 million;  A.J. Burnett – 5 years, $ 82.5 million; and, Mark Teixeira – 8 years, $180 million.  These players have all performed well, helping the team to a likely World Series win.  (The Red Sox  have dough, but, they’re NOT  in the Evil Empire’s league!)

3.  The Yanks have, essentially, an All-Star team every year.    It’s boring and sickening to watch an All-Star team beat up on lesser opponents every damn year.  In many seasons, there are, literally, more Yankees who are present or former All-Stars, but, those who aren’t All-Stars could be.  So, in 2009, if Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and A-Rod are indisputable All-Stars and among the VERY BEST hitters in baseball, consider the rest of the Pinstripes’ lineup:  Robinson Cano?  He’s a scary .320 hitter (25 HRs, 204 hits) with a beautiful swing who bats 7th!  Johnny Damon?  Not chopped liver, either.  Damon, a bit older, is still a great clutch, contact hitter who fouls off pitches with the best of em.  Posada?  A proven, top-notch, clutch hitter for years.  Matsui?  Still a terrific hitter (28 HRs, 90 RBI) who’s hard to strike out.  Let’s see:  That leaves their 8th and 9th hitters:  Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera, who, though overlooked, are both very good hitters.  Every Yankee player is a GOOD hitter.  Seven of their nine hitters hit more than 20 HRs in 2009, and, an 8th, Jeter, hit 18.  This is not a normal, likeable team.  It’s a MACHINE of overwhelming, overpowering efficiency.  I want to throw up.  Is this team on a level playing field with the others?  NO–OO–OO !!  It’s like the NBA “Dream Team” of years ago playing today’s New York Knicks.

4.  The Yankees represent conformity, conventionality – The Status Quo.   The Yankees do not change.    They always have the upper hand.  They’re always in control.  To me, they’ve gradually become a symbol of the larger forces in life we’re all struggling to overcome — the demands of an employer you hate, the fight against time, being unable to find a parking space in Boston.  (OK, this is my neurosis…sorry)

5.  The Yankees are HUMOR-LESS.     They’ve always appeared too serious.  From Paul O’Neill’s tantrums at the plate to many of them whining constantly about called strikes.  The other night, FOX announcer Joe Buck told the audience – again – the now-familiar story of how Nick Swisher has brought “a levity” to the Yankee clubhouse.  I’ve been hearing this damned Swisher story all year!  What – did the Yankees not know how to laugh until Swisher’s arrival?  Then, there’s A.J. Burnett’s well-known routine of slapping a pie in the face of any Yankee being interviewed on TV about their game-winning heroics.  It’s not spontaneous.  Burnett, a mean-looking, somber dude on the mound, has done this every time, predictably.  My reaction:  It seems like the Yankees are dull-ly “going through the motions” even with the fun stuff!

6.  The Yankees are obnoxiously cocky on the field.      I’m just sick of watching Cano chewing gum in the on-deck circle;  Jeter smiling as he stands on first base with his 2000th single or the endless “team conferences” on the mound, when we see the pseudo-huddling around the manager.  What a bunch of showboats.

7.  Joba Chamberlain.      I can’t stand this guy.  He’s a talented kid who acts like a cocky punk at times.  I say that because he’s got a bad habit of throwing the ball at batters sometimes.   From Aug. 2007 through July, 2008,  Chamberlain threw the ball at Red Sox 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis FOUR times, forcing him to hit the dirt to avoid being hit.  In the first 2007 incident, Chamberlain threw consecutive pitches that went behind Youkilis, and later, MLB suspended him for two games.   In 2009, he appeared to throw the ball deliberately at Jason Bay, hitting him in the back after Bay had hit a home run off him earlier.   He hit Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria in 2009, and, that later prompted a retaliatory pitch against a Yankee.   Who the hell does Chamberlain think he is?  He’s lucky he has not been suspended more, if you ask me.  Beyond that, he acts like he’s pitched for 20 years – when he celebrates his strikeouts with prolonged spin moves for the cameras.   I’m glad the Angels spanked a few hits off Joba in their one win.  He’s gotta grow up.

8.  Yankee fans.        I’m straying, but, I’ve always been puzzled how they can get excited about rooting for the Pinstripes.  Where’s the suspense?  To me, often it seems like rooting for the bullies to beat up the elementary school kids.  Where’s the intrigue?  Is “Mo” going to pitch 3 or 4 outs?  Is A-Rod or “Tex” going to hit a HR?  I couldn’t root for THE BANK.  (Let me try:  Let’s make more profits.  Hip-Hip-Hooray!!)  

9 & 10)  Personal grief.        Simply, the Yankees have caused me an inordinate amount of stress, shock, anger, sadness and disgust. 

Two lowlights:  First, when, in Oct. 1978, the Yankees won the one-game playoff with the Red Sox at Fenway Park.   Yes, I was at the the Bucky (“Fucking”) Dent game;  in fact, my group was among the last, stunned fans to leave the park.  It had been one of the only years in my life the Red Sox had had good pitching, which attracted a Sports Illustrated cover story.   Jim Rice was on fire.  Yet, despite the Sox’ 14-game lead at mid-season, the Yankees came back and overtook the Sox during a Labor Day series forever remembered as the “Boston Massacre.”  (I sat in the bleachers with friends for the 15 – 3  loss)  Miraculously, the Sox then won 13 of their last 15 games, ending tied with the Yanks, forcing the playoff game, which ended with Yaz popping up vs. “Goose” Gossage with the tying and winning  runs on base.  I was crushed, and that one took days to get over.   Second, the Grady Little game, Game 7 of the 2003 ACLS.  Pedro Martinez,  my all-time favorite, had pitched a beauty over seven innings against the Yankees and the Sox led 5 -3 starting the 8th.   Everyone thought Pedro’s night was over.  He was tired.  But, Little left him in, the Yanks rallied and Aaron Boone hit the famous HR off Tim Wakefield.  The next day, I witnessed the greatest outpouring of fan anger and disgust that I had ever seen.  I was at a conference, and, at the first coffee break, people were spewing disgust, venting, still livid about it……but, in 2004, the Sox staged the greatest comeback in the history of sports to finally slay the Monster Yankees.   Ding Dong the Witch Was Dead…….at least until 2009.